If you’re like me, it’s well below freezing temperatures where you live. The garden is napping under a blanket of snow and your animals are huddled up in the corner of their shelters, nestling into hay. Trees are bare. Ponds are ice rinks. The world is quiet and has slowed from a spin to a crawl. This universe looks the opposite of what it did six months ago when all hands were on deck sowing, harvesting, and preserving the fruits of our labor. How does one make the most of their time when you go from all to nothing? I’ve learned that just because I’m not outdoors and in the garden during this season of the homestead, certainly doesn’t mean that this season doesn’t produce. Here are the winter homestead projects that keep me busy and allow me to invest back into my homestead during these slower months.
Protect Your Flock
Through the winter months, we’ve found that predators have less resources with the cold and with us being outside less, there’s a greater risk for our animals to be attacked by predators. Make sure that your structures and systems are secure and your livestock is well-protected all year-long, especially during the winter months.
Home Renovation Projects
Most of the time during the busy, summer months there isn’t time to do much else other than pour yourself into the great outdoors and all the hard labor that comes with it. During that time, the inside of your house gets neglected, chores get put on the back burner and you have an ever long, ever growing to-do list. This is one of the winter homestead projects when the winter is the perfect time – so start crossing those items off the list and hunker down on any renovations, deep cleaning, and organizing
Seasonal Homestead Planning
Every January I find myself invigorated with the possibilities of new beginnings, new hopes, new dreams, and new ambitions. This includes planning out my vision for our homestead this year. I’ll consider changes that need to be made, animals we are going to bring on, plants we are going to grow, landscaping to put in, structures that need to be built, and chores that need to be done. My favorite part is planning out the gardens and figuring out what annuals and perennials I’m going to purchase to fill in and what kind of produce I’m going to grow and get to try this upcoming year. It’s Christmas all over again when my seed orders arrive in the mail. Planning is more than just dreaming and having good intentions. I always back up my planning with a month-by-month to-do list that lays out all of the goals and what we need to accomplish that month to prepare us for the next step.
Learn a New Skill (or Practice an Old One)
There are so many incredible homesteading skills to learn and there is no better time to do it. These can be skills of lost art like water glassing eggs, practicing skills like canning with store-bought produce, baking and cooking, transitioning to cast iron, implementing a new lifestyle like minimalism, waste-free with composting and recycling, or self-sufficiency.
There are plenty of skills you can add to your list of winter homestead projects to learn and practice indoors. You can consider learning how to craft things that might also contribute to your income if you sell them like knitting, sewing or crocheting; candle making, soap making, balms/salves/tincture making.
Other types of learning can include a hobby like playing an instrument, calligraphy, or woodworking/carpentry. Additionally learning is found in researching as well. You can research botany, herbal remedies, and gardening in general to prepare you for the upcoming planting season.
Rest
And on the seventh day God rested. In the seventh year the land rested. Don’t forget this is your season of rest too – especially after how hard the other seasons push you. Take this time to enjoy a new tv series, read a book, take a trip, and enjoy time spent with your loved ones. There is nothing wrong with adding the latest season of Yellowstone to your winter homestead projects list.
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