Winter is a great time for us to relax a bit and get re-organized for the next year.
We anxiously look for new seed catalogs in our mailbox (Territorial Seeds is our favorite). We get a head start on pre-ordering bare root plants for spring delivery, like new grape vines and kiwis. Once we’ve decided on everything we will be growing, we start planning our garden space out using The Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Planner software. This will give us an inch by inch plan for everything new being planted and maintains our existing plants year after year. If you’ve never used a planning software before, this is definitely one to try!
We are also getting our garlic and shallot bulbs planted into pots right now which will be transplanted into the garden once the ground is thawed and not completely soggy from rain. We didn’t have great luck with our garlic last season, so this year we are going to pay extra good attention to it! That’s really it for the plants, though we will have some tree trimming coming up soon for the pear trees.
The animals still keep us busy especially when it gets into freezing temperatures. We have to make sure that their water dishes haven’t frozen over each morning and night and the goats go through their hay much faster, so it feels like we are constantly refilling their feeder. The chickens’ egg production drops significantly in the winter with only 2-3 eggs each week. Many farmers will add heat and light into the coop to extend the production time, but we like to keep things natural and give the girls a much deserved break. They will pick back up in early spring with eggs ready for sale by the time the farm stand opens up!
