Getting Ready for Winter -- Not Quite There Yet

Our snow a few weeks ago put an end to grazing our animals as they did all summer, so we needed straw to place in the barns. Unfortunately, most of the farmers in the Turtle Mountains had just cut their straw and it was laying in the fields as the snow/rains came. Jim called around to find someone willing to sell us some bales, but at that time there was none to be found.

Thankfully Jim checked with the grain elevator in town, and they recommended a couple of farmers. One farmer was willing to sell some of his bales. Instead of hauling them a few miles to our farm like we did last year, they had to make round trips of a little over 30 miles, only being able to carry 2 bales at a time with the truck and our small trailer.



I would have been interested to see how they managed to get the bales into the truck down in the field where they had been cut and baled.

Getting them out was a lot less of a problem.

Even though the straw bales weighed a lot less than hay bales, it took 3 to maneuver them into the barn.

The guys have also been busy cutting and stacking wood for heating our house. Thankfully we have lots of trees on our land that can be harvested and dry enough so they can be used this winter. Lately we've only been using the stove to take the chill out of the house in the mornings, and then allowing the fire to burn itself out during the day. Having the unfinished house above us is very good insulation.

The unfinished rooms upstairs are also good for drying potatoes. They were pretty wet when dug out of the ground while it was snowing! I'm not sure what the plan is for winter storage of the potatoes.

My tomatoes have been maturing slowly but surely. Yesterday I canned 14 quarts, and will do more again tomorrow. The buckets were formerly used to hold young trees from a nursery.

Once again we have the pleasant aroma of onions drying in the dehydrator. We have it set up in the kitchen area, and at times the scent can be rather overpowering. I would rather have it down here than upstairs, since sometimes the timer doesn't shut off the dehydrator when it's supposed to. We've given it a workout over the years, so I understand why it can be a bit tired.

I must admit I will be very thankful when my canning is over for the season. Then it's on to butchering pigs and deer!