November in West Virginia
layout: base.njk title: "November - WV Homesteading Calendar" description: "Homesteading tasks for November in West Virginia" category: seasonal-calendar month: 11
Theme: Dormancy
Weather: Cold, avg highs 52-55°F, lows 34-38°F
Daylight: 10h 55m → 9h 50m (shortening by 65 minutes!)
Frost Risk: High risk, multiple hard freezes, ground begins freezing
🌿 Phenology Signs
- Witch hazel continues (fragrant, spider-like yellow flowers)
- Very hardy mums (if protected)
- Essentially nothing else blooming (dormant season)
- Winter residents fully established (cardinals, chickadees, juncos, titmice, nuthatches, woodpeckers)
- Waterfowl on lakes/rivers
- Bears in dens (early-mid November)
- Groundhogs in hibernation
- Deer in winter patterns
- Rabbits active at dawn/dusk
- All pollinators gone except overwintering queens (bumblebees) in soil
- Honeybees in tight cluster
- Only overwintering butterflies (mourning cloak, comma, question mark)
- Snakes in hibernacula
- Frogs buried in pond mud
- Salamanders under logs
✅ Task Checklist
Garden
- [ ] Harvest root vegetables before ground freezes solid (carrots, beets, parsnips)
- [ ] Mulch root crops to extend harvest (12" straw over carrots, parsnips)
- [ ] Mulch strawberries heavily (6-8 inches of straw)
- [ ] Mulch perennial beds after several hard freezes
- [ ] Protect tender trees/shrubs with burlap or tree wraps
- [ ] Drain all hoses and irrigation equipment
- [ ] Store lawn mowers, tillers (drain fuel or add stabilizer)
- [ ] Clean and sharpen all tools, oil metal surfaces
- [ ] Service chainsaws and pruning equipment
- [ ] Plan next year's garden, order seeds
- [ ] Build cold frames and hoop houses
- [ ] Harvest firewood for winter
- [ ] Feed wildlife if maintaining feeders (deer corn, bird feeders)
- [ ] Review this year's notes, plan improvements
- [ ] Preserve seeds from open-pollinated crops
- [ ] Winter sow: Hardy perennials and native wildflowers in cold frames
Orchard
- [ ] Complete fall planting of bare-root trees
- [ ] Wrap young tree trunks (prevent rabbit/deer damage and sunscald)
- [ ] Install tree guards if needed
- [ ] Final cleanup of fallen fruit (prevent disease)
- [ ] Check stored apples and pears weekly
Animals
- [ ] Winterize water systems (heated bowls, tank de-icers)
- [ ] Increase feed rations (cold weather requires more calories)
- [ ] Prepare winter housing (deep bedding, wind breaks)
- [ ] Check all fencing before snow
- [ ] Stock emergency feed supplies
Preservation
- [ ] Check stored produce weekly for rot (remove affected items)
- [ ] Use stored root vegetables, winter squash, apples, pears
- [ ] Harvest late cabbage and kale (under row cover or cold frame)
- [ ] Process Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes)
- [ ] Dig horseradish as needed (flavor best after frost)
🌱 What to Plant
Direct Seed: - Winter sowing: Hardy perennials and native wildflowers in cold frames - Nothing in open ground
Transplant: -None (planting season over)
Start Indoors: - Nothing yet (too early, insufficient light) - Late November: Some start onions indoors for very early spring
🐛 Watch For
- Ground freezing - soil work done until spring
- Trees bare - dormancy complete, pruning season begins
- First snow - winter officially arrived (usually late November)
- Waterfowl gathering - cold weather driving birds south
- Bears denning - deep winter approaching
- Days shorten rapidly - solstice approaching
- Dark-eyed juncos - "snowbirds" arrive late October-November (reliable winter indicator)
- Hard freezes - protect any remaining tender plants
📅 Key Timing
- Ground freezes: No more digging until spring
- Trees bare: Dormancy complete, time for pruning
- First snow: Winter officially arrived (typically late November)
- Bears den: Early-mid November
- Groundhogs hibernate: November through March
- Days shortening rapidly: 65 minutes of daylight lost this month
- Winter solstice approaching: December 21 (shortest day)
- Overwintering birds established: December-February ecology
- Great horned owl hooting: Breeding season begins (January-February)