Ice,rolling and nails- no more.

Earlier this month, I discussed a book, given to me by friend, SB, about early American life. It is called Seasons of America, by Eric Sloane. In that blog, I talked about how sensibly, we have not started a new year yet, as the new year begins on March the 26. When the peas go in, and the growing season begins. Now, the book logically begins it's narrative on what to do during each month's seasons ( the premise that there are only 4 seasons being also relatively new in concept) during this month of March. I thought I would patiently wait for March to begin the meat of the book. Perhaps this is why I've gone vegetarian. I couldn't wait. I jumped all the way towards the back to find January and discover what things I don't have to do, not being an early American Farmer. Here are my top three favorite things I don't have to do:

Icehouse design.

This ice house will hold about 25 tons of ice. 25 TONS. ( Ice is heavy)

Collect ice for the icehouse. January is the perfect month for this. You need a super cold day, the ice has to be thick and you need to saw it out in blocks that you can then heave onto the surface of the ice so you can carry it back home. It needs to be super cold because you have to have thick ice- falling through is inconvenient, sets you back a bit, and you don't want your hard-won ice block to then freeze onto the surface of the ice after you haul it out. So, no sun, and super cold. Then, after you spend about two days sawing blocks of ice out of the surface, you haul it all back to your icehouse. This will keep things cold until all the ice melts. How long that takes would depend on your ambient temperature, how much ice you have, and how well you have insulated your icehouse.
Give thanks for the plug that finds electricity and keeps my refrigerator and freezers working.

This is not an Ohio Roller, but gives the general idea...

Maintain snow on the roads. Today, we pay folks to take the snow off the roads. This gives our car tires traction making it less hazardous to drive. We are most pleased by clear, dry roads. Not so when you use a vehicle with runners to get around. I was pondering this last week, as I thought about the hazards of living where I do prior to snowplows and 4 wheel drive. I find it a bit disconcerting to drive around these parts, as you are likely to have a wind-cleared dry patch of road that immediately abuts a 2 or three foot drift ahead. I was thinking how a sleigh would have just the opposite problem; wonderful patches of icy snow, followed by dry bits. I think the big drifts might be as formidable a problem for the horse drawn sleigh as they are for our motored cars. Then, wouldn't you know, Sloane addresses this in the month of January. Back then, you had "Snow Wardens". These were men (is it sexist to assume in the 1700-1800s they would have been men?) whose job was to keep the snow ON the roads. They would take their oxen and a big roller thingie and shovels and when they found a bare patch, shovel snow all over it and then roll over it, much like they do when they pave roads today. The Ohio Roller was pushed by a yoke of oxen. The front of the Ohio Roller was just that- a big roller, made from wood planks that turned like a spool. Just behind the roller was a triangular shaped ballast filled with stout logs (don't think "duraflame" here, think "telephone pole") to make it heavy, and atop the ballast a seat for the warden to encourage the oxen. A job title that has gone by the way. "So, what do you do?" " Oh, I'm a Snow Warden." Try that at your next cocktail party.

Making nails. I find them all over the property, but mostly around the barn( see blog "Raising Clostridium" Nov. 13, 2010). Wonderful bits of craftsmanship that I promptly collect in a feed sack that ends up in the dump. (Recycling is a subject for another blog). But when I build something- or more often, repair something- I collect a box of nails from the shelf and go to the job. When I get low on a particular size or kind, I rummage around the tractor sheds and then, if still low, put it on the list for the next trip to town. January in days gone by would've been a time my forge would've stayed white hot. Making nails for the repair and building jobs the rest of the year. I would purchase long metal shins, heat the tip until it was soft, bang it into a point, score the four sides of the square however long I wanted my nail to become, then break it at the scoring. I would then take my metal splinter, heat it again, pop it into a holder of sorts and bang the end four times so I had a flatish head with four slopes. Then I had a rose nail. One. Dump it in a bucket to cool and repeat. Over and over until I had a great mass of nails ready to go for the rest of the year. Give thanks for Lowe's.

And soap.