How to Ready Your Barn for the Winter

Winter is just around the corner, and that means you need to prepare your animal shelters to weather the cold. It’s best to get started as soon as possible, else you’ll find that it’s extremely difficult (if not impossible) to complete certain tasks when the real cold hits.

Here are some tips on how to winterize your barn, so that you and your livestock can have an easy hassle-free winter!

Organize and Clean Everything

Fall is a great time to do a thorough cleaning of your barn. Cleaning and organizing is integral in keeping your barn functioning smoothly through the winter, especially as days get shorter and the weather gets colder and wetter.

Get rid of any extra and non-usable supplies you might have, like empty feed bags, broken equipment, or piles of junk. Dust off any surfaces, including shelving and lighting fixtures. Hose down stalls and mats, and clean and/or replace all the bedding.

Your cleaning dissuades winter dust from settling in, and also helps deter rodents that tend to take up residence in warm spaces like your barn during the winter time.

Prepare Your Water Supply

Making sure your barn has a clean, unfrozen supply of water for animal care is integral in the winter months. 

Continue reading How to Ready Your Barn for the Winter at Small Footprint Family.

Women undergrads research climate change and sustainability

Five undergraduate women from Harvard College talk about how they spent the summer researching climate and ecological stresses.

Coconut Milk Shampoo Sticks

It’s no secret the planet is awash in plastic trash, so anything we can do to avoid using single-use plastic items like bottles, straws, and bags is a win for both conserving resources and preventing pollution.

By using a shampoo bar in lieu of bottled shampoo, you’ll get beautiful locks while reducing waste, and saving both natural resources and money. And by making your own shampoo bars and soaps, you’ll save even more money, and feel great about the safe, food-grade ingredients you are using to cleanse your hair and body. 

Simple & Natural Soapmaking

Soapmaking is a fun and practical hobby, as well as a valuable homesteading skill. Homemade soap also makes a gorgeous, affordable gift for almost any occasion.

But even if you just want to dabble, my favorite book on the subject, Simple & Natural Soapmaking, is a very thorough resource for any brand-new soap maker, with fun ideas for someone with more experience as well.

In her comprehensive guide, herbalist Jan Berry offers detailed tutorials and step-by-step photographs for making traditional cold-process soap and the more modern hot-process method with a slow cooker.

Continue reading Coconut Milk Shampoo Sticks at Small Footprint Family.