Grass Farming

The Homestead is FROZEN

We don’t have a video, but I think I have a good excuse. It has been downright, positively TOO COLD TO FILM!! It hasn’t been over 32*F since Christmas, and seeing single digits on the thermometer has become pretty normal.

Plus, I don’t think Anna and I are too photogenic with umpteen layers of winter gear on.  Good grief, my sheep didn’t even recognize me the first time I went out to the barn looking like an overstuffed winter scarecrow.

So….I thought I’d give you a written update instead of a video since I can do that from the warmth of the house while drinking coffee.
All our animals have been handling this never-ending-arctic weather extremely well. The pigs have made themselves a huge, toasty hay nest and are sleeping the winter away, and the chickens and rabbits are happily munching all the extra feed we have been putting out. The cows are getting fatter, the goats are more than happy to stay in their shed, and the sheep don’t seem to know anything is different than usual.  BUT, the sheep are FINALLY using their calf hutch barn shelters!  I guess the weather finally became cold enough for them to bite the bullet and quit sleeping under the stars.

(If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out THIS VIDEO where my sheep are sleeping out in the snow.)

hair sheep winter housing central pa homestead

 

See! I even snapped a photo with my phone as proof!

Well, I need to go chop ice off the water buckets…again.

So till next week, keep warm and stay hydrated.

Sarah

Video

It SNOWED! ~ Winter Weather Barn Chores

central pa snow farm homestead pretty

Did it snow at your house last night?  It did here!  I’m just a big kid when it comes to snow. Even though it makes work around the farm a bit more challenging, I still absolutely love snow.

Anna and I made you a video this morning with all our grazing animals in the barns and enjoying the snow.  Well, most of them were enjoying the snow.  You will see that not all my darlings enjoy the snow as much as I do.

Enjoy!
Sarah

Uncategorized

February is for Butchering

We are currently being held in the icy grip of February, a memorably cold February.  Sunday night’s temp is going to be in the negatives!  But I’m not too unhappy about it.  In fact, I’m thrilled.  Before you think I’ve got a frostbitten brain, I should explain that there is one awfully large beef hanging in dad’s meat cooler AKA garage. Large is an understatement.  HUGE!   While we were skinning it out on Monday, we once again considered breeding smaller cows in the future. 😜 Cold weather like this is wonderful for chilling meat.  Actually, it’s a bit too cold, but we have a heater on a thermostat to keep the garage just above freezing.

02-2016 beef

So this weekend, we will be cutting roasts and grinding burger. A lot of it.  We will drink way too much hot coffee.  We will probably get lost as we try to find the different cuts that are in our butchering book. (But hopefully we are better at cutting roasts this year. Last year after searching in vain for the chuck roasts, we cut some odd roasts from the rump that we labeled Rump Chucks. Bet you never had one of those before!)

It’s going to be fun. 🙂