The winter months are a much-anticipated reprieve after the hustling and bustling of birthing season, preservation season, and the heat of summer. Winter is filled with cozy fires, blankets, and warm drinks. Winter is filled with rest. But ever the homesteader, sometimes we just can’t seem to sit still!
If you’re starting to feel like you’ve taken a break and you’re looking for a new project to take on, here are a few ideas to help you be productive this winter.
Where is my homestead energy best spent in the winter?
Only you can decide where your energy is best spent during the winter.
In our home, we like to spend the majority of our winter planning. What will next year’s growing season look like? Is there a good time to hatch chicks? What must make our to-do list? What worked last year and what didn’t? We also make sure things like our stockpile is full of updated food, materials, and supplies. Finally, we look at skills we can learn more about while we have a bit of downtime.
And of course – we make room for fun! My children love to carve pumpkins, dress up in Halloween costumes, and go for walks with the mission of crunching as many fallen leaves as they can.
What are some of your fall family traditions?
Planting your fall garden
Let’s be real – there’s always work to do! If you haven’t already, consider taking a look at what perennial plants you need to get in the ground this fall. Fall is also a great time to plant garlic. While you’re timing your planting, be sure to do a final garden harvest prior to your first frost.
Do you have a place for your harvest to go? Root cellars are a great option. But make sure they’re ready for winter. A root cellar doesn’t need to be sealed – ventilation is a key part of the preservation process. But you do want to make sure no unwanted moisture is finding its way in.
If you’re planning to keep your harvest in something like a pantry. read up on how things like to be stored. Potatoes and onions react when stored together, but they both prefer to be stored in dark, cool places. All dry goods would be best served in sealed containers (I’ve had great success with a set similar to this). Finally, be sure any crumbs are done away with so you aren’t encouraging critters to find your pantry as a warm food source when the weather turns cold.
And don’t waste those garden greens! Vines, kitchen scraps, and more are great to add to compost piles. I know that when the weather gets cold, it’s not appealing to get outside and check on things. But if you’ve been dutifully turning your compost pit and adding a healthy balance of brown and green matter, I encourage you to trek outside and see how hot your compost pit is. You can use a long-stem thermometer to measure the temperature. Just a fun little science experiment to get you through a cold day!
Do you know your frost dates? I highly recommend the Farmer’s Almanac for helping you estimate frost dates in your area. And please note this is an estimate. I’ve had frost dates be off by as much as a week!
Get those garden beds ready
Speaking of compost piles – pile some of that on your garden beds! Compost from your own pile, spent chicken shavings, leaves, and even the last of your grass clippings all make great additions to garden beds. Some gardeners even use a “compost in place” method. When tearing out their gardens, if they don’t plan on planting anything else, they will leave plant matter in the bed to decompose over the winter. That plant matter goes right back into your soil! Cover it with a bit of compost and leaves and next year’s garden will be very happy!
Do your favorite seeds go on sale during winter? In our area, farm and supply stores discount seeds the farther into summer we get. However, I know a lot of homesteaders who prefer to order seeds. Be on the lookout for things like fall sales, Christmas sales, and New Year sales. If you order your seeds you may be able to snag a deal.
Making a plan
DIY projects can be overwhelming if you just say, “I’ll get this done this winter.” I encourage you to make a plan!
Let’s start in the garden.
Are there fruit trees you want to plant in the spring? Where will they go? Where will you get them from? If you don’t have the space for fruit trees, you can always opt for a berry bush. The farm we pick our blueberries and blackberries from sells plant starts every year. Always be on the lookout for affordable options like that!
Planning a vegetable garden is also an incredible thing to do in the winter. Our 2022 garden taught us a lot about what we were doing wrong. We applied a lot of what we learned to our 2023 garden. The primary lesson was we needed to plant our seeds in completely different places! Luckily, I mapped out gardens for both years and was able to make the moves with no issues.
Homestead Skills
Are there a million different ways to go about homesteading? Absolutely! So what ways best serve you and your homestead? If you don’t know what those skills are, winter is a great time to study them.
Since starting our urban homestead, we have learned how to make homemade skincare products, jelly, water glass eggs, butcher chickens, and work with local farmers.
You can check out my beauty products on my shop page! You may be interested in my beeswax lotion bar. I have found that it’s the perfect solution to healing cracked, dry hands. What homesteader wouldn’t need help with that?
Other practical skills you can learn as a homesteader are –
– How to work a power tool
– How to process winter crops
– How to process summer crops (fruits are usually canned differently than vegetables and meat. Do you know the difference?)
– How to raise your own chickens for eggs and meat
– How to start seeds indoors
– How to start seeds in-ground (would you believe battling the elements actually has a trick to it?)
