Hump month

   Mel and Trace, our constant companions.

This is the month when I finally can relax about our winter stores.  We only have at most two months of hay feeding left and it looks like we will have enough.  We don’t buy hay, we just rely on what we can raise here, and put up on a friends farm.  We used to do custom hay, but in such a rainy climate, the first good day would bring too many phone calls.  “When can you come and cut my hay?”  “It’s not supposed to rain for 2 days.”  Too much stress and we would always end up making ours last.  NO MORE!!  We culled our herd down to a manageable size and let everyone know – Call someone else!   There are virtually no livestock farmers left in our area, so everyone throws junk out in their “hayfield” and then forgets about it.  Usually by the time you see it, you have actually heard it go through the mower and you are watching it and misc. parts go through the air.  Then when you can’t get parts in a jiffy, the hobby farmers are mad.  “What’s taking so long, our hay is getting ruined.”  The stress reduction is wonderful.  Since we don’t have a variable stocking rate on our cattle, (which means we don’t sell them off if we run out of grass)  we can use hay harvesting as tool in our rotational grazing plan.  Making our own hay instead of relying on a custom harvester insures it is made at the optimum time.

Our vegetable and fruit stores are also coming through the winter well.  We have had quite a bit of snow this winter, which really helps insulate the ground.  But,  just before the last snow storm we had 2 nights down to 12 degrees which froze the soil down about 2 inches.  Then 18″ inches of snow on top of that.  Harvesting root crops was a chore.  The snow is finally melted today, and the frozen ground is thawed too.  Here’s a list of what we’re eating fresh now:  (by fresh I mean not frozen or canned)

In storage in the basement or barn:  apples, potatoes, onions, garlic, cabbage, winter squash.

Harvested as needed:  carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, celeriac, beets, kale,  chard, and misc greens I can find.

Things that didn’t survive the elements and animal predation: overwintering  cabbage, brussels sprouts, and parsley root.    

So we’re eating like kings this winter – still lots of berries, Chanterelles, peppers and that yummy butter in the freezer! 

The wood shed looks pretty good too!  Still enough wood to last.  It only takes one good warm day and I’m tired of building a fire.  The nice thing in the winter is that I can do alot of cooking while the cookstove is going.  You can cook faster and slower at the same time.  It’s hard to explain the difference but it is akin to how the water feels in the shower after it has been heated through our heating coils.  Kinda like it is alive!  In the summer when we use the electric  hot water heater exclusively, a shower still feels good, but it’s not the same. 

Stay tuned, I’m hoping to add old pictures of farming alongside pictures of what we’re doing now.