This is the point, really, this frost-free faucet planted into a deep hole in the barn, it is a very small thing in the world of engineering, architecture and construction, it is a very big thing on a farm as the first cold wave of winter approaches. I’ve been plotting and scheming to build this frost-free every since we moved into the farm, but we ran out of renovation money early on, as often happens.

I finally came across the team that could do it, and they came and did it one day. The premise is simple, a “pipe,” in this case a plastic tube encased in a cylindrical sleeve is buried four feet into the ground, below the frost line (between two and three feet). One end goes into the water system in the farmhouse, (a hole has to be knocked through the foundation wall) and a four-foot ditch is dug.

On the other end is the faucet or pump, when the handle is lifted, water flows, when it shut off, the water remaining in the pipe falls down into the tubes in the ground and stays warm. Putting the pipe in the barn protects it from the wind and makes a freeze even less likely. It is both simple and complex to do, in that it requires a skilled tractor operator to dig the ditch right and then seal it up, someone who knows pipes and plumbing to put it together properly – you don’t want any mishaps or accidents underground, especially in frozen ground in the winters.

This was done right, people who knew what they were doing, moved quickly and paid attention to details. We were hauling buckets every day for months, no fun in a snow storm or sub-zero cold. This is one of those small steps that will make it easier to stay on a farm and love being here.