Farming in a Polar Vortex

If last week was the first taste of winter, this week was an unwanted second helping. Two weeks without market, I’m started to feel furloughed by Mother Nature.The weatherman has been lying to me for years, but Saturday night he erred in the opposite direction, with me receiving more snow than promised. Had I been able to reach the state road two miles away, I would have made it to market, but snow in the driveway alone exceeded the van’s clearance. As my second marketless Sunday advanced, to clear the driveway required two people plowing for three hours to make it to the end of the lane. And that was the easy part.By sunset, temperatures had dropped into the teens. Winds gusted to 40 mph, pushing the feels like number further into the negative teens.Supportive texts from customers chirped, “Stay warm!” but a few questioned, “What do you do when it gets this cold?”There’s no option to call in sick or take a vacation day. I can joke about feeling like a federal worker because I, too, must work without getting paid. Unfortunately, I think the weather will break before the impasse in the Senate.The first step in dealing with sub-zero temperatures is to be properly outfitted. I am a firm believer there is no such thing a bad weather, only being improperly dressed. To work outside, my sub-freezing repertoire includes two wool hats, a fleece headband and fleece neck gaiter that doubles as a balaclava. The outer hat with horns may be funny, but the extended hood creates a draft-free seal tucked inside the collar of my Patagonia shell/fleece coat which has worn well as my winter go-to gear for over twenty years. Similarly, a technical turtleneck in the most garish color of turquoise I scored at the annual parking lot sale at Patagonia when I lived near their headquarters in southern California gets pulled out along with a bright red wool/cotton LL Bean union suit. Combined with a pair of insulated bib overalls, I can work for several hours in the worst weather winter can toss at me without being chilled.Don’t get me wrong, it’s still cold as my feet and hands constantly remind me. Sure, I add a nice set of thin wool glove liners to the flannel lined leather gloves, but there is always an unexpected chore requiring the dexterity of bare hands that leave my fingers stinging from the bitter cold. And feet, they bear the brunt of it all. Despite neoprene vulcanized on an inch of rubber tread, the icy ground manages to penetrate through to two pair of socks, a thin technical pair favored by ice climbers and the other a thick pair made of alpaca wool. Sometimes I also toss an air-activated handwarmer in each boot’s toe, too. To top off the whole ensemble, a set of Yak Trax so I don’t slip on the ice, of which there is plenty.Winter preparation doesn’t stop with clothing. Exposed areas of my face get a slathering of rendered lard instead of typical face cream that contains water. Coconut oil works too, but I prefer to smell like chicharrones instead of a piña colada.Perhaps the most critical step in an arctic blast is planning. With five different weather apps on my phone, I’ve got a decent idea of what to expect and when. Armed with this information and past experience, I have found it to be less infuriating to deal proactively with cold-related issues that are akin to chasing one’s tail: not having enough feed, critical diesel engine equipment without a block/oil heater, and watering systems that rely on hoses are unable to be insulated or heated and source from standard spigots, which are subject to freezing tight and breaking and my personal pet peeve.Animals will consume twice as much hay and water to stay warm, so I set out as much feed that is needed to get the animals through the coldest nights and check on the water situation several times a day. Watering is always the last thing that gets done when it comes to chores in sub-zero temperatures. Something always happens that results in a wet glove or splashed clothing which freezes stiff within minutes. Better to be wet for only the time it takes to walk from the barn to the house instead of for the full duration of chores.The animals aren’t the only ones needing to be sufficiently hydrated and well fed. This is the time of year I break out the stash of marrow bones and rendered goose fat—high octane fuel for staying warm. Working outside in the dry cold, it’s easy to become dehydrated, so as soon as I shed my gear when I get back to the house, the kettle gets turned on for a big mug of my favorite from Pearl Fine Teas, which now is a chai I can bump up with coconut milk for more energy.Did I mention the sheep are also having babies? Lambs are born wearing their own wool sweaters and are the hardiest of babies, but in weather extremes being vigilant is a must.So yes, I am staying warm even when keeping my customers fed requires working outside during a polar vortex. It’s just what farmers do.