Mulling Things Over

Things around here have been pretty low key.Rick's meds continue to mess with him a bit. Saturday he went to his Asst Scoutmaster training,and the only down side was that it was in a small room with no windows. Rick has a hard time in rooms like that,but he made it through A-OK. He was wiped out when he got home,though,and he took a nap. 

Sunday,the Menfolk,Zach,and our next door neighbor Kelly decided to go up the road to Shaw Pond (no relation!)to do some ice fishing.We actually have enough ice now on most lakes and ponds to walk on them,but there are still some areas where the ice is not thick enough yet. Fortunately, Shaw Pond has a good 4" or so of ice,so they were good to go. They tried to talk me into going,but I  declined. I am not an outdoor winter person. I used to be in my youth,I loved sledding and being in the snow. Now, not so much. I prefer being warm in my house. The males were gone for at least four hours and had a great time!

Zach,Brother B,and Rick setting up traps

                                                                     Pulling up a fish                                  
 

                                                                        Pickerel!

They used Kelly's equipment,but Zach enjoyed it so much that Rick bought a couple of traps for he and Zach so they don't have to keep using Kelly's.

Also on Sunday,like any good New Englander,we watched the Patriots and the Ravens,holding our breath until the very end when the Raven's missed the field goal. Now we look forward to beating the Giants in the Super Bowl (sorry,New York fans)!

As for me,my project of late was making  some pot holders..

My potholders are in very sad shape. They are to the point where even washing them doesn't get them clean anymore. So instead of buying a pair,I made them. While I knitted,Rick and I started to mull over our plan for our garden this year. We need to order some new seeds-we have had some for three years now and it's time to get fresh ones. Instead of buying two types of lettuce,etc,we are only going to grow one kind. While we are going to cut back on variety,we are not going to cut back on quantity. We may forgo peas this year,too-to be honest,I am not a fan of fresh peas...maybe it's because I grew up with canned ones my whole life. I do love fresh green beans,though. I also need to be more on top of staggered planting this year. I hope that it doesn't take so long for the garden area to dry out this Spring.Last year we couldn't prep the area until late May.It was like a bog out back. Seeing such little snow this year,however,I assume that this spring will not be quite as wet. We also discussed whether or not we are going to make syrup this year,and we decided that we will give it shot yet again. We now  know that we need to boil the syrup a bit longer, to get it a bit more full flavored,and it needs to be canned,otherwise it doesn't last that long and gets moldy.Lessons learned,my friends!

Have a Fabulous Day on this Fabulous Planet!!!

Misc.Doings of The Week

We tried the turkey eggs,and they tasted like chicken eggs,but with a noticeably richer flavor. We have been getting about two a day.

Sap season is pretty much over. We have buds coming out on our trees,which affect the taste of the sap-it becomes bitter. The weather is starting to get too warm for sap to run,and the night time temps are starting to be above freezing. We pulled our buckets yesterday,and were pleased with the 5 gallons ( approx) that we processed. It's nice,light,Grade A syrup.Now work begins on cleaning out the garage.

This weekend the temps are going to soar into the 60's,and on Monday may hit the 70's. This is a heat wave for us here in NH! I am so excited to be outside in pleasant weather. Though I live in NH,I hate the cold and will do all I can to stay inside. It doesn't bother me. Folks ask me,if you don't like the cold,why do you live in NH? I live here because it's the place of my birth, a beautiful state,it's a lovely way of life,and having winter makes me appreciate the other seasons.I never take them for granted.

Yesterday morning I woke up,and saw the sky was bright blue and the sun was shining,and the birds were singing away. It was wonderful. I love this time of year. The snow goes away,things turn green,the air starts becoming warmer,and my bird friends come back and serenade me with their beautiful Spring song. It's the rebirth of the Nature after being dormant all winter. It doesn't get better than that!!

Today I am going to start my broccoli and tomato seeds. I have three new green peppers that have sprouted,but since I last checked a couple days ago I may have more,and more oregano,thyme,and marjoram.

This weekend I plan on raking where it's dry. I need to check on my strawberry info to see when I should uncover them from their layer of protective straw. I need to get outside and soak up the rays. Like Laura Ingalls Wilder said,"...she could never get enough sun soaked into her bones."

