Boondox
Elite Member
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2000
- Messages
- 3,873
- Location
- Craftsbury Common, Vermont
- Tractor
- Deere 4044R cab, Kubota KX-121-3S
Well, our preparations start about 18 months before winter with the harvesting of firewood. We drag logs home and stack them near the garage. Then, about 9 months before the winter they'll be used for, when the snow begins to recede and we can reach the logs again, we cut them into stove-length rounds then split and stack them in the woodshed. That takes a couple months of evenings and weekends.
Around the middle of October when the first hard frost starts the meadow going dormant we encourage the sheep to eat as much grass as they can manage, then move them into their winter pen and short cut the meadow with the finish mower. By November 1st all liquids in the shop and garage subject to damage by freezing have been moved into the house, all gasoline engines have had fuel stabilizer run through them, the cars and tractor have their last coat of wax applied, and the winter hay supply has been laid in.
By the second week in November the car and truck are wearing their studded snow tires, and the Kubota is wearing her Valby ice chains. The road has been recrowned and the acres of fallen leaves have been gathered and added to the compost pile lest they clog the drainage ditches and cause the road to wash out in rain. We also start burning firewood about this time as the night time temps are dipping into the low twenties.
Everything that needs grease gets it while the stuff still flows at a reasonable pace. Oil and other fluids are changed now so I don't have to do it more than once at twenty below zero. All summer tools are put away and the winter "just-in-case" kits are put together. A pouch full of things to deal with frozen pipes. A pouch full of tools to carry in the truck. All flashlights get fresh batteries and we lay in emergency food and water in the basement just in case power goes out for more than a day.
Mulch hay is acquired for those curves in the annual sled party. Grain is acquired so the pregnant ewes don't have to eat so much as their time grows near. The chicken coop gets cleaned out with the manure added to the blueberry patch. The rifle gets torn down and cleaned, then zeroed in for deer season. The shotgun is kept at the ready in case coyotes come calling on the sheep.
And there's always an elderly neighbor or two to help out. This is a great time of year. The fall tourists are gone and the skiers have yet to arrive. Our little community gathers and prepares as respected friends do. New England at its best!
Pete
Around the middle of October when the first hard frost starts the meadow going dormant we encourage the sheep to eat as much grass as they can manage, then move them into their winter pen and short cut the meadow with the finish mower. By November 1st all liquids in the shop and garage subject to damage by freezing have been moved into the house, all gasoline engines have had fuel stabilizer run through them, the cars and tractor have their last coat of wax applied, and the winter hay supply has been laid in.
By the second week in November the car and truck are wearing their studded snow tires, and the Kubota is wearing her Valby ice chains. The road has been recrowned and the acres of fallen leaves have been gathered and added to the compost pile lest they clog the drainage ditches and cause the road to wash out in rain. We also start burning firewood about this time as the night time temps are dipping into the low twenties.
Everything that needs grease gets it while the stuff still flows at a reasonable pace. Oil and other fluids are changed now so I don't have to do it more than once at twenty below zero. All summer tools are put away and the winter "just-in-case" kits are put together. A pouch full of things to deal with frozen pipes. A pouch full of tools to carry in the truck. All flashlights get fresh batteries and we lay in emergency food and water in the basement just in case power goes out for more than a day.
Mulch hay is acquired for those curves in the annual sled party. Grain is acquired so the pregnant ewes don't have to eat so much as their time grows near. The chicken coop gets cleaned out with the manure added to the blueberry patch. The rifle gets torn down and cleaned, then zeroed in for deer season. The shotgun is kept at the ready in case coyotes come calling on the sheep.
And there's always an elderly neighbor or two to help out. This is a great time of year. The fall tourists are gone and the skiers have yet to arrive. Our little community gathers and prepares as respected friends do. New England at its best!
Pete
