7.I

With Forest Turn passed, the specter of winter will fall upon your lands.

By now almost all the labor of your peasantry is complete. If you are possessed of particularly slovenly tenants then some little grain processing remains unfinished but what scraps of such, if well managed are solely in the portion of the laborer’s own share instead of your own.

Cold, rain and eventually snow will confine peasants indoors, where they will mostly laze about and possibly, if you are blessed, contribute to labors of value. Amongst these you might see but should not expect women to spin and men perform handicrafts such as wood carving or what toolswork does not require a smithy.

Encouragement of these works and their sale can provide a useful supplement to the upkeep of one’s lands and should traditionally not be taxed in kind.

A wise steward of their demesne lets the land and its people cultivate themselves where possible.

When the weather and the cold allows, you may see labors of maintenance carried out, and animals cared for.

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Make sure all dung from one’s flocks is stockpiled to be mixed with marl, clay or wood scrap and chips from carpentry. These stores are treasure and will give returns when spread upon the fields come Spring Ploughing.

Take care in its placement though, for there is almost never enough to fertilize all fields and thus they should be prioritized to your choicest crops.

As is their nature, your tenants will be lazy and only fertilize those strips closest to their barns or homes if left to their own devices.

Making central store houses for dung near your best fields can cater to this failing of theirs but at risk of losing more of your labor force over winter then if allowed to store closer to their homes and barns.

A better compromise is to build up or reinforce such prized fields with scattered households.

But the cost and agitation of the peasants can be greater than the returns.

Expect Lambing to begin as the weather turns and this will herald the end of winter, this is a popular time for festivals but the local variety is so numerous it would be the work of an entire volume to even mention all I’ve seen.

Plough teams will begin their labors soon after this point if the earth thaws swiftly and from then one should turn to my notes upon the Labors of Fallow Turn.

-Coinage and Lordly Stewardship by Sir Broghuilidad Silvertongue of Cortaza