“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” Cannot you just hear Bing Crosby’s deep voice singing that Christmas classic song? I LOVE that song and especially LOVE that movie. My Grandpa and Grandma Baregi had it when I was little. I use to watch with them when I spent the night. When my Grandma moved out of her house she gave me her VHS copy. It wasn’t until I was much older that I got the DVD, so I didn’t have to hook up the old VCR each Christmas. Ahh memories.
It looks like we will have a white Christmas this year. Last year we were pretty brown, but in 2010 we had record breaking snow falls around Christmas. Remember when we had 30 inches of snow by Christmas 2010 and the cows took a walk in the woods?
Snow on a farm is a very good thing. First of all it provides a lot of moisture when it melts in the spring time. This year we started out in a moisture deficit, due to the lack of snow in the previous winter. When snow melts it fills our rivers, lakes and water tables for later use.
Snow also has another function, protection. Grasses and especially alfalfa don’t like the really extreme colds. Most of them are pretty tough, but those -30 degree days are not healthy for them. Snow is an excellent insulator. Often if it snows before we get a really really hard freeze, our soils will stay relatively warm all winter. If the grasses are not protected, they often die and we need to replant in the spring. That could delay how fast our cows go out to pasture.
In addition, if we don’t get snow, that often means it wasn’t cold enough for snow (though not always the case). Cold is a good thing. It kills off bugs and diseases and gives us a fresh start in the spring. If we have a warm winter, we will often see calves with more illness come spring (because all the bad bugs weren’t killed off).
Lastly, snow is just so much fun and beautiful!! It is pretty sad when we don’t have snow.
Don’t they look sad 🙁
Much more fun.
I made this snow angle in front of the heifer shed while helping with chores Christmas 2009.
Will you be having a white Christmas? If you are a snow lover, what are your favorite snow activities? We love snowshoeing as a family.
As you prepare for the holiday festivities, don’t forget to pick up some free range eggs for all your recipes.
Attn: We have had a few unexpected openings in our custom beef packages. We have two openings that need to be finalized by Friday. Call us today to order. Lisa will walk you through the entire process (steaks, roast, stir fry meat, etc). Also, giving the gift of beef is a great idea. Split a 1/2 a beef with a family member. Our beef sells for $2.65/lb plus processing.
