Winter on the Homestead

[Beef11]

I was recently feeling down about winter and its onslaught of cold weather. Here we work spring summer and fall in order to put up for winter. I was wondering what homesteading would be like in a mild climate. Part of me says it must be easier as you have extra time to get ready for a shorter winter. I think there must be challenges unique to each area. Water, heat, cold, muddy, Ligers, bugs, people.... I just wonder what i would do if i had a never ending summer (probably buy a good ac unit).

[georgiarebel]

The lack of sunlight during the winter has been proven to cause people to get bummed out easier. I hate not having time to do as many things before it gets dark, but this last summer about killed me. (106 degrees in the shade) Just make sure to find things to keep from getting bored. Find you a good book or take time to learn a new language. I picked up a spanish CD from rosetta stone. It's a little expensive brand new, but you might can find a used copy on ebay. I like to sit by the fire in the evening and see how much I can learn from one sitting. Helps me on my next trip to Walmart

Also spend some of the time looking through the seed catalogs planning for the next garden season. Our mild winters here in the south do allow us to start ealier, but we can be fooled by late frost sometimes.

Consider yourself lucky that you live in a region of the country that doesn't have large crowds of people. Those places are getting hard to find and most would consider the short season a good trade off.

GR

[DocM]

Year round good weather?
They'd complain about drought and lack of good quality hay. Count your blessings.

[Jim S.]

Here, fall, winter and spring are my busiest times (late November to early April), while the temps are cooler to colder. I prefer to do hard physical labor in 60 degrees and below. By mid-May, it is getting to be time to quit outside, and especially over the past few years. Around mid-May, temps will begin to push here into the 90s -- the Southern equivalent of winter, because everyone hibernates indoors under the a/c, sort of like huddling around the furnace in Northern climes. Just like Northerners looking out on white snowpiles, we will look out on our yellowing lawns and wilting gardens, shrouded in haze.

By late June all the way through September, even the THOUGHT of going outside will make me sweat. If I get anything done at all, it must be just at sunrise, and even then the humidity will smother you. There is maybe about an hour at 5:30 a.m. when moderate work can be done.

I need to put in a new stretch of fence, and so far this winter have not had a chance to get going on it. But it is 60 out today, reminding me that if I don't get going, it will soon be too hot to do it until next November.

Now, there are Southerners who say they LOVE working in the heat, and they will go on and on teasing me about being a nutty d--n Yankee who works in the cold, but the funny thing is, they all are indoors under the a/c in summer, too. What's up with that? LOL.

[canfossi]

Why don't you join a club of some sort, a gardening club for example (not sure how much they get together during winter though). Plan your garden for next spring, put out a birdhouse and watch the birds. Have some neighbours over for tea/coffee. Get some good books, get into a new hobby that you may be interested in. Buy a dog or cat, that will get you out more also enjoying the presh air. It's called SAD, seasonal effective disorder. I feel down during this time of year every so often, so I know how you feel. You can also get one of those lights that imitate the sunlight so you body thinks it's getting more natural sunlight this improves your mood. I hope you start to have better days. Chris

[humbug]

I am in north central Nevada, and everyone I know feels it has been a long winter this year. We usually get that 10 days of good weather in January, our January thaw, but January is almost over and there has been no let up. In fact the weatherman is calling for snow all week. ..I sure hope that means that we are going to have an early spring.
I try to get out as much as possible in the winter. I try to pursue my indoor hobbies...but I like you have a case of the winter blahhs.

[Bewildered]

Cold and snow <shudders>
I have land and a small house in Eastern Washington State (about 10 minutes from the Candian border) and would love to move there (I lived there as a kid), but the idea of long, cold, snowy winters is such a turn-off. I'm in Texas now and the ability to get outside and garden or go for a relaxing walk in the winter does have a huge affect on moods. I am such a wimp now though - if it gets below 70 degrees I am cold!!

[Ninn]

Well, when it gets cold and yucky here, we get out the board games. We bake alot, and plan all those little jobs that need doing in the spring. You know, the ones that never seem to make it to the top of the to-do list. Then we schedule a "little-jobs weekend" with some friends. We bbq, drink way too much beer and take care of those little jobs. It's a good time!

[michiganfarmer]

I have cattle to take care of every day. I have to move snow, to get to the cattle. I have to make sure the tractor starts. I dont have time to think about having cabin fever.

Get yourself something to take care of during the winter. Being busy keeps your mind off things that you dont like. Get some snow plowing accounts. Sitting in a warm truck listening to the radio, and plowoing snow is fun, and there is money in it. Get some animals. Cut firewood while its nice and cool. Sell firewood.

[Grandmotherbear]

I am with Jim S on Southern summers. I can't hardly take them any more. And I lived in Florida without a/c till 1981! Fall, winter and spring is when we hike, camp, and play gardener. Sweet potatoes, okra and peanuts are about the only things not destroyed by the summer heat and humidity. But while we have generally pleasant days in winter, don't forget to be prepared for a sudden drop in temps- MLK Weekend in 1996 my Boy Scouts were on the Florida Trail, on the West Bank of the kissimmee river, when it hit 17 degrees one night!