Homesteading with the Hunters
It is that time of year. The nights are growing cooler, the days shorter. Kids are back in school and summer activities are coming to a close. All of this means changes on the homestead as well.
During the summer months, our thin walled “yurt” has been sufficient, but silently the sun was taking its toll upon the tarping. A few weeks ago, during a gusty night, the roof tarp tore end to end. This was replaced with a ginormous blue tarp, a proceeding which cost us our one window, since the new tarp reaches to the ground on both sides. This is a good thing, however, as that allows it to be secured more firmly than its predecessor. The same toll was taken on our porch roof, and it now reposes in shreds on the metal frame. We have the means to tarp it, but that would drastically limit the amount of airflow in the porch, which would make cooking on our camp stove unsafe.
Other discomforts have been creeping in as well. These lovely cooler nights make bathing outside under a hose not lovely, and while I have come to love a brisk shower, I don’t like them this brisk!
Nature seems to be nudging, urging, thrusting us down the path of change, telling us to “hurry, hurry” before winter seals us in it’s grasp.
We have brought in our hay supply for winter and put together winter goat pastures and shelters. We will continue to work on those as it gets cooler.
We are also getting ready to bid goodbye (and good riddance?) to the aluminum and rigid foam, plywood and tarp structure that covered our heads through the summer months. The replacement? A vast root cellar with concrete walls and ceiling and even a partial concrete floor. Into this structure we will move our food pantry, hoosier cabinet, table, futon, bunk beds, and, of course, the piano. It will be heated with a cute little wood stove we found at an antique store, so the heat and the cooking will all take place inside (raptures ensue). In addition to these luxuries, we have plans to install a water reservoir with copper pipe coils around the stove pipe to heat water! Bliss!
Thanks to the help of some kind friends, we should be able to move into this within the next couple of weeks. And, once it is completed, we are going to turn our attention to the saving grace of humanity: a bathhouse. This small, but solid structure will house a shower, bathtub, and the washing machine, along with another necessary feature. It too will be heated by a small wood stove, so it also will have access to hot water. Indeed, we are racing back toward the 21st century!
What other ways are we preparing for winter? Once the major projects are tidied up, we plan to move the chicken coop to its winter home across the site of the new garden and dig up and mulch some of the new garden beds. High on our list is also the driveway; it will be receiving layers of rock and gravel before the wet season is firmly upon us. Inevitably, we will also return to work on the well, which has been biding its time at the edge of our radar for long enough. Hopefully we will be able to make good progress before water starts accumulating in it again.
So much to do, so little time to do it! Isn’t that always the way? What’s on your fall to-do?