Rick is excited because now that he has been deemed 100% disabled from the VA,he is eligible for a permanent hunting and fishing license. He only had to pay a one time fee of $10.00 to get the license,as well as  show documentation stating his disability,a signed form from his Dr,copies of previous hunting and fishing licenses,and his ID. He and Brother B went to the Fish and Game Dept in our state capital of Concord yesterday to get it. He could've just sent it in,but he didn't want to take a chance,and this way he would get it right in hand. The only money he will have to spend is on the tags ( deer,turkey,etc). I had a Muffin Date with My Dear Friend Michelle,so I didn't go. Girl time is of utmost importance!!!!

I hope all is well in your area of the world. Enjoy this wonderful day!!!!!!

April Fools....I Wish!!!!!

Yesterday was a lovely day.The temperatures were in the low 50's. The boys boiled down 22 gallons of sap,and had to collect sap twice. A mere 6 hours after gathering 25 gallons,they had to gather more because the buckets were filling up. So we had a total of 35 gallons of sap gathered yesterday. The total syrup made yesterday was 3 qts,1 pint. We have about three gallons of syrup total.

Today there is no boiling,because Mother Nature is in the process of giving us what we were hoping was an April Fools joke...but it's no joke. This is what she is giving us today....



Juncos enjoying seed and snow



A view of my herb and strawberry boxes...which you can't see



Yesterday this is what the herb and strawberry area looked like.You can actually see the straw covering the strawberry bed!

 Yep. Mother Nature has decided to dump a upwards of a foot or more on us today. The snow is a typical Spring snow...wet and heavy. The stretchy waffle weave roof of the turkey cage is now almost to the ground. Rick had to low crawl into the cage to raise it up as much as possible.It's still pretty low. Some of the braces need to be fixed/replaced. The snow is suppose to last all day,and widespread power outages have started. I am thankful that even if we lose power,we have a wood stove,a generator,a grill,and camp stoves. No problem eating or keeping warm. We could even watch TV if we wanted. But the main thing would be to keep the toilet and the fridge going. Hopefully it won't mess up my seeds too much. I put on the light yesterday at 14 hour intervals. I have some thyme and oregano that have sprouted. My laundry is all finished,so I don't have to worry about that. Needless to say,Zach has no school today. He has had quite a few snow days this year,so it looks like he will be in school until late June. That is no fun. Farmers Almanac missed this prediction. They said this winter would be "average to below average snow fall." Whoops!!! Better luck next time,guys.

New Technology

Well,the technology is new to us! Yesterday we had high speed Internet installed. I resisted for a very long time,because I did not want to spend more money. However,after having dial up take up to half and hour to download photos to the blog,and trying to download ITunes for 6 hours with no success,I had it. I have spent lots of time,mostly unnecessary time,on this computer. I had to free myself and my family!

What a difference! Photos just take a mere few seconds.ITunes downloaded in minutes.

The Little Yellow Farm has come into the 21st century!

Today we are having light snow and it's chilly. Rick is not feeling well,and Brother B is manning the sap boiling production. We did not do any boiling yesterday.We were too involved in changing emails,transferring favorites over,and watching UTube videos! I forgot to mention that we also now have digital and HD channels on our TV,so we were figuring out all the new channels,how On Demand works,etc. ( What a hoot to see an episode of "Match Game '75"!!!!)

Brother B just came in and reported that he gathered 22 gallons of syrup.So we have now gathered 55 gallons in all. Since we didnt' boil yesterday,we still have 15 gallons to boil down before we get to the 22 gallons! I feel bad for Brother B,because he has to stay outside (mostly) to keep an eye on the burner and the sap. Bless his sap boiling heart!!

Tomorrow I start my herb and Green Pepper seeds. I will post some photos of the set up. Now I am off to start my housework.

Have a lovely day!

Happy First Day of Spring!!!!

It's finally here...the first day of Spring!!! Today is a lovely day. The sky is bright blue,there is barely any breeze,and on our screen porch,in the shade,it is currently 40 degrees. We have lost more snow,but we still have quite a bit to go. This time of year is known as "Mud Season." Our driveway and walkway are a mess,full of puddles,ruts,and running water as the snow melts. Rick made trenches to help guide the water as best as he could. I told Rick we need to think about getting the driveway and walkway sealed. It's a futile task to try and keep our floor clean. Mud gets tracked in each time. My poor floors!!!

