Its not just the holidays of Christmas and New Year day that makes living on the homestead busy, its all year long, preparing for wintertime, then preparing for spring and so on.
Preparing for all year is never easy and I am still working on how to get one thing accomplished for one season while in another season, but I am learning.
One Season
Its always the busy season on the homestead. While we do have our days of rest from the outside on rainy days we also have to work year round.
Making the jellies and jams from the flowers in spring that I do give as gifts for Christmas.
Making soap in the Summertime for all year and sharing also at Christmastime as gifts.
Making lotions and candles inside on the rainy days, for use all year and to give as gifts for Christmas.
All Year
One is a must and that is heat, while some depend on gas heaters or central heat, other depend on wood. At the moment I have central heat but if I lose power like last year I will be hurting, again, if I don`t get wood for the fireplace. We had snow and we usually don`t have any, maybe a dusting every few years but better to be safe that sorry.
This passed year we had a storm come through that took down a few trees, from ash maples to male mulberry trees. While the ash maple is stinky I left it stacked on the old home place and I loaded up a couple loads of the male mulberry, today I need to unload the truck and cut the pieces to fit the fireplace, stack and cover so I will have heat in case I do lose power.
Getting wood is a year round thing to do.
Preparing For Spring
In a matter of weeks I will be sowing seed for the Spring garden, the first early spring planting, to have plants ready to go into the ground. A few weeks after that another round of seed sowing for the mid spring planing, and then the biggie, the sowing directly into the the garden area.
My aim is to have vegetables growing year round.
In the Hot Summertime
Harvesting and home canning what was collected from the plants in the garden, taking out the spent plants and preparing the ground for the fall garden.
Its Non Stop Action!
I try to use the wintertime to clear and clean off land, by doing do I avoid all vines that cause a rash and the old no one wants to meet, snakes.
It grows up easily each year and if its not kept under control you will be closed in by the woods and not have any space for living, making a vegetable garden, or putting out those new fruit and nut trees.
What am I up to now? Yes its the end of December and I am picking out seeds to plant in the next few weeks, ordering if I don`t have what I want.
What are you doing on your homestead?
By Andria Perry
Photos By Andria Perry
