Peasants everywhere work full time, all through the year. For people who are just managing to survive, there is always something that needs doing. Growing or f

Peasants everywhere work full time, all through the year. For people who are just managing to survive, there is always something that needs doing. Growing or foraging and preparing food (especially manually milling grain); making (starting from raw plant/animal fibers), patching, and cleaning clothing; building hedges, fences, walls, and thatched roofs; making pottery; making and maintaining tools; taking care of animals; .... are extremely labor intensive. To get some idea what life was like for Stuart-period English farmers (and life was much the same in preceding centuries), see the BBC show Tales from the Green Valley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_historic_farm_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_historic_farm_series