February’s labors varied depending on where in Europe one lived. In the northernmost regions, where the ground was still frozen and additional snow and frost was anticipated, tasks continued to focus basic necessities like chopping wood and anything that could be done indoors. A common image in medieval art for February showed people warming themselves by the fire, or spending time in church.
However, in European regions further south, it was already time to start field work. Manure and marl (a soil mixture of clay and lime) could be spread on fields, and furrowing and planting would begin for early growing grains like barley. Larger fields would be turned and furrowed with plows pulled by horses or oxen. Households with smaller fields and gardens did the same back-breaking work by hand with spades. These were made of wood, with just the tip of the spade fitted with an iron piece referred to as a “shoe”. Spade handles varied in length, from short to long.
Willow was also planted at this time of year, and once grown was used to make wattle for fences and housing, or anything else that required wicker. For those keeping animals, February was the time when calves and lambs were born and needed to be cared for through the remaining cold weather. By the time they were weaned (usually 4-6 weeks later) the meadows would be green again and ready for grazing.
Use the Medieval Monday Index to discover more topics relating to daily life in the Middle Ages.
Allison D. Reid 
Reblogged this on Mama Bear Musings and commented:
Medieval Monday
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
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Look like no rest for the weary in the warmer areas. Such back breaking work! Weather must have had a HUGE impact.
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Yes it did! On what they could do when, and on how well the crops did. If the harvest was bad, there weren’t many options left.
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Thank you for that, and all your posts on life in medieval times. Quite an eye-opener for we in the 21st century. Makes one realise just how lucky we are not to have to do such hard back-breaking work. Well, most of us, anyway. And the reliance on the weather. Poor weather, poor harvest, starvation for a lot of people.
Although I suppose there are still a lot of people in the poorer parts of the world for whon it is still like that.
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Thanks, Allison, for this interesting information. 🙂 — Suzanne
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