So many of us are working our way toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle. With that in mind we here at NDiN wanted to share some general guidelines of what to plan for on a monthly basis. Whether you’re a gardener, a beekeeper, a forager, or you keep animals, hopefully our monthly guides will help you plan ahead for the month. Depending on your exact climate you may find you need to adjust your schedule depending on your region.
Now that Winter is officially here most of us will be spending a lot more time indoors. For those in the more Southern regions, outdoor work is manageable on warmer days. It’s a good time to focus on the indoors, keeping warm, and getting a jump on this year’s activities.
Indoors:
- Take down and store holiday ornaments and decorations.
- Update your address book from holiday cards and gift envelopes if you’ve saved them.
- Clean out your files in preparation for tax time. Rid yourself of out-of-date warranty cards (update if necessary) and manuals. Schedule service appointments for extended warranties.
- Clean out dryer vents with a wire hanger and vacuum cleaner. Wash mesh filters with soap and a scrub brush to allow for better air flow.
- When finding new homes for holiday gifts, clean out unused items and donate those in great shape to your favorite charity.
- It’s also a great time to photograph your belongings, room by room, for insurance purposes.
- Start planning your spring garden. Look at gardening catalogs, websites, and blogs (like us!) to get ideas for what to do this year and when. Purchase seeds by March to guarantee delivery and stock.
- Research and prepare for any animal purchases for the year.
- Keep a tray of water and spray bottle near indoor plants to adjust humidity levels, especially if you have central air. Running the heater can dry them out quickly and cover leaves with dust.
Outdoors/Garden/Wildlife:
- Keep fresh water available and free of ice for birds and wildlife.
- If you’ve already begun to put out birdseed continue to do so. They’re now relying on you as a food source.
- If you live in a climate with mild winters, this month may be a good time to dig new beds. You may also want to repair or build new composting bins to be prepared for this year’s cleanup.
- Keep driveways and walks free of snow and ice. Have shovels, plows, and salt/brine accessible and stocked.
Animal Husbandry:
- Early birthing will begin late next month for some of you. Make any preparations necessary to help mammas and babies along.
- Keep barns and other animal shelters clean to help prevent illness and discourage wild critters from nesting. Change hay often, keep tools cleaned up, and be sure to keep water free of ice.
- Put a light out for an extra two hours in the evening for your chickens. It will help keep their coop warm on colder evenings and promote more egg laying.
OK, so that chicken standing in front of the heat lamp is so funny – LOVE IT!
Oh, tax time, I’ve been spending the last week finishing up all the accounting, doing reports, closing down files, purging ledgers, etc finishing up my year for the few businesses I do bookkeeping for. I can’t wait for taxes to be over. I try to get them done ASAP in Jan so I can move on to garden planning and this things I really want to do.
Thanks for mentioning the birds, we have a heated birdbath we put out for them all winter and we feed them as well. I just purchased some pastured beef suet for them instead of the stuff from the store. I’ll just put out the chunks of raw suet with seed along side. This is actually much cheaper and so much healthier!
I respectfully differ slightly regarding the light for the chickens… Having the light come on in the morning around 4 AM gets my hens up and going for the day, such that most of their laying is finished by noontime. Further, since it’s coldest in the early AM, any heat generated will provide greater benefit at that time than in the evening.
I have read concerns that having the light turn off suddenly at night could leave the chickens disoriented and unable to find suitable perches for the night, though I haven’t ever witnessed that myself.
Aside from that minor quibble, your list looks SO much like mine!!! Happy New Year
Great points, Michelle. I haven’t yet noticed any disorientation, although the girls do act ditzy quite often! On particularly cold nights I switch to a red heat lamp so that they keep warm without the intrusion of a bright light keeping them awake. Of course my girls are, ahem, ditzy enough that they only go into their lovely coop to lay, not to roost for the night – so I have to give them extra special attention anyhow.
Perhaps next winter I’ll give your A.M. light a try!