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!

Surviving a Blizzard

I am sitting here tonight watching the weather report of a blizzard headed our way for the weekend and decided to look in on face book to see what is being said out there, I have seen multiple photos being posted of store shelves emptied of milk and bread, reading statements of people being concerned that they can not stock up on what they needed or wanted, others are worried about losing power during the storm and all of this has reminded me of the many reasons we are happy living this life in which we chose, We are prepared with food, water and heat, No trips to the grocery store for us and no worries of losing power, we have a wood stove to keep us warm and cook our food, oil lamps to light the night and food that we worked hard all summer to get us through!

I baked bread today...not because of the incoming snow but, because that is where our bread comes from and today was baking day...storm or no storm!

This is the bread that I baked today

I am comforted in knowing my family will be warm and fed during this blizzard and realized, Our life will go on unaffected by this weather event but, it also makes me think a little more about, how many people are not prepared and how so many people rely on outside resources; just to survive some snow, What IF something changed about life as we know it? If store shelves are empty because the weatherman mentions snow, what would happen to those people during a real catastrophic event? How many know how to grow any type of food or find food in the wild? If you are reading this and can relate, I urge you to learn! We live in a great age for information and you can learn anything with a google search, Use it, Learn and change....even if it is just a little, at least it is something that will make you feel a little more secure! 

In the meantime, I am sitting here by the wood stove, Warm and cozy, drinking a cup of tea while planning this years garden and feeling grateful for the blessings in our life! So I urge you, go search out and learn something new, you will be glad you did in hard times! If you are in the path of this winter storm, I hope you will be safe and warm! 

First Ice Storm for 2009

These are some pictures of the Ice Storm we got on Wednesday and Thursday early Morning, this was what we woke up too!

Ice on one of our bushes

Icy cold view from the back yard

This picture looks out of focus but, it was actually Fog!

Several people in our area had power outages due to the trees falling over onto the power lines from the weight of the Ice, we were fortunate that we maintained our electric!

The horses were upset about staying in the barn, I just didn't want to take the chance of them slipping on the ice in their current state of pregnancy, Today they are out and about but it is windy and I think they will opt to return to the barn!

We are in store for very cold temperatures this weekend and the possibility for more Ice on Saturday........ Hurry Spring!!!!!

Heavenly Rays

This was the view from our backyard last evening, the suns rays shone down through rain clouds to give a spectacular sight.

A Heavenly gift of beauty!

Spring around the Homestead

Lilacs, My favorite flower
One of my flower beds
Tulips, we have several beds of these pretty spring flowers!

This is my favorite time of year, this is the time when life renews itself and beauty emerges from every direction. We have been busy building our garden beds and cleaning up the flower beds and many areas around the barn. The chickens and turkeys have been enjoying the nice weather and being outside.

down by our little pond you can hear the frogs singing in the evening and the bats have been flying around!

I love this time of year with all its wonderful smells and beautiful sights!

Counting Down to Earth Hour!

The countdown has began only

Three weeks to go!

On March 29th at 8:00 PM people from around the world will be uniting in an effort to save energy for our Beautiful Earth!

last year in Australia alone, one city started the movement they called Earth Hour, Homes and Businesses turned off their non essential electric for one hour. The result was dramatic, they saved enough power and eliminated enough emissions from our environment in one hour and the result was the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road!

That was One city for One hour!

Imagine what we can do this year by joining in a world wide effort to help ease a little bit of the burden we put on our planet,

one hour might not stop Global Warming but,

it is a starting point to help slow it down.

This is just one little thing we can do to help insure a better future for generations to come, to make people aware of Global Warming and to start taking small steps toward the things we can all do that will make a difference!

We are ready, we have the oil lanterns filled and we are planning a family game night by lantern light.

and as a continuing effort;

We have switched over to compact fluorescent bulbs in our all our lamps.

We turn out all lights when we are not in a room.

We burn wood in the winter for heat instead of using gas or electric.

and we are planning to power down at least once a week, it is our way of helping make a difference in our environment and

the chance to find better quality family time, that is not being distracted by modern technologies like

the T.V, Computer or Video games!

I hope you will also consider joining the effort that started in Australia and has grown world wide in only its second year!

Visit Earth Hour to learn more!

Sledding

It has been snowing all day, Alan, Robin and Ryan were out enjoying it all afternoon!

Ryan with his rosy cheeks!

Even the dogs were having fun!

Ryan sledding down the hill!

Robins turn!

Ryan played awhile on his swing set!

Hunter and Bandit were all over the place!

They all had a wonderful time, the snow is supposed to turn to freezing rain tonight and then to all rain by tomorrow morning...it was a good thing they were able to enjoy it today!

Now its time to make hot chocolate for the frozen family!

February Frost

A Beautiful, Peaceful Sunday Morning

We woke up this morning with a beautiful frost and low fog.

it was so peaceful walking around the homestead taking these pictures, the only sounds that were heard was Charlie crowing and the Turkeys gobbling, I enjoy these country moments and would not change them for anything!

Is this January?

Is this January????

Our temperatures are going to be about 67 degrees today and 70 tomorrow!

I am glad for the warm temps, I can be outside in just a long sleeve shirt...No coat, no hat, no gloves, Now that's my kind of weather!

Ryan hamming it up for the camera!

I just hope this weather does not spoil us too much,
Spring is still a very long way away.
I am heading back outside, I'm not going to waste this beautiful day!!!

Winter Wonderland

This is what we woke up to this morning!

Our First Snow!

We are getting our first snow!

There is something very magical about a snowfall,

How it covers everything and makes it all so beautiful.

I love to see the snow clinging to the branches of the trees and I treasure the silence that you only get when it is snowing,

The birds are busy at the feeders,

the snow is gently falling

and

I am admiring it all from the warmth of the wood stove,

later I will take Ryan out to play in the first snow of the season,

but for now, I am enjoying the splendor of a new fallen snow!

Freeze your Buns Challenge!

Crunchy Chicken is sponsoring this challenge to reduce our energy needs by turning down the thermostat for winter. check out her blog for energy saving tips plus you can grab your sweaters and blankets and make a pledge to lower your thermostat to help our environment while saving some of the green stuff in your wallet!

What are you waiting for?

Make your pledge today... We did!

Its Snowing!

I woke up this morning and made the bed, brought in firewood to stock the wood box because the weather man was calling for rain showers, I saw Alan and Robin off to work and then started a load of laundry. Ryan and I then got dressed and went to the barn for the morning chores.We have one hen who has a touch of pneumonia and is in the hospital area, she seems to be improving with the care I have been giving her but, she is not ready to go back in the coop with the rest of her family yet. The baby bunnies are doing good, we have four left and they now have fur! There are two brown, 1 grey and 1 black
As we were walking down to the barn it was snowing! a beautiful white shower! The snow is melting as it hits the ground but it is pretty to see it fall from the sky!
I am going to use up the rest of the apples to make apple butter today and work on some sewing for Christmas gifts!