When would you rather clean out the gutters and trim your overgrown trees — on a warm day or in the dead of winter? Summer and fall are the perfect times to work outside, or take care of minor indoor projects that could become bigger issues during a freeze. When you curl up by a wood-burning stove rather than stand outside fixing fences, you’ll be delighted you took the time to prepare.
1. Deep Clean the Barn
Barns are inherently messy, but you still have to clean them occasionally. What better time to do it than when the weather is pleasant?
After moving the animals out, take an afternoon to sweep, power wash and sanitize the barn. Rake out the straw and any manure, then add it to your compost pile. Wipe down the windows. Thoroughly clean all animal food dishes, storage containers, floors and water troughs. Wash horse tack with water and saddle soap.
The space won’t just look better afterward — it can keep your livestock healthier, too. After cleaning, allow the shelter to fully dry before letting your animals back in.
2. Seal Cracks
Seal and insulate any cracks around your house, greenhouses, and barns in the summer or fall. It prevents cold drafts from getting in when the air turns cooler. Additionally, it keeps pests from joining you in your warm, cozy house as they seek shelter from the cold. Sealing cracks and adding insulation can also help you save an estimated 15% on heating and cooling costs.
Look for gaps around windows, doors, and the junctions between countertops and walls. Use caulk or weatherstripping to fill them in as appropriate.
3. Prune Overhanging Tree Branches
Overhanging branches can get loaded with snow in the winter, making them prone to collapse if you don’t trim them. Plus, it’s better to do this risky task when there isn’t frost on the ground — you don’t want to climb a ladder when it’s icy outside. Remove any tree limbs that could pose a risk to your buildings or block roadways on your property.
4. Insulate Spigots
Outdoor faucets can freeze in the winter and cause burst pipes. By putting insulative covers on them, you help prevent them from rupturing during a hard frost.
Are you done watering for the season? Release any remaining water from your garden hoses, then disconnect them and hang them in the barn or tool shed.
5. Fix Broken Fences
The ground is likely soft enough to repair your fences in summer and fall. Additionally, the wire won’t be cold enough to hurt your fingers or be difficult to maneuver. Get your fences in order now so you don’t wake up to a 3:00 a.m. winter call about your cows getting out.
6. Plant Fruit Trees
If you live in a warm climate, autumn is the perfect time to plant an orchard. Many fruit trees do best when you start them in the fall. Apples, peaches, plums and cherries tend to prefer an autumn planting since the cooler weather makes the saplings feel less stressed as they establish roots.
No matter when you plant them, it will still be a few years before the trees start producing fruit. Why not start now?
7. Protect the Water Heater
Depending on where your water heater is, it might be subject to cold outdoor air. Wrap it with an insulative blanket to keep it warm. If you have an electric water heater, you can also insulate underneath the tank to prevent heat loss through the floor. Always turn off the water heater — and breaker, if you have an electric water heater — before installing an insulative blanket.
8. Clean the Gutters
Cleaning the gutters can be a wet, messy job that involves standing on a ladder. It’s best to do it in the summer or fall for safety reasons.
Plus, removing leaves, sticks and other debris from your gutters is a good idea so they don’t freeze. If your gutters freeze, the water from melting snow can flow out the sides and spill onto your deck. That creates a slipping hazard in the winter.
9. Chop Wood
If you rely on a stove or fireplace for warmth — or just enjoy sitting by a fire on a cold winter’s night — consider chopping wood during the summer or fall. You’ll need to store it for at least a year before burning since fresh-cut wood has a high moisture content.
Wood you cut into uniform pieces is called cordwood. A cord is a stack of cordwood at least 128 cubic feet in size or 4 by 4 by 8 feet. You can store a cord in a shed or barn to keep it dry. Chopping and storing your own wood is a great way to boost your self-sufficiency and maintain your property at the same time.
10. Aerate the Fields
Aeration involves puncturing the soil with tiny holes so water, nutrients and oxygen can reach grass roots. Alleviating soil compaction helps plants grow deep roots and lush leaf blades. In nature, the hooves of migrating animals churning the soil accomplish this task, but on a homestead, you may need to do it yourself.
You should aerate your fields during the growing season. Doing so lets the grass recover and fill in any holes where you removed soil plugs. In the fall, you can aerate cool-season grasses.
11. Clean Out the Fireplace and Wood-Burning Stove
One of the most satisfying feelings when winter rolls around is to curl up indoors by a fire. To do that, you must have a clean, functional fireplace or wood-burning stove free of soot. Stoves require more frequent cleaning than fireplaces because they produce large amounts of ash.
To avoid having a smoky, ashy haze in your living room, use a small broom to scoop the ashes from your fireplace or stove into a dustpan. Put the ashes in a trash bag or heavy paper bag — if you like, you can use them to amend your soil or compost.
