Winter preparations?

[Beekissed]

I was thinking today of all the normal steps I take to prepare for winter where I live and started to wonder if this is a routine for most folks as well.

I live in an old farm house, so I put plastic over some windows and also over the windows in the chicken coop. The wind is blowing something fierce here today and its pretty cold.....my internal winter meter clicked over and said, "Time to plastic, etc."

I guess its sort of how birds know when to migrate.

What indications at your house, besides the calendar and encroaching temps, lets you know its time to batten down the hatches? Put in some wood, feed, bedding, etc.?

 

[Javamama]

The arrival of the yellowjackets and Asian Lady Beetles signal us. And speaking of birds migrating, I have notice huge amounts of geese "flying south" over the last couple weeks. Seems earlier than usual, but it I'm hoping it's coinciding with the crops coming off here now.

We don't have to do much winterizing to our house. Once the leaves fall we clean the gutters. We have to keep an eye on the ceilings for condensation stains which tell us to check the insulation under the roof. We already tested the furnace. I do need to do a fall clean out of the animal houses and re-bed them. And move the duck hut closer to the house so we can get to it easily when the snow flies.

 

[old fashioned]

Yeah, it's getting that time for sure.

If you're talking just recently because of cooler weather.....

1. Since our chicken coop is an open-air design, I did tack up a couple of wood fence sections & wrapped it with tarps to keep it dry & less drafts. Plus I spread a bale of straw down for deep litter. The chickens only sleep & lay in there & are let out during the day.

2. Brought some wood & kindling into the house & even had a couple of fires already.

We don't usually cover the windows although we probably should, and we have yet to get the hoses unhooked & outside faucets covered.


Now, if you're talking about what we've been doing all summer......

1. Gathering up wood-----5 cords so far & even got em covered
2. Canning/freezing food....lots, but could do tons more
3. Saving seeds for planting in future &/or chicken feed...yup
4. Threw out some grain seed in the garden for a cover crop/next year harvest-probably for chicken feed &/or seed to plant again or more likely wild bird feed, depending on who gets it first. :/

I could probably come up with more but would be more about preps for another type of thread...

 

[abifae]

the squirrels get fat. and the fatter they are, the earlier, the more i stock up LOL.

also the geese migrating is a pretty good sign

 

[hillfarm]

Its 88 degrees here. My preperation is to pull out a few sweaters for the morning walk to the car. We turned the heater back on and ran it. Went well. put a tarp over the open part of the chicken coop, cleaned gutters and put out the halloween decorations.

It does seem like fall hit and bam. Summer was just gone. We usually have hotter days hit this time of year. Sometimes 90-100 range. I've trick or treated in shorts more than once. But it has definantly been cooler as of late. Not complaining. I'll take about anything over 100 + days and 90 degree nights. No a/c on earth can make that feel comfortable.

 

[patandchickens]

When the grass has stopped growing enough that an inch or two of forecast rain makes me think it will pool in the ditches, sending me out in a last-minute frenzy to weedwhack ALLLLL the drainage ditches bare quick while I still can. (You'd be amazed how much slower water flows away in a January thaw when there is some standing vegetation in the ditch, even if not much.)

This is usually shortly before I realize I have *got* to buy my hay for the year.

Followed shortly by snow squalls that make me go out and winterize the chicken bldg and runs as soon as we have the next calmish sunnyish day <g>

Also there are usually a bunch of summer projects leftover that require diggable ground, so as soon as we start having regular hard frosts I get very nervous and start sinking the last postholes, redigging ditches, etc

Pat

 

[Beekissed]

Just got hay delivered and feel quite good about it! I had already had spring hay in the back of the shed but needed winter feeding hay and it was getting pretty scarce around these parts...all the cattle farmers bought up every square bale around!

I usually plastic the windows on my office and the chicken coop, place hay bales around the base of the house to prevent the cold wind into the pipes, firewood is already in.

Then I clean out the chicken coop~done!~and put down fresh pine bedding mixed with shredded paper from the office. The chickens love the new bedding and the cozier coop. Fresh bedding down in the sheep pen and place all heated buckets and fix hay feeder station to satisfaction.

One last sweep of the orchard with the mower to clip down any thistle growth and then the mower gets winterized and tarped.

Cellar gets organized and cleaned out. Outbuilding gets organized and cleaned out. Attic gets organized and cleaned out...thank goodness! Apples are stored there with tender loving care.

Dog houses have been filled with fresh hay, pumpkins to be stored in broody pen along with shocked up corn stalks. Feed is bought and stored in feed cans~need more feed right now.

OneBite is distributed into closed sheds next to coop so that the rats getting ready for winter will have a good snack before they take an eternal sleep.

Winter wheat has been sown on gardens, wood shed is full, porch swing is loaded with wood and porch has been cleaned and straightened for winter.

Need to get my farm boots out of the shed and change out sandals with boots at the back door. I'm thinking of wrapping the outside spigot with heat tape this year...you think that will keep it from freezing? I insulated it last year to no avail.

 

[Emerald]

Well I just picked all the rest of the produce in the garden that didn't get frosted the first frost two weeks ago and put all the squash on the deck as it is supposed to frost harder tonight.
This week I made sure all the screens were closed on the storm windows and then closed the big windows and vacuumed all the darned spiders and webs out of the window frames and curtains. Found all the window quilts and the spring rods to get them up this weekend.
Also vacuumed all the darn dust bunnies out from under the furniture and up and down the stairs along with all the cobwebs that just appeared overnight(or so it seems) and hung the curtain around the stairwell.
Double checked all the seals on my canned goods-- peeked at all the brown bags of ripening tomatoes only to find that I have enuf to can another batch but have a full weekend ahead of me already.
Wondering how in the world I am gonna get the apples all sauced and/or made in to pie or maybe that apple pie jam that I saw on here somewhere.
Humm... Where did I leave the snow shovel? Probably won't hurt to find that either!
Then again maybe I'll just .

 

[fancy]

Emerald

I always leave my cobwebs til after Halloween, They're my seasonal decorations!

 

[k0xxx]

Like Javamama, when the yellow jackets and Asian Lady Bugs start showing up, it's time to notch up winter preps. It's also nice to sit on the porch in the evenings and hear flocks of geese passing overhead (a covered porch, that is )

We've tested the wood stove and checked the flue. We had more than a winter's worth of firewood put up, but hauled about 3/4's of it over to a friend who is laid up, and have now dragged the log splitter back out of the shed. We're still picking okra, peppers and cucuzza, and even a few little tomatoes, but they are thinning out and we'll be adding the stalks and vines to the compost pile soon. This Fall the only things that we have planted are two varieties of garlic.

I do love this time of year.