This week, was the beginning of our winter farm routine. (I hope).

John’s Routine: 

Wake up. Put on warm clothes.

Mix up feed.

Feed calves.

Water & feed cows out on corn stalks. 

Evening. Repeat. Next day. Repeat. Repeat every day until time to bring cows home off corn stalks.

Sierra’s Routine

Wake up. Make coffee. Eat. Read bible. Write. Get up and stretch. Think about Thanksgiving. Think about Christmas. Look forward to decorating. Order gifts online. Write. Lunch. Check red heifers. Write. Quit writing. Stretch/Snack/Call home/Clean. Write. Break. Sew. Supper. (Mine’s not as nailed down as John’s.)

Farm Life

This is the one time of year when things seem to be calmer on the farm, the big push of harvest is over. It is a slower time, used to catch up on paying bills and record keeping. And, it is finally time to read the farm magazines that have gone untouched through harvest. It gets dark by 5:30, and we are looking forward to spending the evenings in the house. (I bet you are too!)

More good things – the calves are used to their feed ration and gaining weight well. The cows are happy on corn stalks. Happy cows = Happy farmers.

This is also the time of year when we see our friends more. There are more “community functions.” Everybody pretty much calls that stuff off from about planting – harvest. Summertime is too short to waste eating out or at the movies. Why not do that when it is 10 below & dark so early? 

For example, I cannot remember having any concrete social events planed for the weekend in months. This weekend?

• Friday night: the bar/restaurant in town is serving chicken fried steak. We have “reservations.”
• Saturday night: dueling pianos in town
• Sunday: church

What are we going to do with all of this structure!? Relax, read books, sew – I hope. Then, when February/March rolls around we’ll be mentally-physically-emotionally ready for the next big event:

CALVING.

To see what summer & fall are like on a farm: click here. It is waaaaayyy different!Summer.