Winter Preparations Pt1

Getting Ready for the Big Freeze

I have an idyllic picture in my mind of spending days relaxing by the fire, sipping coffee, snowshoeing, and crafting. After such a long and productive summer, I hope winter will be much more relaxed. With the barn fully functional, a wood shop to tinker in and a greenhouse to look forward to come spring, I’m ready to reap the reward of a lot of hard work.
But first, winter preparation.

Wood

Three cords worth of firewood rounds is what we usually aim to have set aside. Taking only standing dead trees, the wood is already mostly dry and ready for burning. I like to think of it as killing two birds with one stone since removing dry trees in the forest helps prevent fires. We hope to get one more cord for good measure, but I won’t be heartbroken if it doesn’t happen.

Doing some maintenance to the springhead

Water

The spring flows all winter, but getting to it in the deep snow becomes a problem. Instead of trying to move water in the winter, we’ll store it in the house, where it won’t freeze. One tote lasts just over a month. Four totes will last until March, but I can be snowed in as long as May, so I’ll be supplementing with snow melt collection from the roof.

Food

I’ve hiked to town for groceries before. The trip to town is long, but the trip back and the 3,000-foot climb is a lot longer. Snowmobiling the slope with weight behind is tricky, as the skis lift off the ground, resulting in a controlled snowmobile wheelie all the way up the hill. Which is cool, but not always when you’re simply trying to bring home some groceries. Having enough food ready for when I’m snowed in is paramount.

Meat, Eggs and Milk

The freezer is full. Mostly with my farmed rabbit meat, I froze trout that I caught locally, as well as salmon that a friend gave us. I like to pressure can meat, but I simply haven’t had the time. I have five hens that give me a minimum of two eggs per day, which is plenty. My goat is due to kid (give birth) at the end of November. She is huge, and I suspect she’ll have more than one. As soon as the kids start to eat solid foods, I’ll be able to milk her, at least enough for my coffee.

Thimbleberries and Huckleberries.

Fruit and Veggies

In addition to storing long-lasting things like carrots, onions, potatoes, and gourds, growing sprouts has been a great way to have greens in the middle of winter. I’ve dried wild potherbs, self-heal and stinging nettle, which will be a welcome addition to soups. I’m also going to try starting an indoor salad garden this year with a solar-powered growing light. If it works, fresh flavours in the middle of winter will be amazing.

I’ve learned that I prefer frozen berries over canned, so this year all of the wild huckleberries, thimbleberries and raspberries that we picked went into the freezer. I don’t eat a lot of jam, but I love putting berries into muffins and onto pancakes. As I write this, I’m thinking that I need to pull out some berries and make something tasty.

I have yet to buy emergency things like a few flats of Campbell’s soup, a bag of rice, sugar and flour.

A couple of winters ago we thought we’d be smart and get a keg of beer. Though it was cost-effective in principle, it wasn’t because the beer disappeared too fast! It was a fun lesson learned, but canned beers are the better option.

Snacks and Drinks

My days around the fire sipping coffee and reading a book would hardly be complete without something to munch on. Chocolate and cookies for me, sugary candies for Curt. I hope to spend lots of time snowshoeing, and the additional calories will be put to good use. We’ll likely spend 100 bucks each on junk food at the dollar store. When you think about the fact that it has to last 6 months - that’s pretty good!

There’s a lot to consider when getting ready to spend months snowed in on the mountain. In part 2, we’ll cover fuels, animals, entertainment, emergency kit and medications.

Thank you so much for reading, commenting, liking and subscribing 💫