Changing Seasons
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Photo Credit: Scott Phillips, Backwoods Adventures
The temperatures are falling, leaves are rustling in a brisk breeze and it just feels like fall of the year. The changing seasons make for changing routines, and I can’t help but think of the differences in those changes for me and you compared to the changes our mountain predecessors experienced.
On the farm it seems like you spend the whole summer getting ready for the winter. You plant corn and maybe some grains to feed the stock, cut hay, put up garden vegetables, and fatten a hog or calf to feed the family. It starts in the springtime with the first seeds planted and continues until this time of year when corn is picked, in days past, it would’ve been shocked up. It’s time to dig your ‘Arsh Taters (also known as Russet or White potatoes and within a few weeks the Sweet Taters. You may still be able to plant some “late garden” such as mustard and lettuce, turnips and cabbage, but the garden is certainly winding down by this time. If you haven’t gotten any wood stacked off the back porch, you’ll have to turn your attention to that pretty soon – and in my opinion, fall is the very best time for cutting wood because the snakes aren’t crawling and the cooler temperatures are certainly welcome in the woods. And any store-bought necessities must be stockpiled because wet and snowy roads will soon be impassable and the trip to town in an open wagon becomes miserable.
Bee ROck in Monterey, TN
Well in our modern lives maybe all of that doesn’t apply. Houses are heated centrally by warm, forced air whether or not you keep the fire. Our global food supply chain generally keeps store shelves stocked and our bellies full whether we made a success of the garden or not. And the salt trucks and plows will keep the roads ready to travel in our warm cars almost every day of the year. It seems like about the only changes we have to make is the addition of a coat and gloves when you head out the door.
Last spring may have awakened a lot of us to the advantages to the way our grandparents did it. When store shelves were suddenly bare, were you already stocked-up? Every winter has a lot of predictions, and this one is even worse as some predict food shortages and others suggest all of the pandemic woes will soon be forgotten. I’m curious, have you prepared differently for this winter?