– How to use essential oils
– How to create a great compost pile
Homestead Income
I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for ways to offset my chicken feed costs. Let’s look at a few things we’ve already talked about that could bring in an income for your homestead next spring and summer.
– Homemade skin care products (let’s not forget things like lip balm)
– Homemade baby products
– Products made from essential oils
– Seedlings you started from seed
– Ready-to-plant compost
– Construction skills like building raised beds or chicken coops. You can sell your service itself or physical raised beds and chicken coops.
– Processed meat chickens
– Washed chicken eggs
– Produce – don’t forget your fall produce!
– Baked goods – who doesn’t love zucchini bread or pumpkin bread made with farm-fresh zucchini and pumpkin?
The winter season is an incredible time to plan! Take advantage of it!
What homesteading skills did I miss? Find me on Instagram or Facebook and let me know!
How do you plan a homestead emergency kit?
With your homestead in mind! Where do you live? What emergencies actually occur there? What animals do you raise? Factor in all of this information when building your emergency kit.
For example, we live in the Midwest where we have every season. Fall is great because it’s a break from a very hot, long summer. Our spring is riddled with rain and tornadoes. Our falls are a bit mild, but winter can bring negative 20 Fahrenheit wind chills. So we truly need to be prepared for a bit of everything.
That may look like storing extra water in summer and winter to prepare for power outages and freezes that leave us with limited resources. In the spring I’m always sure to have an evacuation plan in case a tornado is powerful enough that we may need to flee for our lives. I’m also sure to have things like bicycle helmets and flashlights on hand in case we need to seek shelter indoors. Luckily, we get a break from all the crazy weather in the fall. It’s a much-needed break to tend to smaller things, like disconnecting external hoses from spouts, stocking up on chicken feed, and putting the finishing touches on our family food stockpile.
As for our animals, we only raise chickens. Chickens are prone to physical struggles in huge temperature swings, so I’m always sure to have something like an electrolyte on hand for summer and other supplements for winter. They’re also prone to pests of all kinds. We keep a fly spray on hand for summer and diatomaceous earth for year-round pests.
I have quite a few blog posts on how to care for chickens. If you need a great place to get started, check out this blog post. If you know what you’re looking for and just want more information on raising chickens, check out this round-up post.
I also have a free, 3-page guide to raising chickens. If you need a quick list of things to prepare for chicks, this printable has it. If you need tips for integrating new birds into an existing flock, this printable has it. I like to think of this as my 10,000-foot view of things I wish I knew before raising chickens. Because I’ve had to learn all of these tricks through trial and error! So if you’re looking for a few points to get you started on your journey to raising chickens, I highly recommend you check out this free resource.
Planning for other animals
My friend Dee from The Porter Homestead breeds dogs for a living. She sends a puppy care kit recommendation home with her clients and these are her recommendations for what to keep in an emergency kit for dogs. How much of this can be used for other animals, like cats, sheep, or cows? Comment on this post and let me know!
– Animal vet wrap
– Gauze – large pads intended for humans. Smaller gauze intended for animals doesn’t hold up as well.
– Quik clot styptic powder
– Medical scissors
– Gloves
– Irrigation syringe
– Alcohol wipes or alcohol in a bottle
– Tweezers
– Nylon leash, just to have an extra
– Muzzle
– Sterile skin stapler (can be found on Amazon)
Planning a stockpile
The last few years really taught us the importance of having something like a month’s worth of food on hand. We did a bit of research and stumbled upon what’s called a rotating stockpile, or “first in, first out.” The idea is you are purchasing goods you eat and you rotate through them.
And this looks different for each family. For us, it’s a lot of pasta, fruits, and vegetables. We also utilize freezers for bulk meat. And through the year we are sure to eat through that food. Because ultimately, the only verified sort of long-term food preservation is freeze drying. And we don’t have access to that. So it’s imperative we eat through the food we preserve and store regularly so it doesn’t go to waste.
Are you worried about how to get started buying meat in bulk? I share all of my tips in this blog post! I also share how to build staples for your fridge, freezer, and pantry in this blog post.
It’s also good to note a stockpile extends beyond food! Do you grow your own medicinal herbs? Dehydrate some and put them alongside your bandaids and other natural remedies! While you’re thinking about remedies, consider other things like tweezers, saline solution, and over-the-counter medication for issues that may arise for your family.
Finally, and most importantly, water. In the event of an emergency, do you have enough water for your family and your animals. Yes – your animals, too!
If all of this is overwhelming, there are quite a few resources out there you can reference for how to build a stockpile. However, building something like a 72-hour kit might be a better place to start. You can use something like the Red Cross for recommendations on what to keep in your kit. But remember – it needs to be specific to your family, the region you live in, and the emergencies you’re most likely to experience.
