What’s the most fun way to exercise?

TS and I are experiencing this activity as full-time gentlewoman/gentleman ranchers-gardeners-foresters-stewards. DURING THE WINTER, it’s all about snow clearing. There were times during the depths of winter we were clearing drifts 2-4 hours a day.

Both photovoltaic (PV) panels had to be kept clear of snow and ice buildup.
skid out the excess snow away from the farm house. Make piles AWAY FROM THE BUILDINGS.
Our home’s skirt.
- There’s ground-level air intakes (and cold trap enabled mechanical room loops) for our indoor wood pellet boiler that must remain snow free.
- Snow can act like an insulator and seal. It’s critical our flue maintains an upward draft.
- The stainless steel pellet vacuum pipes from the e-shed leading into homes mechanical room need to remain exposed to reduce the risk of condensation formation (or getting smacked by a stray boot or wheelbarrow tire).
- Our external door frames need to remain ice free for safety — I’ve had a near miss sliding ass over teakettle on those slick black stoops.
A clear line-of-sight from the west windows to the sewage level monitoring box.
- Our blackwater flows by gravity from the house to the 3-chambered receiving tanks.
- A massicating submerged sewage pump chews up the nasties and pumps it up to the holding tank, that then seeps into the downhill leech-field.
- As long as we see an orange neon light beaming from the control box, all is working as it should. If there’s a red light on and a demonic horn blaring, then that’s A PROBLEM. There’s a float switch inside the 3rd septic chamber, shared with the sewage pump. The sewage isn’t being pumped up and out. If there’ no neon light at all, THAT’S A HOLY SHIT MOMENT. Circuit breaker number 6 must have been tripped. The entire pump, float, and alarm are on a series circuit and that means it’s all OFF. Bad. Bad. Get that circuit breaker reset.
Is the Avenir Energy propane torpedo clear of snow and is there a clear path to it?
Keep the Genny Generac’s air intack and access panels clear (our propane off-grid-designed inverter generator runs a lot during overcast days).
Mailbox access. TS specializes in making snow stairs up to the box for Angela, our Canada Post driver.
That driveway. Walk-behind snowblowers will keep it clear… and deposit a layer of ice between the ground and vehicle tires. That’s fine as long as it’s cold. When it thaws, that layer become spongy and plays havoc with traction. 2 parkings lots must remain clear.

SPRING AND SUMMER:

forest gardening, with raised garden beds!
Tree pruning and maintenance. Skidding and chopping up logs for possible sale.
TS takes their canopies and prepares them for shredding (until we get a New Holland, Kioti, Kubota tractor and attachements… we’re using a dinky doo shredder [an excellent Honda motor and a too-small diameter chipper hopper]).
Property lines. We need to recut them! I haven’t been around our property lines since last year! Install orange fabric flares.
Piles of punky wood all around the edges. Drag them back to the forest garden for soil production.
Firewood processing… for reselling!
Cutlery sharpening.
Remain in the pavilion, as a relief from the bugs.

FALL & AUTUMN:

It’s harvest time. Get the stuff off the trees. Are the berry bushes de-fruited?
Pinch off the mint and catnip. Grab it before the deer and squirrels chomp it down.
Replant the garlic and flower bulbs? Mound them up with mulch and organic matter for the upcoming winter.

SUNDAY APRIL 12, 2026 FARM UPDATE.

We have cluster flies. We have sprouting garlic. My neighbour’s telling me his wild leeks are starting to poke through the leaf litter. My nephew had a birthday. TS had a surplus of photovoltaic power generation, and made rusks. TS captured some stunning pre-sunrise images with her iDevice (the orange glow was an artifact of iOS’ image processing [it was DARK to our Mark 1 eyeballs]). TS had a 50% off sale on her older dog biscuits, and it cleared out her stock. Spring is coming…