Friday was gorgeous.It hit 66 degrees here,with bright sun. I went outside,closed my eyes,and just breathed in the smells of wet earth, and fresh air. I could feel the warm sun soaking into my bones. It was heaven.

Here is our first batch of maple syrup. We wound up with approx a pint-we had boiled 6-7 gallons. We gathered about 14-15 gallons of sap on Friday.

Yesterday we finished boiling off our Friday sap.We boiled down about 8 gallons of sap and got a 1 1/4 quarts. So now we have about 2 quarts of syrup.

Yesterday morning Rick and Zach gathered more sap. We didn't get as much as on Friday. We only wound up with 4 1/2 gallons of sap. Though the temperatures were in the 40's,it took a while to get there. We had snow for the good part of the morning,and we had a wind blowing all day,which lowered the outside temperatures.This is the nature of the beast with sap gathering.

Friday was such a beautiful day that while Brother B manned the boiling down process, Rick and Zach did a good thorough job of cleaning the chicken coop and turkey cage. The chicken coop was scraped down and nice,fresh shavings and straw were put in. Runt and his harem were quite happy! They have been enjoying this nice weather,too,and the extra sunlight by giving us about 6-8 eggs a day.

Friday and Saturday folks stopped on their way by to see how the sap boiling was going.They would stop,hang around the boiling sap,and chat. We gave them each a shot of syrup to see how they liked it. We thought it was our best batch ever-and they all agreed that it was delicious!!! It was great to see folks so interested in what we are doing. We had two people want to buy some,so far.

Today there is not a lot in the buckets,so we will gather tomorrow. We had another cold start to the day,but the afternoon looks promising. We still have Saturday's gathering to process. We will do that tomorrow when we gather the rest of the sap. We had to go and get more propane for our tank,so it's too late now to begin boiling. It takes all day to process sap. Patience is a virtue!

Today I am going to make another batch of laundry soap. I am off to do that straight away.

Enjoy your first day of Spring!!!!

Sap's A-Running!!!

Sap season here in NH runs from mid February to mid April. The temperatures need to be above 35 degrees during the day and below freezing at night. Our temperatures,until the last week or so,have been for the most part,too cold for the sap to run consistently. Some folks have had their trees tapped for a few weeks now. We just put our buckets out yesterday. We have had a lovely stretch of  daytime temperatures from the upper 30's to the mid 50's.I was looking over my notes from last year,and we tapped our trees on Feb 22. The temps were in the upper 30's to low 40's,but we should have waited until a bit later. We wound up having a real cold spell,which stopped the sap.

There are a couple of ways I am familiar with to gather sap. One is the old tried and true bucket hanging off a tap.Others use plastic tubing from tap to tap so the sap runs down the tubing into a bigger container. As you can see from last year's photo,we use the old bucket method.

Rick,Zach,and I went out and tapped our trees. First, we boiled the taps and the metal buckets to sterilize them (never use soap! The taste gets into the sap).Then we had to check the trees to see where the old holes were,and we made new ones about 6" away from them. Rick showed Zach how to drill the holes:we used a  5/16" drill bit,drilled in at an upwards angle,and only drilled approx 1" in. If you hit dark wood,you've gone too far. The sap should start flowing right out of the hole. Zach did a good job. Hammer in the tap,hook up the bucket,and watch it come out!!Don't forget the covers!(Not shown in the photo) We put out 10 buckets in our yard. Trees need to be 12" in diameter to tap,and 18" in diameter for two buckets. We have three trees with two buckets. It was great to hear the sap dripping into the metal buckets. To me,that is the beginning of Spring! Our neighbors let us tap their trees,so we have 6 up in at their place.This makes a total of 16 buckets,6 more than last year,so we are anxious to see how well we do. The nice thing about gathering sap is you don't need Sugar Maples. You can tap any Maple tree. Sugar Maples are just sweeter,which is why they are the best tree to tap. We only have one Sugar Maple,so we also tapped our Silver Maple and Red Maples. We do have more,but right now they aren't big enough to tap.

The boys have gone up to the neighbors to begin the gathering process. We have white plastic buckets for this purpose. I have made a chart with the Date,air temp,# of buckets gathered,amount of sap gathered,amount boiled,and total amount of syrup. Those who have made syrup before know that it takes a lot of sap to make a just a bit of syrup-40 gallons of sap makes 1 gallon of syrup.