Next, sweep the grate or andirons, and take them outside to clean further. With a few teaspoons of dish soap and a damp scrub brush, wet the grate and andiron, scrub them, and rinse them well. Set them aside and let them fully dry.
Meanwhile, use a bristle brush or hand broom to sweep each wall of the stove or fireplace from top to bottom. Repeat this process until the ashes are all on the bottom, then sweep or vacuum them out.
Lastly, you can wipe down the stove or fireplace with a mixture of dish soap, water and baking soda, then rinse it off with warm water. Put the grate or andirons back inside to finish the job.
12. Service All Vehicles
Summer and fall is an excellent time to perform vehicle maintenance like rotating tires, doing oil changes and replacing hydraulic fluid. It’s also wise to winterize your vehicles if you live in an area that gets heavy snow or ice in the winter. For example, you may need to put chains on your tractor in late fall to help it get better traction. Ensure you have a gasoline or diesel supply to get your farm vehicles through the winter.
13. Create Emergency Kits
While working on your vehicles, you can also create an emergency supply kit to keep in your car or truck. This kit should include things like food, water, blankets, hand warmers and a hand-crank flashlight. Ensure your vehicles also have at least one spare tire available, and keep a bag of kitty litter or sand in the back in case you find yourself in an icy spot.
14. Preserve Fruits and Vegetables
Summer and fall bring bountiful harvests. After you’ve made as many fresh tomato pies or peach cobblers as you can stomach, you can dehydrate, freeze, can, or pickle the rest of your fruits and vegetables for long-term storage. That way, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor all winter long.
15. Stock the Pantry
Even the most prolific gardeners can’t grow everything they want to eat for the winter — that is, unless they’re satisfied with eating the same few meals over and over! Stock the pantry with plenty of staple foods to get a little variety in your winter diet. Buy enough dry and canned goods to get you through a winter storm if necessary.
16. Plant Flower Bulbs
Autumn is the perfect time to plant fall bulbs that will become gorgeous spring flowers. Tulips, crocus and daffodils are perfect for fall planting, as are hyacinths, crocuses and snowdrops. In the spring, your flowerbeds will burst with blossoms you can sell at the farmers market or simply admire.
17. Plant Fall and Winter Vegetables
Depending on your growing zone, there are countless vegetables you can plant in the summer and fall to harvest in the fall or winter. Examples include carrots, spinach, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, radishes, cauliflower, beets and turnips. Other crops that thrive in summer or fall conditions include garlic, pumpkins, arugula, peas and onions.
18. Rake Leaves to Make Compost
When piles of leaves are falling at your feet, why not take advantage of them? Rake them up and chop them into smaller pieces with a woodchipper. If you don’t have a woodchipper, a lawnmower or machete can also get the job done. Chopping leaves increases their surface area so they can decompose faster.
Then, add them to a compost pile or worm bin to turn them into nutrient-rich soil. You can use the dirt to amend your garden or build raised beds. You can even bag and sell it to other homesteaders, farmers and gardeners.
19. Prepare Your Beehives
Beekeepers living in cold climates, take note — you need to ensure your hives have enough food for the winter. The amount and type they need will depend on their strain, their current health and your local climate.
You should also check the hives for pests before winter. In late summer and early fall, varroa mite populations can explode, so it’s a good time to exterminate them if you notice an infestation.
To keep your bees warm, build a windbreak around the hive, especially if you live in a windy climate. You can use hay bales, a snow fence, pallets, a foam insulation board or even live plants on a trellis to protect the hives. Plants can double as a windbreak and a food source for your bees.
Depending on how cold it is where you live, you might need to insulate or wrap your hives. You can either use tar paper or a Bee Cozy wrap. Don’t use tightly wrapped plastic because it can suffocate your bees. Wrapping hives is important mainly in extreme northern climates that get very cold, prolonged winters.
Another way to keep your bees warm is to add extra insulation under the hive’s outer cover. It will help prevent heat loss from below the hive. Straw, burlap and newspaper make great insulators that also absorb moisture.
20. Plant Cover Crops
A cover crop prevents the topsoil in your fields from blowing away after you harvest your fall crops. The right cover crop will restore depleted nutrients from the soil to prepare an area for spring planting. Additionally, it can serve as food or animal feed, and prevent weeds from taking over a fallow field. Sow cover crop seeds like winter rye, wheat, clover or forage peas in the fall after your last vegetable harvest.
Gearing Up for Winter
Before that first bitter chill hits the air, take some time to prepare for the cold. Many of the chores that prepare your property for cold weather are actually the most enjoyable parts — planting, pruning, animal care and the like are what make living on a homestead fulfilling. When you’ve checked everything off your list, you can spend less freezing outdoors and more time staying warm. Start getting ready for the winter today.
[Note: This was a guest post.]
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