It's Maple Syrup season!

Have you ever wanted to make your own maple syrup or just wondered how it is done? Tapping maple trees and collecting sap is not a difficult project but, boiling that sap down is time consuming and requires a little patience which to me is worth it in the end!

Late winter and early spring is the time to tap your trees, you are looking for temperatures in the 40's during the day and the 20's at night, it is that freeze/thaw period which helps to stimulate the flow of sap and create the pressure needed to collect it. In our area that is usually late February or early march but, this year we have seen warmer than average temps and perfect weather to start now in early February!

So how do you tap a tree?

We use a 5/16" drill bit to drill a hole about 3 feet from the ground into the tree, you want a slight upward angle to a depth of 2 1/2 inches, once you have drilled your hole, insert a spile (tap) into your hole and use a hammer... we prefer a rubber mallet and lightly tap your spile to fit snug into the tree trunk, do not insert it too deeply because going too deep may result in splitting the wood around your tap and you will lose sap! did you know it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup? So you want to collect every drop you can with out losing any of it!

After you have the tap secure in the tree you have several options to collect sap. You can simply hang a bucket on the tap itself and collect the sap, if you choose this method you will want to cover the bucket with a lid to keep rain, snow and dirt out!

The method we prefer is to use old gallon water/milk jugs, drill a hole into the lid of the jug to securely fit the end of a food grade tubing which is attached to the end of the spile, this keeps everything closed and does not allow rain, snow, dirt or insects to get into the sap! 

The gallon container sits at the base of the tree and we secure it with rocks or sticks to prevent it from being knocked over! Check your trees daily and harvest the sap regularly to prevent over filling of the containers and loss of sap! you can store the sap in a refrigerator for up to 7 days before using it! 

That's all there is to collecting the sap and when the conditions are right you should get a good flow of sap which will put you on your way to making syrup

You can tap any maple tree! red, silver, black or sugar maple but the sugar maples have a better output of sap production making them the preferred variety. I have heard you can also tap black walnut and birch trees but, we have not tried anything besides maple!

The diameter of the tree determines how many taps you can put into the tree;

Do not tap a tree less that 10" in diameter!

10" to 14" 1 tap, 15" to 19" 2 taps, 20"to 24" 3 taps.

You want to collect sap until the tree starts to bud out, after that the sap produced will make your syrup bitter and make sure to remove the taps at the end of the season, the tree will close and heal itself and claim your tap if you fail to remove it!

I will do another blog post later to show how to boil the sap down and make syrup!

Give it a try, this is a great family activity and there is nothing quite like having pancakes with syrup that you produced yourself!

Winter is NOT for butchering!

What do we do when it is 25 degrees outside with 14 mph winds?

We butchered, not that we really wanted to but, we had to, we butchered 6 chickens and 2 rabbits today for a total of 47 lbs 10 oz. of meat,
I would rather accomplish this in milder weather but we were low on meat in the freezer and these animals were way past the time for butchering.
It is very expensive to feed so many animals in the winter, not to mention the hardship that cold weather brings to both man and beast.
We had intended to have this done way back in November and not have to worry about it at this time of year but, a series of events had taken our time away from those chores. so now we are left to do our butchering in the middle of winter, we have 19 more chickens and 6 more rabbits to do before we are done.... not a chore I look forward to doing in warm or cold weather, but enjoy the benefits once it is all done!

First Broccoli Harvest!

Broccoli harvested from our garden, the first of the season!

All organically grown!

I cut the broccoli up and added it to penne pasta with diced cucumber, fresh peas from our garden and fresh herbs also from my garden, then I covered it with sweet vidalia dressing.....The only thing missing was some good homegrown tomatoes!

The Garden is Growing!

The garden is growing very well, we had a heat wave come through early this year with 100 degree temps so now I don't have any more spinach but everything else is growing great!

Tomatoes

Flowers on the Tomato plants

Peas

Potatoes in the front and Broccoli in the back

Broccoli

Zucchini

Cucumbers

Chives and English Thyme

Herbs in containers.... Mint, Dill, Summer Savory and more Thyme.

Sweet Basil, Lemon Balm and Coleus

I planted 52 seeds of bush beans but only 5 have germinated, I'm not sure what I did wrong... we had ALOT of rain though and I think that might have been part of the problem. The Spinach bolted and now I have to do some research to see what I can plant in its place!

Everything that I have growing right now, I started from seed!

To me it is exciting to watch my garden grow and I enjoy the time I spend with all the plants, there is just something very therapeutic about working in the garden!

Tomatos Planted

I have planted 16 tomato plants.

6 Big Red, 4 Pink Brandy Wine and 6 Giant Beefsteak, all heirloom varieties and started by seed.

I started my tomatoes around mid March in seed trays then transferred them to peat pots and again transferred them to coffee cans that we recycled as pots!

This is my first year starting veggies from seed so I am sure I have alot to learn but, so far everything seems to be doing good, this weekend I want to get my pepper plants in and start my bush beans.

Garden update

The Garden has started growing! We have battled very rainy weather for many weeks now though and that has us behind on many projects but, so far we have growing in our garden;

Broccoli and Brussel sprouts
The potatoes have been growing at very fast rates, we have already covered them with dirt and compost twice and they need it again!
Spinach, Swiss chard and peas.

We have also planted Strawberries and we have tomatoes, peppers and cucumber seedlings ready to go in.

I also have Dill, Summer savory, Thyme, chives, peppermint, apple mint, sweet basil, lemon balm and lemon verbena growing strong.

I hope to get some other items in the garden this week like bush beans, squash, melons and nasturtiums... that is if we have a day without rain!