Other winter worries and how to overcome them
In the midst of winter, have you ever experienced any of these things? They may be worth keeping an eye on so you don’t catch any more winter blues. I’ve mentioned a few tips in this blog post for how to prepare chickens for winter. And the main idea rings true – failing to plan is planning to fail! Just like an emergency kit, see if you can mitigate some of these problems.
– Leaf mold – just like turning your compost, your garden beds may need the same attention. Keep an eye on them over the winter!
– Dead bee hives – Anytime you lose a part of your homestead unexpectedly it can be depressing. Especially something as expensive as bee hives. Fortunately, there’s a wealth of information online to avoid things like excess moisture build up and encourage things like proper eating and heat retention.
– A long winter – this can impact your spring planting. There’s nothing worse than planting for the season and getting a late frost! Pay attention to your frost dates!
– An early spring – this can threaten your winter crops. Be watchful for temperature swings and your crops!
– Not having seeds for the start of the gardening season – I shared a few tips for stocking up on seeds come gardening season. How will you be sure you have your seeds for next season?
– Unfinished projects – what loose ends can you accomplish this summer? Tidy up your homestead before winter hits!
– Unsealed chicken coop – Some chicken breeds are able to withstand colder temperatures. But when they retreat to your coop for comfort, it needs to be warm! Be sure you aren’t letting much-needed heat out of your coop.
– Unprotected animals – As temperatures cool down from summer, the fall is a great time to make sure your animals have adequate shelter. Be a good steward for your animals!
– Intense winter weather – again – prepare that emergency kit! If you have any indication this winter might be riddled with storms, be sure to have things on hand that will help you. An alternative way to prepare food, heat sources, and necessary equipment to tend to your animals.
Making Fall and Winter Memories
Fall is the time of year I look forward to the most. I know that every season has its special nuances. But fall is the only time of year we’re truly encouraged to slow down and spend time with family. It’s universally understood that we’re all looking for that connection. That retreat to indoors as we slow down and start spending more time together.
Fall is also a welcome time to sneak outdoors every once in a while. Even though we look forward to shorter days, it’s still just as exciting to trek through a corn maze and hunt for pumpkins as it was to take a dip in a pool during summer.
The transition to fall also brings longings for winter. The re-emergence of crisp peppermint wakes us up against winter’s chill and warm coffee keeps us going on those cold days. Not to mention, the rest is just as refreshing as the chill in the air!
Are you looking for inspiration on things to do indoors? Check out my homemaking tab! I have several blog posts that will help you. From recipes to perfect, to skills to hone, to decor ideas. You can take advantage of your time indoors and read up on fun projects for inspiration!
Stereotypical Fall Activities
I would be remiss to not include the beloved fall activities we all know and love. Do you and your family do any of these? Let me know on Instagram or Facebook!
- Make sweet treats to pass out to friends and family. Our favorites are anything that include pumpkin – pumpkin cream cheese rolls, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin spice coffee creamer. Caramel apples are also notorious this time of year.
- Jump into a pile of leaves.
- Walk through a corn maze or pumpking patch.
- Decorate pumpkins. But don’t wash them in anything! When they start to rot, let your chickens have them. Save the seeds and roast them for a nice, seasonal snack.
- Attend a fall festival.
- Participate in seasonal games like hay rides, bobbing for apples, and corn mazes.
- Don’t forget to keep supporting local farmers! Apples are usually ready in the fall. And farmer’s markets are starting to wrap up. Get the last of your local produce!
- Host a bonfire.
- Plant your bulbs for next spring.
- Go for a hike and admire the fall colors.
- Fly a kite.
- Stuff a scarecrow.
- Try out a new recipe for a warm drink. My in-laws love hot apple cider. My husband loves hot cocoa.
Don’t miss these other great blog posts!
How to Reactivate a Dried Sourdough Starter
Everything You Need to Know About Raising Chickens – Post Roundup
How to Use Diatomaceous Earth Around Chickens
Marketing for Mamas
Did you know that before becoming a stay-at-home mom and urban homesteader I was a journalist? I’ve since transitioned into marketing roles, but my love and curiosity for communications remain. And so does yours! I’ve had several like-minded mamas wanting to get ahead in their marketing efforts, but they didn’t know where to start. That’s why I created the FREE Learning Marketing – Your Guide to Getting Started with Social Media Marketing. If you struggle with knowing WHO to market to and WHERE you should start – you need this guide. Head on over to this blog post for more information.
Helpful Links
This is the brand of dehydrator we use, but a more recent model.
This is a great option for a simple first aid kit to keep on hand.
Containers that seal for kitchen storage.
Twinkle lights are perfect for holiday decor!
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