Our boiling system is very simple. We have no sugaring equipment. We use a tall standing propane burner and a large stock pot. We boil it down until it foams,strain it through cheesecloth,and put it in canning jars for storage ( we do not use any canning methods). The one thing folks need to know is that regular maple syrup does not taste like "fake" maple syrup,such as Vermont Maid or Log Cabin. Those have additives which make it thicker and sweeter. Real maple syrup has a light consistency and taste. The more you boil it down,the darker it will get,and the sweeter,but it's still nothing like fake syrup.The boiling process is long.It takes hours,so one has to have patience!

While we were putting out our buckets,folks who were driving by slowed down to see what we were doing. This morning I noticed as I looked out the window that folks were checking out our buckets as they drove by.I know I have always enjoyed seeing yards with sap buckets. I always thought it was neat and it made me want to make my own syrup. Hopefully,our buckets can inspire someone to try it for themselves!!!!!!!

Doings

Yesterday was an exciting day. Zach was a finalist in the Rochester Regional Spelling Bee.(There are several regionals throughout the state,and winners go on to the State Bee).He did well,making it to the second round and being in the top 12 out of 21 contestants. He was a bit upset,as the judges told the group that they would use some words that were not on the study list,but only towards the end.They used those words from the get go. Rick and I noticed it right away,since we have been going over the words with him for weeks. At any rate,he did a great job and we are very very proud of him!!!

This coming week is garden planning. I made a preliminary assessment of what seeds we have,and what we need to get. There are  a few new things we want to grow,broccoli being one. For the most part,we have plenty of seeds left over because our garden was on the smaller side. This year,we want to have enough to do some serious canning,so our garden is going to be close to,if not,doubled. We also need to rotate our crops,so we will have to figure what will go where. I am very excited to get this going.

We have lost quite a bit of snow this weekend.It has been in the 40's-balmy temperatures for us this time of year! It rained overnight,so the snow in the yard has gone down by about half. We still have snowdrifts ( such as outside our bedroom window) that are about 5 ft tall,but we can see grass in the paths that have been snowblowed (is that a word?) Little birds have come back,Brother B informed us yesterday. He saw a bunch out at the bird feeders,so now I need to get some seed to coax them into hanging around. I am anxious to see something else beside Blue Jays.And of course,the standard bearer of Spring,the Robin,is the most welcome sight of all. Once we see Robins,we know that Spring is not far behind.

Some folks have tapped their Maple trees already,but the weather has not been sap running weather. It needs to be above freezing during the day and below freezing at night for a portion of time to get the sap going. A couple of days of good sap weather followed by freezing temps stops any sap flow. From what I have read from the NH Maple Producers Association website,if you tap the trees too early,it's not good.So we have held off. Sap only runs for a few weeks out of the year,and here in NH it's usually not until mid March. Once the buds start coming out on the trees,the sap has turned bitter,so it's time to pull the buckets.

Like most folks around here,I am ready for Spring. I am ready for green grass,bright blue sky,the sound of birds singing,and digging in my garden. I am ready for warm sunshine soaking into my bones. Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!

Maple Sugaring Part II

It appears that our maple sap season is kaput. It wasn't the best. The daytime temperatures kept fluctuating, so that the sap didn't really run that well. Last week we pulled our taps and buckets. The buds started coming out on the trees,and the sap (what little there was) was yellow colored-which means it's time to call the season over,at least,until next Fall. However, we did get one more small batch,which netted us about a quart of syrup.

Above you can see our little (and I do mean little) set up.We purchased a larger propane tank (which we can use for BBQ and for the propane heater in the garage-yes,it costs a bit,but winds up being cheaper in the long run than constantly refilling the smaller tanks).This is the opening in our garage,and outside you can also see a juice barrel that we got for free to use for a rain barrel this year. Needless to say,we haven't done our annual garage cleaning yet.

We strained the sap before we started boiling-cheesecloth,a strainer,and another sap gathering bucket. Once it was boiled down,we re-strained it in the house into Mason jars. The batch before this one was boiled down a bit too much....so we bought maple leaf candy molds and made candy.The taste as not quite as sweet as the candy one would buy in the store-it had a more mild flavor,but delicious nonetheless!!

One cannot be rushed when making maple syrup. Our cook down time averages about 7 hours.

We begin our seed starting this week. So a new adventure begins!!!!

