Good morning Friends!
Winter has struck our little farm hard. As I am writing this morning it is 32° Fahrenheit (0° Celsius). Our animals aren't so sure about this weather. It's everyone's first farm winter. None of them have experienced this before, and we've never cared for anything like this in the cold before either. I thought I'd jot down a few things we've already learned from this cold farming experience, in hopes it could help someone someday.
The first thing that comes to mind is electricity. Having your animals close to a source of power is SOOOO helpful. When we set this place up, my thoughts on how we would handle the cold weather were very primative. I knew that heat sources are the biggest cause of coop and barn fires, and that the animals would be better off without heat sources, so I didn't worry about having outlets near animals. Boy do I regret that. See, we live in Michigan. Which means it is about to get mighty cold, like 15° Fahrenheit (-9° Celsius) on average. I never even thought about the animal's water pails! We have purchased a heated, 2 gallon, water pail for the goats and a heated bird waterer for the chickens, and I do not regret it at all. That purchase has saved us a lot of stress and multiple water changes a day! However, I do wish I had considered the proximity to outlets when creating animal pens. Our mess of extension cords is a bit cumbersome. For the cats I have decided to take an easy out... they have a small crockpot outside for their water. It may not be designed for this work, but it was free and gets the job done. (and really, that's as good as it gets, right?)
Another thing we have learned the hard way is how important the storage of fire wood is! We knew we should have it all covered, but snow reared its ugly head before we could move all of our wood to the protection of the lean to. A rookie mistake really. In the future I would like to build a wood storage shed with walls to stack against. Just another thing to strive to accomplish next summer.
We have learned a lot about clothing through this experience. My day to day attire has changed a lot. Leggings and hay don't really mix well, but leggings under overalls are a DREAM COME TRUE! All the warm comfy coziness with the rugged durability of a good jean. Pair this combination with a long sleeve shirt or sweater and a good pair of socks and you are set. I see clothing in a whole new way now, I almost have two categories of clothes. Farm clothes and church clothes. Most days I stay in farm clothes all day, but I don't hate it, I've always been a jean girl.
I have been appreciating being outside more during this season. Having animals forces you to do that, but I don't see it as a downside. During this time I have seen more sunrises and sunsets than I ever did when we lived in town. It just feels so good to slow down and enjoy those little things. And when you pair that with a roaring wood burning stove and a cup of coffee, PERFECTION!
I'm so thankful for this little piece of land and all the opportunities it has brought us! We have BIG plans for the Spring and Summer and I can't wait to share them with you.
Until next time, Kiona
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