It’s been a long slow year, but we are gaining ground.

The last of my fat lambs have been sold and new lambs should arrive in April. I hope the weather is better.

I have heated my house with wood for 34 of my 43 farming years. It surely does heat you up two or three times before you burn it (the work, that is)—or it should heat you up; my strong son and loving wife do most of the work now. I still keep the fire going and help unload the trailer loads of wood. Two healthy strong Amish men cut and split the wood for me. For what it is worth as a good rule of thumb: one acre of mature forest will supply one cord of firewood per year (cull trees), and the supply will never run out. It is renewable and sustainable.

Today is the first time I have been warm in weeks. The backup heat thermometer reads 62°F, but the real temperature in the house is 72°. I love wood heat. It warms the floors, so the whole house seems warmer—but (there is always a but) when the wind blows hard, the backup heat and real temperature both drop to 62°, and pretty much stays there.

I guess, as you get older and colder, you think more about the simple pleasures like heat. I certainly appreciate it more. [The young appreciate it also—the young editor prefers not to wear gloves while typing this on the computer—ed.]

Spring is just around the corner—when the soil temperature hits 50°, I will be planting onions and potatoes. In March, I will start my tomatoes indoors and plant broccoli, cabbage, and peas in the garden. When it gets a little warmer, I will plant sweet potatoes (they store well) and my open-pollinated corn. By then, the weeds will wake up and aggravate me all summer. Take heed—I will do all this when the weather is right—so do not write me letters that, “You're doing this at the wrong time.” It works on my place!

I followed the book one year—I planted 400 tomato plants on May 8 (May 10 is the record frost). My tomatoes froze out on May 9. Last year, I planted tomatoes on April 29. No problems arose. You have to watch your land and weather firsthand. Agriculture is as much an art as it is a science. The individual farmer must learn from experience what works best on his or her farm, with his or her farm techniques and management. You can view farming as a mindless repetitive task, or you can view it as a yearly cycle of changes. The choice is yours.

We will keep the fires going and make plans for planting season. It is going to snow and get cold again before spring arrives [it is snowing as I type this—ed.]. Keep your fires going, too; see you next time.