How We Farm at -50°- rural life in Yakutia, Siberia

Imagine living in one of the coldest places on earth, where winters last 8 months a year and temperatures plunge below minus 50 degrees Celsius. How do farmers take care of their animals and keep the farm running in such a harsh climate? In this video I'll show you a day in life of my parents and how they face these extreme challenges to keep their farm going. A typical day for my parents starts early in the morning. Before having breakfast, they go to the barn to take care of their cows. My parents work together to do all the chores. My mother cleans the barn by removing the cow dung. And then she milks the cows. She wipes the udder with warm water and vegetable oil. At the same time, my father gives hay to the cattle. They prepare the hay beforehand. Our winters are long. We have snow 8 months a year. That's why we need a lot of hay. My parents freeze cow dung. Some of this manure is used as natural fertilizer for their farm. When spring comes, they will spread these blocks across the crop fields. Cow dung is an excellent fertilizer for all kinds of vegetables, especially pumpkins and zucchini. The other part of manure is used for a different purpose. My father uses these blocks as fuel for the furnace. When firewood is too dry, it burns quickly. But when logs burn with manure, they burn longer and retain more heat. This furnace is made by my father. It heats up the garage. My mother makes many delicious dishes from milk. Today she cooks Saha pancakes. They have pancakes for breakfast along with porridge and eggs. After breakfast, my parents go to work. Even though they are both retired, they still want to work part-time. My father has been working as a driver all his life. When I was a kid, there were only a few cars in my village. And we had one because my father was a driver and had a company car. I still really enjoy riding in the car with my dad. The village where I was born and grew up is pretty big with over 10,000 people living here. My mother is an accountant. She works in a small company 3-4 hours a day. She says that she works to be useful and help with her knowledge and skills. This is the most beautiful village in the world. It is really beautiful. It is an unforgettable place. It's like a dream come true. When I was young, I wanted to live here. But I really wanted to live here. It's really beautiful. I can't believe my eyes that I am here. My parents return home and before lunch, they go to the barn to feed and water their cows They give hay to cows three times a day The hay of my parents have very good quality and smell The hay harvesting in summer is very interesting topic too While my mother prepares hay for the cows my father cuts a hole in the ice to water them The thickness of ice in our lake is around 120 cm My father makes a hole in the ice every day in the same spot so the ice in the hole is thin, around 30 cm This sweet couple of horses belong to our neighbor They drink water here too My father lets horses drink water first Cows drink water once a day The cows are 8 months old And now my dad is preparing drinking water for ourselves Drinking water is taken from the river as purest and the tastiest These ice blocks need to be cleared of snow and dirt first Then the ice is brought into the house where it melts in a special barrel Melt water is suitable for drinking after filtration Meantime my mother cooks lunch Today we have stew with vegetables This is filtered melt water All vegetables are stored in the basement They grow many vegetables on their farm The peelings are fed to the cows No matter what you cook, if products are great the food will be delicious anyways My parents often have guests Today my cousin came to visit us My parents are very welcoming and love having guests over to share news and talk We have a lot of vegetables and fruits We have a lot of fruits In the afternoon they usually rest and do their hobbies My father likes fishing and hunting Today he went ice fishing and brought two burbots My mother has many hobbies and one of them is art All drawings in our house are made by her What do you think about the ice making? I don't know much about it I'm not an expert We were not able to pay the rent. We had to pay for the rent. We had no money to pay for the rent. How did you get the money? We got it from the government. They both like to cook, and today they cooked something special for dinner. This is a sausage with offal, a heart, a liver, and a diaphragm. We leave the sausage in the oven and then we have dinner. Let's try this sausage. And it turned out to be very delicious. How is it? Very tasty. After the dinner, we go to the local theater. The theater is in a nearby village. There is a huge drawing on the wall of the theater. This village has fewer than 2,000 people, but it's rich of cultural heritage. The play was a comedy. This is the third oldest farm in the village. How old is this farm? 35 years old. My father likes to create things with his hands. Today he is making a chair with a horse fur. He is going to saw the fur and then dry the chair outside. He also makes fur boots when it's fur boot season. Such chair can be used in the barn for milking cows or during ice fishing. Fur protects from cold and it's a really convenient chair to use outside. This wood was brought by a river during the flood. He collects it and uses it as firewood. At the end of the day, they feed their animals and clean the barn. My parents have been married for 38 years. They raised four kids while also working on and running a farm. We believe that a soul of a child chooses its parents and I'm happy that in this life I chose them. Thank you for watching and have a good day.