Locating the winter chicken pasture

Over on our homesteading blog, I explained how I've been using the speed of snow melt to pick out the sunniest part of the winter yard.  The spot pictured here may look pretty wintry, but keep in mind that our entire farm was under a coat of snow for the month of December and, when the picture was taken, I couldn't see bare soil anywhere else.  This patch of sun is where I plan to build our next chicken pasture, which will double as a chicken moat to keep deer out of our garden. 

Winter is one of the best times to understand patterns in your garden or on your farm.  I highly recommend that you head out with a camera and map to document your own sunny spots.  There's no need to wait for a snow (although the results are more dramatic that way) --- even a light frost is enough to show you which parts of your yard melt first.