As for frozen putty:
http://www.preservationscience.com/materials/lime/FL.html
I've had similar results to that link. However I now hit it with a paddle bit a few minutes each week and keep my barrels outside in scrap 6 mil/solex to promote freeze thaw. That helps avoid the 6 month frozen barrel of curd doom.
As for overwintering your bales:
Sweep out all that chaff inside and out. Its the loose stuff that ignites quick.
Run your stove without burning down the joint. Get good fire extinguishers rated to appropriately low temps.
Its really only rain/snow sitting on the grain ends that soak a bale not moisture along the grain. Obviously environment dependent. Your overhangs are super deep no driving rain worries. You could wrap that porch in 6 mil, billboard tarp, scrap whatev, lumber
yard tarps, free scrappy extra bales, etc etc-- and the hot tent your plaster. Seems I hot tent something every year and I don't have the pleasure of eaves like you do.
Lime takes time. Prob best to not rush the outside. But some old 6 mil porch wrapping will help keep you warmer if you work the inside the winter since unplastered bales let the winter blow thru.
Also, with 6' overhangs I'd like to say that you are a good candidate for exterior earthen plaster If you want... If you did, you could spray a thin slip coat to seal them off if tented and you wanted. No use floating the outside till spring--winter is for finishing inside spaces.
Did you lay grain up or out? Where are you?