To Keep the Pipes From Freezing
1095 gallons of fuel and 12 days to avoid disconnection
Fear and panic coursed hotly through my veins as I listened to the low whining sound. It was a faint noise─almost imperceptible. Yet, having struggled to heat the big old farmhouse these last 5 winters, it’s a sound I’ve come to know well. Beckett, the boiler in the basement was calling for fuel that wasn’t there. The vibrations from the mechanism carry throughout the house on the copper pipes within the baseboard heating system. We were out of heating fuel─again.
Welcome to the latest Updates From the Farm! If you are new here, I invite you to check out my About page to learn what this is, who I am and why I am doing this. Or just dive right in! At “Runamuk Acres” you’ll find the recantings of one lady-farmer and tree-hugging activist from the western mountains of Maine. #foodieswanted
To Keep the Pipes From Freezing
My heart pounded in my chest and I forced myself to breathe slowly in and out, staving off the panic attack as I mentally ran through the resources I had on hand. It was Thursday and my fuel supplier wouldn’t deliver to my town until Monday, which meant I’d have to buy and haul off-road diesel in jugs daily to keep the pipes from freezing.
It meant careful and diligent management of the house for the next 4 days because I’d only be able to afford to heat the house through the night. During the daytime I’d have to shut off the furnace and allow the sun to heat the house until later in the afternoon, when I’d be forced to turn the system on again.
And it meant a considerable expense, both to get through to Monday’s delivery, and to cover the cost of the delivery itself. Funds I did not have.
A Difficult Winter
This was the path I’d committed myself to when I opted to give up commercial baking and the farm’s CSA program. Without those extra funds, I’d condemned myself to a difficult winter, but I knew in my gut this needed to happen to make Runamuk financially stable for the long-term.
If you’re new here, or unfamiliar with such farming-lingo:
“Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, is a relationship between community members and the farm. Members commit to a whole season, allowing the farmer to offset early season costs such as seeds, amendments, etc. In exchange members receive an abundance and variety of nutritious vegetables over the course of the growing season, along with certain member-perks.”
For the last 5 years I’d utilized the CSA model to raise funds for early season investments, while simultaneously stocking my “farmstand-on-the-porch” to generate cash-flow throughout the rest of the season.
That worked okay─until last season and it’s incessant rains devastated my crops. I didn’t have enough produce to feed my CSA members and supply the farmstand. So I chose to prioritize the CSA, abandoning the farmstand.
NOTE: For more about why I’ve given up commercial baking and why I gave up Runamuk’s CSA program, check out “A Bittersweet Ending”.
Even with the supplemental income from our farmstayB&B, this winter has been a tight stretch. With 14 rooms in this big, old farmhouse, we burn between 10 and 15 gallons of fuel every day during the winter months. That’s with the thermostat set at 64 in our living spaces and off in our sleeping quarters. I find so long as I’m moving, I don’t mind the slight chill in the air and it’s necessary to stretch the fuel as far as possible.
Grateful for Friends Like You!
On the Thursday in the story I’ve recanted above, I ended up having to reach out to a friend who had already offered a couple jugs of fuel. This friend brought the fuel, loaned me enough cash to buy more fuel to get me through the weekend, and provided much-needed moral support in that moment of darkness. He really saved my ass that weekend.
I’m fortunate to have so many people who believe in me, I know, and I really am so truly grateful for it. I’m grateful for friends like you─for all of my followers and subscribers. Thank you for being part of my journey!!! Your faith inspires me to keep going, even when it’s difficult or scary─even when I’m cold, sore, exhausted, bruised and beaten by the farm. I want to succeed for you─to be that example we all need to see in order to believe that our dreams really can come true.
All of our dreams can come true, if only we have the courage to pursue them.
~Walt Disney
2024 Farm Projects
Once I have vegetables to fill my farmstand, the farm will be generating the consistent cash-flow we need. This will allow me to get the bills caught up, moving Runamuk forward into financial stability. I have a feeling it’s going to be a damned good season, too.
Here’s a glimpse at some of our 2024 farm projects …
Bring the Maine Big Night citizen science project back to Runamuk and Western Maine (more about this coming soon!)
Construct and install at least 6 new bluebird houses.
Construct and install 1 owl nesting box.
Construct 2 benches to be placed at trail-side for visitors using our walking trails.
Paint signs for the conservation lands & farmstand.
Create a formal land steward property management plan.
Construct 2 cold-frames to allow for season extension.
Construct 6 raised beds, also to allow for season extension.
Attention to Runamuk’s juvenile fruit trees: mulching, amendments, and remove fence-rings.
Create a fenced area to house an alternate group of sheep on the far side of Garden 1.
Put Beebe’s doghouse on wheels to make rotating it on pasture easier on my back.
Teach BraeTek to drive the car, which poses the additional difficulty of being a stick-shift.
Prune the lilac brushes in front of the farmhouse.
Have the barn-addition jacked up where it sags.
Establish a second campsite.
Build an outhouse and shower-facility for the campsites.
Dissemble pig-pen and fence to repurpose materials.
All of that is, of course, in addition to planting and maintaining our 2 giant market gardens (approximately 1 acre in production) and rotating the sheep on the field all summer. To say nothing of managing the farmstay, the remote campsite in the back-40 or homeschooling efforts with my 17yo son, BraeTek.
1095 Gallons
Since October, I’ve had 1,095 gallons of #2 heating fuel delivered to the farmhouse. I’ve hauled 60 more gallons by hand and bled the furnace at least 4 times after the system has run dry.
There is no back-up heating here. This must be the only farmhouse in the state of Maine with no woodstove or fireplace—and no good place to install one even if I could afford to. The layout of the house just doesn’t allow for it.
My long-term goal is to invest in an outdoor wood-boiler and convert the household systems over to that. Firewood is plentiful in Maine, cheaper and more sustainable than oil, too.
For now, though, I have to make do with what I’ve got.
12 Days
Even with emergency assistance, it took everything I had to keep the house warmish this winter, with little left over for bills and utilities. I was able to use my tax refund to pay down some of them, however my electric bill remains outstanding at $1400. The utility company can’t legally disconnect service during the winter, but that obligation ends on April 15th. I have just 12 days to come up with a sizable chunk to pay it down and avoid disconnection.
Don’t worry─I’m nothing if not resourceful. I’ll pick up a few more pruning jobs to generate some cash to haggle a payment plan with the utility company. But if you’ve been on the fence about becoming a paid subscriber to the Runamuk blog, now would be a good time to make the leap, lol.
There’s very little I post behind a paywall, because I want my writing to reach as many people as possible. Yet, writing is just as much a product of this farm as eggs and vegetables. If you enjoy reading my work, please consider a paid subscription to support this small farm and ecologic reserve. I could really use the help this time.
Your friendly neighborhood farmer,
Sam
Thank you for following along with the story of this lady-farmer! It is truly a privilege to live this life serving my family and community, and protecting wildlife through agricultural conservation. Check back soon for more updates from the farm, and be sure to follow @RunamukAcres on Instagram or Facebook!
It's a bummer that you can't just put in a wood stove.
Utterly remarkable in so many ways. Remarkable, you ask? Oh, well, you of course. Best darned lady farmer I know. On a more serious note, you shoulder so many tasks, confidently, study solutions to up your game, and maintain a can-do outlook that is far from mere bravado. I wish you all the best in ‘24 and going forward. 😊