Honest side to homesteading during the winter, is that winter feels a whole colder when you’re outside dethawing solid ice water bottles. As important as it is to enjoy the harvest and the warmth of summer months on the farm, it’s equally important to prepare yourself for the cold, because trust me those months feel longer.
To a new homesteader, the only thoughts are geared towards playing with animals, feeding your family fresh produce, and having all the daylight in the world for activities. Those things do happen and they are wonderful and memorable and make all the hard work worth it. But for the rest of this article, I’m going to dive in to filling you in on what to expect your first year homesteading during the winter.
What to expect homesteading during the winter
Regardless if you have animals or not the landscape is vastly different than the summer. The days are shorter, the air is cold, nothing seems to grow out in the open except garlic and it takes so much motivation to run outside every morning. However, every farmer lives off the promise of spring, so hang on tight to that!
All things water
The number one thing to be extra mindful of is water. Water is your animals’ life line and when the temperature dips below freezing everything…. freezes. Just this morning on my own backyard homestead I had to go out collect all the rabbits’ water bottles and bring them up to the house (hoses are disconnected).
Pro tips for dethawing water bottles
- Use warm water at first so you don’t shock the glass and break it. If you’re using plastic, it’s not a big deal.
- Fill the bottles with warm water. Your animals are going to be thirsty and drinking warm water will be like a hot cup of tea for them.
- Only fill them up half way or less. Ice expands and you don’t want to let a whole bottle freeze and crack the bottle. Plus this saves you time when it freezes in a few more hours.
- For larger animals, get a good bucket because most likely you’ll be carrying out buckets of warm water for them.
Animal Production during the winter
Another honest side to homesteading during the winter is that animals aren’t in peak production. Poultry for example will stop laying eggs completely or very sporadically. It’s not that they just don’t feel like it, it’s the fact that they aren’t getting enough sunlight to facilitate egg production. Now some farmers will supply UV lights but honestly the poor girls need a break, so for me I leave them be. This can be important to think about ahead of time if either you rely on the eggs to support your own family or if you are counting on the income from selling eggs.
Breeding
Secondly, unless your animals are housed in an insulated barn, you shouldn’t expect to be breeding anything, freezing temperatures are not ideal for newborns. For me, I wait until at least March to breed my rabbits so everyone is comfortable and has what they need.
Produce during the cold months
Next, let’s talk about garden produce. I’m sure you’ve heard about cool and warm crops. Now depending on your zone you’ll have access to different plants. I’m personally in zone 8b and have a generally mild climate, which means with some creativity I can grow a few things during the winter. Like I mentioned earlier, garlic is a bulb and grows perfectly fine with some mulch all through the winter to be harvested in summer, but other crops that generally won’t die on me are kale and cabbage. There is such a long list of cool crops like
Carrots
Peas
Turnips
Radishes
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussel sprouts
The list goes on…..
The honest side is that everything grows at a snail’s pace in the winter. Think about it, there’s just not enough sunlight for photosynthesis to happen in its full glory. So if you are relying on your garden to feed you through the winter, start your longer season crops indoors in a temperature controlled room before the fall starts and plant more than you think you’ll need.
Honest side to homesteading during the winter
A long winter’s rest
Lastly, expect to give yourself some rest. Take this time to learn and study and plan for the season ahead. Winter is a fantastic time to design new garden plans, look through seed catalogues, plan a breeding schedule, or farm improvements. For me I spend more time on my other passions like painting, simply because I have the time. We are given seasons for a reason so try not to get trapped in the gray and gloom but look towards the warmer future and get yourself ready and in a good headspace,
