I vividly remember the October 2011 snowstorm that cancelled Halloween and closed school for two full weeks. Our house was without power for nine days. The appliances were electric and the gas fireplace had an electric starting mechanism. We were cold to the core, and though we had plenty of food, there was no way to heat it up.
After seven or eight days, my dad was able to get his hands on a propane tank for the grill. I remember that night, bundled up in my bed. I watched an episode of Gilmore Girls on my mini DVD player, and I had two thermoses – one of hot chocolate, and one of corn. Literally just a can of corn. To date, that can of corn is the most delicious thing I have ever eaten.
It was impossible to not think of those nine days – and that can of corn – with winter storm Fern on the horizon. That 2011 experience, having occurred at such a formative time in my life, was likely one of the drivers that inspired this homestead.
My area wound up with approximately 18 inches of snow. I never lost power, but I wasn’t terrified of the thought; I could have endless cans of corn heated on the wood stove, no power needed.
Food Production
I went through all of my seeds, some of which are dated as old as 2014. The only risk of planting old seeds is that they might have a lower germination rate, so I simply plant more of them. I should be able to use up several half-packets of beans, cucumbers, carrots, squash, and kale.
My adopted mom and I combined forces on an order from Territorial to fill in the gaps. I’ll write up a recap when it comes in, but it includes seed potatoes, Jerusalem Artichoke, and lots more.
I also found myself at Heirloom Market in Wethersfield, Connecticut – a super cute coffee shop/cafe that also sells Baker Creek seeds. I tend to avoid Baker Creek these days; I’ve had germination issues in the past, and they often market their seeds with stories that don’t seem to hold water. However, the temptation was too strong – I couldn’t resist buying a few packets to try out.
Aesthetic Utility
I bought a chicken coop! I have gone back and forth about whether to build or buy a chicken coop for a while, and ultimately it became clear that trying to learn how to build a coop in time for spring chicks (while also juggling the installation of the garden, a full work schedule, and dozens of other tasks) was not going to be feasible. I shopped around at local companies and ultimately got a deal on a really high quality, beautiful chicken coop.
I was able to negotiate a little bit – I picked the display model for a $150 discount, brought my adopted mom for a $100 previous customer discount, and agreed to let them deliver it whenever they are in the area for another $50 discount. In total, it came out to approximately $2,200.
It is a 6×4 with six nesting boxes, two screened windows, a full door for cleaning with a screen insert for hot days, roosting bars, and a glassboard floor for easy cleaning. I love that the green metal roof matches my horse barn. I will have to construct a run – and, well, decide what kind of chickens I want. 🙂
I also finally made some moves regarding bedroom decor. There is not a single room in this house that is actually complete – there are bare walls that should have art, chairs that need custom cushions, and blank spaces where there should be furniture. I intend to curate everything with time, but it has been a while since the last addition.
In the fall, I bought a beautiful hand-woven Matelasse bedspread from Rosewood Cotton, but found finishing touches to be a roadblock. I came to the conclusion that a combination of white pillow shams and beige decorative pillows would be the best fit, but struggled to navigate the options I found online. One afternoon, while walking through my living room, two beige decorative pillows caught my eye. They were included with my couch, but four pillows is simply too much for comfortable sitting, so the two decorative ones were shifted to a chair. Since I walk past them every day, I essentially tuned them out.
I think they look great on the bed. The final finishing touches will be one small dark brown decorative pillow and a matching throw. I’m tempted to commit to making them myself, but I have too many projects on my hands as it is. 🙂
Energy Independence
I am trying to make it through the winter without turning on the boiler. The wood stove and the mini splits have been sufficient, and the basement temperature hasn’t dropped below 50 degrees until now; during the winter storm and simultaneous cold snap, the basement got down to 45 degrees. So as not to wait until the last minute, I decided to infuse some heat into the basement by starting a fire in the old King Circulator wood stove.
When I had my chimney swept and inspected in October, I got confirmation that the basement wood stove was safe to use. I also saw it in action when I came for the home inspection last January. The previous owners used it almost exclusively.
I started a fire as normal before realizing that the damper was closed; it’s the old style damper on the actual chimney pipe, which is a bit different from my modern wood stove upstairs. I reached to grab the damper and the entire stove pipe moved under my hand. A little more finagling and I found that the whole pipe moves back and forth pretty readily.
I had no smoke leakage or any other signs that this might be concerning, but it made me unwilling to build too big of a fire or leave it unsupervised, so after the first round of logs I let it go out. I’ve done a little research and it seems like this isn’t wildly dangerous, but I still want to get confirmation from a professional so I’m refraining from using it at this time. The brief fire brought the temperature up several degrees, so at least I know I have the option if the basement temp gets too low.
Moving Forward
Despite the seemingly unending cold snap, spring is just around the corner. There is a lot to do: plan the garden installation, start seeds, order chicks, build a run, build the cold frames, and keep up with firewood are all on the immediate horizon.
Stay warm,
KC