As far as flowers we have planted, columbine, sweet William, Geraniums, pansies, violas, snap dragons, begonias, Aster, black eyed Susan's, Petunia, Nicotania,vinca,Salvia, Moon flower vine and a beautiful fragrant purple flower that no one could tell me what its name is!

I will try to post more pics of the wonderful plants growing later this week!

Seeds of hope!

Today we placed our order for garden seeds!

We ordered or seeds from Heirloom Seeds, This is a company that guarantees the seeds they sell are non hybrid and untreated and that they are NOT Genetically Modified!

That was the most important factor for our purchase from this company.

Here is the package we ordered;

The VICTORY GARDEN package includes:
BEANS (6 varieties): Black Turtle, Bush Blue Lake, Commodore, Fordhook Lima, Old Homestead Pole and Pencil Pod Black Wax
BEETS ( 2 varieties): Chiogga and Early Wonder
BROCCOLI (1 variety): De Cicco
BRUSSELS SPROUT (1 variety): Long Island Improved
CABBAGE (2 varieties): Early Jersey Wakefield and Red Danish
CARROTS (2 varieties): Amsterdam Minicor and Autumn King
CAULIFLOWER (1 variety): Early Snowball
CELERY (1 variety): Golden Self Blanching
COLLARD (1 variety): Georgia
CORN ( 1 variety): Golden Bantam
CUCUMBER (2 varieties): National Pickling and Tendergreen Burpless
EGGPLANT (1 variety): Black Beauty
GOURD (1 variety): Ornamental Small Mix
KALE (1 variety): Dwarf Blue Curled
KOHLRABI (1 variety): Early White Vienna
LEEK (1 variety): American Flag
LETTUCE (5 varieties): Black Seeded Simpson, Buttercrunch, Freckles Romaine, Gourmet Salad Blend, and Mesculin Mix
MELONS (2 varieties): Jenny Lind and Sweet Passion
MUSTARD GREENS (1 variety): Southern Giant Curled
OKRA (1 variety): Clemson Spineless
ONION, BUNCHING (1 variety): Evergreen White Bunching
PARSNIP (1 variety): Hollow Crown
PEPPERS (4 varieties): California Wonder, California Wonder Gold, Jalapeno and Long Red Cayenne
PEAS (3 varieties): Early Frosty, Mammoth Melting Sugar and Sugar Daddy
PUMPKINS (1 variety): New England Pie
RUTABAGA (1 variety): American Purple Top
RADISH (2 varieties): Easter Egg and Crimson Giant
SPINACH (2 varieties): Bloomsdale Long Standing and New Zealand
SQUASH, SUMMER (4 varieties): Dark Green Zucchini, Golden Zucchini, White Patty Pan and Yellow Crookneck
SQUASH, WINTER (2 varieties): Butternut and Spaghetti
SWISS CHARD (2 varieties): Lucullus and Ruby Red
SOUTHERN PEA (1 variety): California Black-Eyed
TOMATO (6 varieties): Besser, Big Red, Giant Beefsteak, Homestead 24, Pink Brandywine and Roma
TURNIPS (1 variety): Purple Top White Globe
WATERMELON (1 varieties): Sugar Baby
HERBS (10 varieties): Basil, Chives, Coriander, Cumin, Dill, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Summer Savory and Thyme

Please wish us lots of luck!

I will post pictures on our progress!

100 foot diet challenge update

We are busy planning our garden and we have decided we will build raised garden beds. This will allow us to start with the best soil we can get and we wont have to worry about as many weeds, I have been reading Jerry Bakers book "Old Time Gardening Wisdom" and we have been searching through seed catalogs to find Organic and Heirloom seeds to plant. We will be getting started on our garden as soon as the weather breaks and the ice and snow melt away!

In the mean time;

We raise meat rabbits, which will also provide us with excellent compost for our garden from their manure!
We raise Rhode Island Reds and Silver Laced Wyandottes for fresh eggs daily, we get enough eggs every day to feed us and sell the rest to help off set the cost of the chicken feed!

This is an old picture of our eggs

We also raise Royal Palm Turkeys for meat and have just learned that there is a market for their eggs, we can sell the fertile Turkey eggs for $2.00 each to anyone locally who is interested in incubating and hatching their own Turkeys, We also had someone approach us about buying one of our Toms for $40.00!

That will also help offset the coast of raising them!

We have plans of purchasing an incubator and hatching our own Turkey's and Chicken's to keep our meat supplies strong.

We are still eating the canned peaches, tomatoes, apple sauce and apple butter that I put up last fall!

We have only 4 more weeks until it is spring and we are wanting to grow these vegatables in our garden;

Tomatoes, Peppers, Corn, Lettuce, Peas, Onions,Green beans,Carrots, Potatoes,Zucchini and yellow squash.

We are also considering planting some fruit trees, Blackberries and strawberries.

I am so anxious to get started!

What are your plans?

100 foot Diet Challenge

Path to Freedom is one of my favorite websites and they have a wonderful challenge going on right now!

The 100 foot Diet Challenge;

It wasn’t that long ago (1940s) that people planted Victory Gardens when it became necessary for them, due to wartime shortages, to grow their own food. Now, it’s our turn
If you want to fight against peak oil, climate change and our consumerist culture, then join us and start a living protest right in your own back (front) yards. Be the change, live the solution! Use your yard (or balcony or porch steps) not only to grow food but also to cultivate a healthier and more fulfilling life. (excerpt from Path to Freedom)

We are going to take this challenge as another step in our Journey to a more simple life, I hope you will join in too!

Visit Path to Freedom to find out more!

Once Spring arrives and we can get our gerden going I will post about the meals we eat that come right from our own land, I am anxious to get started!