Beyond the South End

 

 

Getting Ready for Winter

“Chill November's surly blast makes fields and forests bare and old man Winter with his frosty beard will soon be upon us.” - The Cultivator, Journal of the New York Agricultural Society, December, 1860. (from thefarmersmuseum.blogspot.com)

Although it may be a little early to get ready for winter in the northern climes, I have noticed on Facebook lately that some of my friends are “getting in wood” to prepare for a warm fire in their fireplaces or wood stoves this winter.

I remember in my childhood that we would drive by farmhouses this time of year and see houses banked with boughs against the coming cold. I don’t know if people still do that, but it seemed like a good idea to me at the time. It was kind of pretty really. I expect that spruce boughs were used the most often as they are the thickest of the softwoods.

Thinking about winter in Maine I did a little computer surfing and found some sites that should be useful to you. I also found some historical facts about the subject on a wonderful blog site called: thefarmersmuseum.blogspot.com. I found they also have a web site: http://farmersmuseum.org and you can also find them on Facebook.

The Farmers Museum they are talking about is a collection of restored farmhouses from colonial times that are located on 5775 State Highway 80 in Cooperstown, New York. If you are interested in old farmhouses please go to their sites or even try to visit the museum if a fall foliage trip is in the works for you. It would be a nice side trip. Use last week’s fall foliage blog as a guide.

I found some interesting historical facts on the farmer’s museum blog I’d like to share with you. To read more, go to the blog itself.

Some thoughts to keeping a farmhouse warm in winter began with its very design in the first place. Farmhouses were placed close to roads for easier access and for snow clearing. Houses and barns and other outbuildings were placed to shield humans and animals from the worst of the winter weather. Sometimes all the buildings would be connected so that you could walk from one to the other without going out-of-doors. However, this was rare because of the threat of fire.
 

Early colonial homes like Cape Cods, saltboxes and federal styles were designed for the cold weather. They had large centrally massed chimneys so that they could have several fireplaces built of large amounts of brick to hold the heat in. They had steep roofs so the snow would slide off and small rooms with low ceilings to conserve heat. We once thought the low ceilings came about because people were shorter in those days. They may have indeed been shorter, but that was certainly not the reason for the low ceilings.

If you’ve ever restored an old colonial house you may have come across many unusual things in between the walls like old shoes, skeletons of small animals or even coins and currency. You won’t find insulation, however.

Insulation, in fact, has been around since Greek and Roman times. In early colonial times, however, insulation was expensive and was only reserved for buildings that were very exposed to the elements. Otherwise insulation could consist of loosely laid brick or “noggin” placed between the vertical elements of a building’s frame. Tightly packed sawdust, wood chips or other materials may also be used.
 

Most farmers, however, simply banked their houses as I’ve described above. In colonial times, straw might also have been used or other loose materials. This banking helped keep the foods in the cellar, like potatoes, from freezing and banking also kept the house a bit warmer. The picture above shows a “banked” house.

 

In the latter part of the 19^th century other materials began to be used for insulation such as wood fiber from lumber mills; animal hair from slaughterhouses; and cotton and flax remnants from textile mills. The most unusual material however was the use of eel grass which is the seaweed you see in piles along New England beaches.

Farmers Almanac

Any New Englander worth his salt will consult this old traditional magazine to see what their winter will be like. Here’s this year’s map. Be forewarned.

 

Two other sites that may be useful to you are a preparedness checklist which can be found at:

www.emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/winter/beforestorm/supplylists.asp.

The other site is www.howstuffworks.com with will show you five ways to garden in winter. If you like fresh produce from your own garden this may be of interest to you.

Good Bye September

As we say goodbye to September once again let’s reminisce about the songs of September. Remember these songs? They were all popular in the month of September: “Try to Remember,” by Jerry Orbach, 1960; “See You in September,” the Tempos, 1959; “September Night,” Van Morrison, 1983; “Autumn Leaves,” one of my very favorite piano numbers, Eva Cassidy, 1978; and “September,” Earth, Wind, and Fire, 1978.

Let all the football widows lament once again in September that this month brings about so many football games that you fear you won’t see your husband again till after the Super Bowl in January or beyond.

Getting Ready for Winter

I leave you with a poem I may have posted here before.

Getting Ready for Winter

Autumn wind swept skeleton leaves under my door.

It rattled the windows and wound its wily way

   Around to the back yard patio.

Another gust shoed the summer dust away,

   Cleaning nature’s house.

I watched an apple fall amongst rusty leaves,

   Rolling to nestle with the rest,

   and I noticed the ash tree’s hair

   grows thinner every day, while

   Tabby’s fur grows thicker.

The night air stings her nostrils now and she

   Scratches to come inside to nuzzle

   Down into her favorite lap as if to say,

   “I’m ready for winter now.”---Sandra Sylvester

Give your favorite pet a good pat and try to enjoy the fall foliage before you think about getting everything ready for winter.

Thanks for listening.