<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is that time of year again. AUTUMN!!! For many, myself included, it is the most wonderful time of the year. Bon fires, hoodies, pumpkin spice everything, cooler temps, and my favorite part, the leaves changing color into their vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows! But with cooler temps comes winterizing the homestead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As our homestead is always changing, winterizing the property looks a little different from year to year. I always like to start on the house first. For us, winterizing the house only takes about a day to complete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have electric baseboard heating so we always start by vacuuming out the fins on the heaters and giving them a test run. It is also important to make sure the furniture is rearranged so there is nothing touching or blocking the heaters. When you have electric heating, it is always a good idea to have a back up heat source in case the power goes out. We decided to have 2 back ups. The first back up heat source is our propane wall heater. We remove it during the warmer months and have to hook it back up during the cooler months. I LOVE THIS HEATER! It does a fantastic job warming up our tiny house. AND if the power does go out, we can light the heater manually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also have a back up for our back up. We use a kerosene heater. I grew up with one of those heaters and they also do a really good job with heating the house. So we clean up the kerosene heater and stock up on kerosene. It is always a good idea to make sure all the kerosene supplies are together and easy to get to. Ya don\u2019t want to wait until the weather is bad (and the lights are out) before you have to go and dig through the garage to find the heat source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another step in winterizing the home is removing the window AC units. When we do this step we always double check the caulk around the windows. We want to make sure we do not have major uncontrolled drafts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And speaking of drafts, that brings us to our attic fan. We close up the attic fan every year to help keep the warm air on the main floor of the house and not escaping into the attic. BUT FIRST we do a quick decluttering session. We go through the house and do some minor gathering. Some things go to a charity and some things go into the attic. But once we put the boxes in the attic (and some things always come out of the attic as well), we pull the fan from the opening and a big slab of insulation goes in its place before replacing the shutter on the fan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the final step in regards to drafts is that we make sure our heavy blankets that go over the doors are cleaned and ready to be hung. They don\u2019t hang all winter, but having them located and ready is good practice to have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always a good idea to make sure you stock up on some necessities when winterizing as well. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you have enough water, food, and medications for at least a week in case the power goes out or the roads are so bad that you can\u2019t get to the stores. Remember to have back up batteries (even for your phones) Know where your flashlights and blankets are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t forget to double check and make sure your generator is functioning properly. We have a duel fuel generator. It works on either gas or propane, so be sure that you stock up on both of those items as well. A generator is only good if ya have the fuel to run it. On our homestead, we are always stocked and ready. And one last thought on stocking items, if you have pets, make sure you prepare for them as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Livestock<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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As for right now, the only livestock we have are sheep. But there is plenty to do to make sure they are ready for winter. The biggest job is cleaning and winterizing the sheep shed. We remove all the old bedding and make sure they have a nice fresh layer going in to the winter. This foundation layer is a mix of barn-dry, wood chips, diatomaceous earth, and straw. We then check for drafts. Close up any holes in the sides and make sure the roof is good shape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also like to set up lambing boxes. This year we will be making a couple extra lambing boxes just to be sure every new mom has a nice place to lamb. We also run electric to the sheep shed. Eventually we will have permanent electric to the shed but we just haven\u2019t had the funds to complete that project. As we are running electric to the shed we also take this time to make sure the lambing boxes have working heaters and heated water buckets. Speaking of heating water, don\u2019t forget the rest of the flock, they will need a functioning water heater as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now is also a good time to stock up on your medical supplies for the livestock. And as the sheep move from their fall field to their winter field, we give them a quick inspection and check for worms, infections, medicate them as needed and trim their feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winterizing the Garden<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The next area we focus on is the garden area. First we finish pulling the final harvest. This is always bittersweet. Thankful for the produce God provided us throughout the growing season, but glad that we completed processing and stocking the shelves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next we pull up weeds and spent plants that have died off. I also gather our flowering bulbs and put them in an old onion sack to save until it is time to plant in the spring. Then we plant our garlic. Then we scatter some nutrient rich compost on all the beds and cover with wood chips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year we have an extra step…and boy is it a big one. We are going to be placing plastic down in all the walkways and covering them with a thick layer of wood chips to help with weed control in the garden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We then collect the hoses and tools left in the garden. Since we have lots of little helpers, tools don\u2019t always get put back where they should. So it is always a good idea to make sure the garden tools are gathered up and not sitting outside all winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rugged Root also has a Missouri Native tree and shrub nursery. So in the fall is when we sell off items or move them to their more permanent home on the homestead. This takes lots of time and planning, but it is totally worth it in the end. After the nursery beds are clean, we prepare the nursery for the early spring planting. It is so nice completing this step now so that when the new plants come in, we are able to get them right in the ground while the plants are still dormant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And our final project in the garden this year is the green house. We are hoping to get a green house up and going before winter sets in. We haven\u2019t had much luck with green houses in the past. They always seem to blow away in our gusty winds (no matter how staked down they are\u2026.) This year, we plan to convert a partially built structure ready into a greenhouse. We will see if we complete it before winter arrives. It always seems we run out of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equipment<\/strong> Winterizing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For us, this is a pretty easy job because we don\u2019t have much equipment. Only really having a tractor and a couple mowers this makes for quick work. It is always a good idea to winterize the equipment. We like to make sure the blades are sharpened, the yard waste is removed from the wheels and the body of the equipment and add antifreeze to vehicles that need it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big job for us isn\u2019t the equipment but more where we store the equipment. The garage! We take advantage of the cooler temps to clean the garage out. We try to clean it twice a year. Spring and Fall. This is where we go through and organize things that have been dumped in the garage to get it out of the yard. We do an inventory of the freezers. Clean around the freezers and sweep or blow out debris that has built up under and around them. We also make sure tools are organized and everything is put back in it\u2019s place. We clean up around all the wood working equipment from the projects over the summer months. And we give those floor a good deep sweeping before moving the equipment back into place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is a good thing we are given a full season to get things winterized on the homestead. We always could use more time, but the important things always seem to get done. I would love to hear what you do on your homestead or farm to winterize it. We always look forward from hearing from you all. We feel we can learn from each other as a community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is that time of year again. AUTUMN!!! For many, myself included, it is the most wonderful time of the year. Bon fires, hoodies, pumpkin spice everything, cooler temps, and my favorite part, the leaves changing color into their vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows! But with cooler temps comes winterizing the homestead. The House As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"WB4WB4WP_MODE":"","WB4WP_PAGE_SCRIPTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_STYLES":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FONTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_HEADER":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FOOTER":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-farm-updates"],"yoast_head":"\n