Its so pretty out there right now, the bright yellows and stunning dark reds are starting to pop inbetween the dark evergreens, sign’s of fall are everywhere, from the honk of the geese flying overhead, from the siting of the turkey vultures passing though the farm, from the first sign’s of winter coats starting to come in on the farm critters.

One part of me just wants to go.. ahhh that’s so pretty, and the rest of me is in having a AHHHH, time is short! and there is so much to be done, I would like to say that the garden has been put to bed, I have been reading on some of my favorite blogs that the gardens are done, other’s that the push of canning is slowing down and I wish I was there..I’m not..

I still have hundred of pds of things to come out of the garden, the fall gardens are in and depending on the plantings, new things are coming ready now, I have lots of fall butchering to get done and we are behind on getting the farm prepped for winter itself, and the truth is that the snow could fly for the first time in a matter of weeks.

So I am doing something that makes me feel better, I am making lists and checking them twice, I don’t know if you make lists or not but they can be so helpful, if you have an idea of the time on most items that need to be done, then you can figure out a couple things using the lists.

The first thing I do is write down everything myself and DH can think of that needs to be done, then we look at the list and do the first split out, what needs to be done now! vs what we would like to do “overall in the big picture*” of that would be nice.

Live Example, prep and get the next size chick box ready for the now coming two week old pullets-Needs to be done NOW! vs that pile of 2 by 4’s needs to be moved from under the safety of the little barn overhang and put up into the rafters of big barn for winter storage.

The second thing is to look at money, sorry I know that folks on blogs can sometimes skip this step and I understand it, we are private on certain things but when you look at that list, you need to figure out if you have the gear or product or items required (hopefully bought over the year on sales, never at full prices, using those handy flyers), its important when figuring out things on your list on is it paid for already, requiring only man hours or is it still need to be bought, if it still needs to be got, now you not only need to budget in the the direct cost of XX but also the man hours to drive to and from the stores, plus the gas, and if there is anyway you can tag team these things to limit time off the farm, and limit costly trips to town.

This can often shift things on the list as to when to do things..

Live Example, We are putting up barbwire, a total of three stands worth, on the inside of the sheep pastures so that they are also fully working pastures for my cow now, we don’t want all that hard work we did on the sheep wire to be pushed around by the much stronger and bigger cow. I got the barbwire on a 55% off sale early this spring and I got enough to do the whole farm, as it was almost a 2 for 1 sale.

So on the list was, put up another row of barbwire vs rewire the bottom of one of the rabbit hutches, now the hutch needs a repair but it does not have rabbits in it, but I have a breed rabbit and will have little ones that will need it as a grow out pen, so both need to be done but neither are a push issue(just alot nicer to do it in the cooler fall time with limited bugs)

So on the list scale, we can put up barbwire with only man hours and no down time off the farm and then plan that on the next scheduled trip to work, DH will swing over on his way to the local hardware store and bring home two rolls of rabbit wire, one that we need and one that will go into storage so that we have extra.

The next thing that we look at is man hours and level of how hard things are in regards to workout, somethings take time but not as likely to wear you out, other things will be a great workout but will also make you want or need a rest afterward to recover.. easy items vs elbow grease required items are singled out.

Live example, -Canning veggies is easy work compared to cleaning out a stall or turning compost or hauling water, or trimming feet on the sheep etc.

Ok at this point, the lists are looked at, and with the combined knowledge of

• How soon does a item need to be done
• Is it going to cost money or just man hours to do at this point
• How many man hours required
• How hard is the work itself
• Is it a job one can do or is it a two person job

Now we can figure out order of how things will work, we can figure out how to tag team different work to get the most done in the day, figure out where to slot in the hard heavy work, and when to shift over and have planned needed but lighter work for a recovery period.

This extra ten min of talking and looking and much written on paper allows us to step away from the feeling of ahhh, so much to do, and brings us into the mind set off, today we are doing this and as things are crossed off, you get a real feeling of pleasure at knowing it off the list, which encourges you to try and get just one more done. Its very important to have that list of lighter smaller quicker items on the list so that when you still have things to look at doing when you are tired or sore, but also so that you can see things being finished each day.

So are you a list maker? or do you like to fly by the seat of your pants? What is your method of making sure things are checked for the coming winter?

* This overview of the big picture looking ahead a month, three or six months or a year in advance, combined with the basic costs is what works the flyers in order to know that you will need xyz for this or that coming in the future project, this allows you to look for these items on sale, at farm sales, or to barter for them, all of which save you $$ and still allow you to do the project when it hits the top of the list.

This is a homestead preparedness challange Blog post, I know that lists might seems like a strange prep item, but figuring out when its time to do things while saving money, is part of being prepared in my way of thinking.