By the date anyway. Usually, we can expect snow that will stick around until spring a few weeks from now. We have even had deer hunting seasons in short sleeve shirts. Last couple of years we have had a definite trend back towards more traditional winters lasting in excess of 5 months instead of the 90 day calender winter.
We awoke to 4 inches of snow, and drizzling rain. Roads were terrible, and the commute unworkable especially taking into account expected continued levels of precipitation, so I started a pot of venison stew (last year’s deer, only a few meals left of those) and Violet and I headed outside.
Onions, garlic (yeah, a lot more garlic on hand than I planned, but it is food, so might as well eat it) lots of meat, salt, pepper, fat, and that on low while Violet and I were outside.
She is not an efficient mover of snow, but enthusiastic for a while at least.
Her greatest interest was in eating it.
Handful after glorious handful of the stuff.
Greens like kale taste a lot better, and are far more tender after they freeze. Does not kill the plants, for a while at least. They have never overwintered for me, but we get to eat them for quite a while if the past is any indication of the future.
Violet was willing to stop eating snow long enough to help me haul a bundle in for dinner. Winter is here. Has me a bit concerned. Certainly, not a good thing for a lot of my farmer friends, and for me, the deer I hung down at the farm, a decision based on last Friday’s extended forecast of daytime highs above freezing, and night time lows a bit below, was not the correct decision. Oh well. I have dealt with frozen deer before. Had to thaw them on my basement floor once in order to soften them up enough to cut them up. Hope it does not come to that. Extended forecast NOW indicates lows in the single digits, some below 0, and not letting up in at least the near future. Wish I had got my garlic mulched, but if we get enough snow over the top of it, it will be fine.
