5 Homesteading projects for winter
Homesteading in winter can feel slow-going and tedious.
Here are 5 ways I keep momentum at the farm, and fill my winter with homestead-y projects during the dark months!
It’s our first winter living on this farm as a family and while I’m super pumped and quite familiar with winter farm work, my wife and son are less so. I have a tendency to get fixated on projects and want to go **ALL IN IMMEDIATELY!!!** (thanks, ADHD), so I’m very lucky to have my family here to keep me in check! Here are five realistic projects that I’m planning to tackle over winter this year. Spoiler alert, if you’re a **DO ALL THE THINGS** person like me this list might be a bit of a letdown; winter is mostly for planning and resting around here (begrudgingly!).
Learn, learn, learn.
This one might not seem like much of a project because there’s no physical output (yet!), but absorbing and digesting information is huge on my to-do list at the homestead this month. Learn about plants, food preservation, bread making, and anything that makes you feel productive if that’s your jam. It’s also possible that you don’t want to feel productive at all (see no. 5) and that’s totally cool too! You could use this time to take a break from homestead learning to avoid burnout. Maybe read some fiction, watch some funny movies, and learn something totally non-farm related.
My nightly journalling ritual
Each night I choose one plant to learn about, and use this time as almost a quiet meditation to write in my journal and really get to know the plant of the day. I do a little doodling and plan where/when I’ll plant, when to pick, watering needs, and how to store my harvest. It makes me feel like I’m getting a jump start on next year’s planting season even on days when the ground is covered with snow.
2. Nurture indoor herbs.
I like to grow as many of my own plants as possible for my specialty tea blends, even if that means taking over all window sills with pots. I hang herbs to dry and have been experimenting with making fruit garlands. Oh, the things my city-raised wife never expected to see in our home… sorry, my love!
Many of these herbs will be transplanted back outside when the weather allows, but for now I’m still able to get my greenery fix in the comfort of our little home.
What are your favourite herbs to grow indoors?
Get creative planting in pots, mugs, vases, hanging vessels… plants as decor is my fave!
3. Play with dirt.
Or, more eloquently, work on soil quality for the upcoming planting season. We compost year-round and have a constant supply of fresh horse and goat manure to manage. Whatever food scraps don’t get composted are fed to the many (many, many!) chickens that wander the farm freely.
Our son loves his chickens, but the true chicken lady of the farm is Dominika! Find her eggs at the farm stand of Aldergrove Farm Shoppe.
I practice “lazy gardening” or “ugly gardening”, whatever you want to call it. I think the sciency term is something along the lines of no-till permaculture, which basically means that we don’t disturb the soil. Instead, we add to the ground cover and feed the complex network of roots, fungi, and worm pals that all work together to keep our plants happy and strong.
4. Explore what homesteading means to you.
It’s 2022 and homesteading has taken on many meanings, far from the off-grid fully self-sufficient lifestyle the word has suggested in the past. To me, homesteading means returning to my instincts with nature that I’ve had since I was a child. It means becoming more self-sufficient, in ways that are practical for my family. I doubt we will ever feed ourselves 100% from the farm, and that’s OK with me. Every plant we consume from our home, every project we build from scratch, and any energy saved is a huge win in my books. I strive to support other local farms, eat more seasonally, use more plants as medicine, and spend our dollars intentionally. I want to own less, consume less in the way of material goods, and produce less waste.
No farm, no problem!
You don’t even have to have a yard to practice homesteading. Grow plants in a window or on a balcony. Ferment veggies or kombucha, bake sourdoug, sew clothes; anything that makes you feel connected to mama Earth, whatever that means for you.
5. Rest.
I’m sorry, truly. This is the absolute hardest skill that I’m not even close to mastering. For me, rest still seems to always include reading things I deem to be “productive”, working on new farm stand product ideas, and generally doing things that I deem important enough to dedicate my time to.
But when was the last time you had a nap? Watched a funny movie? Scrolled funny TIkToks, read a novel, phoned a friend, painted a picture, snuggled a loved human or pet… something that had no planned or measurable outcome? One of my favourite activities lately is lying with my legs up the wall and listening to rain pound on our tin roof. I’m also loving the Ologies podcast, which explores a random topic every week; I never knew how interesting seals were, for example!
Whatever homesteading means to you, I hope you find peace, joy, productivity, and rest this season. The darkness will end, the days will get longer, the soil will warm up!
What do you do to keep momentum throughout the winter? I’d love to hear from you, so leave a comment or reach out!