It's Maple Sugaring Time

It's that time again...when daytime temperatures are above 35 and nighttime temperatures are still cold...that's right...the sap is running!

We tapped our trees a couple of weeks ago,and as soon as we drilled a hole in the trees,the sap started pouring out.

The hole should not be more than an inch into the tree,and between 2 and 4 feet up the side of the tree. The measurement should be from the ground,not the top of the snow. The hole should be at a slight upward angle. Once you have your hole,you tap in your spout. Some people use plastic tubing and and the sap drains down the tubing into the gathering bucket. We use the old galvanised style buckets.

Below Rick gives the thumb's up. Bring on the sap!!!!

Sap immediately starts dripping into the bucket. Before you put your buckets and spouts out,make sure you clean them with hot water. Don't use soap or any type of cleaner. The residue will make your syrup taste funky.

We wound up with 10 buckets,and three of the trees were double tapped. We have Silver,Red,and Sugar Maples. We did buy covers for the buckets so little "treats"don't find their way into the sap. Even though we strain the sap before boiling and after,there's no sense in having more debris to strain out than necessary.

We tapped the trees on Feb 22,when the weather forecast called for a week in the upper 30's to low 40's. The day we tapped it was nice,40 degrees and sunny,but shortly after that our forecast changed and the days were chilly and overcast. We also had some periods of snow. It hindered our sap flow. The next day we gathered the sap ,and had 5 gallons. Then the following day we gathered 2 1/2 gallons. Since you should boil down the sap within a day or two of gathering,we boiled it down on Thurs Feb 25. Out of the 7 1/2 gallons, we got 1 1/2 pints. It took 7 hours to boil it until it reached the proper boiling point ( which is determined by a good foam).

We do not have a fancy maple shack. We have a stock pot,a standing propane stove,and a large propane tank. Next post I will show you how we boil down our sap. Oh,and by the way....our sap was Deee-licious!!!!!

Thinking Spring Thoughts In An Artic Blast

Today with the wind chill the temperatures are hovering around 0 or slightly below. It was quick nippy out at the bus stop this morning...we were willing the bus to please show up quickly!! The wind has been howling since last night,and during the noontime news they said that Rochester had a gust of 44 miles an hour. That is not surprising. Small branches are falling and honestly I am surprised that there are no reports of power outages.At least if we do lose power,we have plenty of food,a woodstove,and several candles and kerosene lamps.We have an emergency radio,water to flush the toilet,and a propane grill and camp stoves. So we are all set.

The main topic in our household,aside from the med board and Rick's knees,is the upcoming Spring and what we are going to do.This has been a continuing discussion.Our latest topic is what to name our upcoming farm. We figure if we are going to grow food,have chickens and turkeys,and gather sap that our home could be considered a farm. So far we are leaning towards Little Yellow Farm. We have also been debating where to put our chicken coop.



This is a pic of our original chicken coop area,back in 2005. Right now this area has wood piled up in it. We don't want to build such a big coop this time-we learned that it's not necessary from blogs and articles. So the question is,where shall we put it?


We do want to have a good sized area for them to roam,and I loved it when our chickens would free range around the yard. However,we do not have a fenced in yard (we have a stone wall) and the girls would wander into the neighbors yards. We had one neighbor call the town on us because of this,instead of coming to us and telling us she did not appreciate our feathered friends visits. So we kept them in the fenced in area.

Next month begins maple sugar season here in NH. I checked out the NH Maple Producers Association website and was surprised that the season did not begin later. But mid February it is. We tried out hand at maple syrup before,but we did not boil the sap each day,and most of what we gathered wound up going bad. We have several maples in our yard,and I believe that we tapped 5 of them-some with double taps. We are planning on doing that again this year,and will tap our silver,red,and sugar maples. Sugar maples are the sweetest sap,which is why they are the main tree used for syrup,but the other species have sweet sap as well. So we are gearing up for that. We are going to price a large propane tank for the boiling process. It takes a while to boil down sap,and to keep filling the small BBQ size propane tanks would be quite expensive.



It takes 40 gallons of sap to make about one. As it boils,the clear sap turns that lovely amber color,and the longer you boil it,the darker it becomes.



My brother in law is here in this photo pouring the maple syrup in jars through cheesecloth to strain out any impurities. We didn't have covers for our buckets,and this year we are discussing buying some.Our syrup was a light amber color,and the taste was a sweet,light taste.It was quite delicious!