Winter is Coming

Hey Tribe, I find myself musing about how the days are quickly getting shorter and all of the preparations required to get ready for winter.

Daylight is fading

Today’s sunrise was 0641 and our sunset is going to be at 2050. To contrast that, for the longest day of the year-the summer solstice (21 June), our sunrise was at 0549 and the sunset was 2138, with true nightfall starting at 2310. As our days grow shorter, I’m looking ahead to the winter solstice (21 December 2022), where the sunrise will be at 0822 and sunset is 1658, with true nightfall at 1811. What a difference!

The long summer days are great for gardening, but our wild temperature swings make for a very short growing season. We don’t generally plant our outdoor gardens until after Memorial Day. If you follow our Facebook page, you can see videos I’ve done on my homemade greenhouse and its successes and failures!

natural Abundance

Wild blueberries are abundant this year and I need to dedicate some time to go picking. They grow all over our area, particularly areas that went through the forest fire we experienced ten years ago, which wiped out 23,000+ acres. They are small and very sweet. I like to freeze them to use later in pies, smoothies, or topping my waffles.

heat

Firewood was the focus the last two days. I had several logs to cut up and split. I now have a pile of split wood to stack in my bins. Each year I rotate bins so that newly cut wood can season before I have to use it. There is one bin on the very left that you can barely see, but it is empty. I am planning on buying two full cords of wood to top off my bins. A full cord is 8′ w x 4′ h x 4′ deep. Pieces are typically 16-18″ long. Just as a contrast, a face cord is 8′ w x 4′ h by the 16-18″ deep.

feeling overwhelmed

How do you manage your list of tasks? I find the challenge is prioritizing what needs to be done. My to-do list is huge. I have basic, routine tasks such as mowing the lawn, maintaining my solar batteries, tree trimming, etc, and they sometimes feel overwhelming. My longer term list includes some light construction projects, harvesting food from the greenhouse and preserving it, to trying to expand my food preps. The list is much longer than that, but you get the idea.

My technique is to make a list and put subtasks under them so I can check them off and at least feel like I’m making some progress towards my goals. I’d like to hear how you manage your list and what preparations you have to get done for you and your family! Please comment and share!