This morning I walked out the door into 40 degree bliss and it smelled delightful. I could hear the water running down our drain spout, spring is really here. Finally! Our driveway is a mess, I am glad that I have my Muck boots, I practically live in them these days. The kids are loving jumping in the mud puddles or "Muddles" as Adin still calls them. It sure doesn't take them long to be completely soaked, but I don't mind. I was the same way as a kid, you couldn't keep me out of those silly muddles. The snow in the garden is even starting to disappear, although it still has a long way to go. We do have some spots of nice green grass though. They can be found in a nice line from the house to the barn, directly over the buried wood stove line. Pretty interesting!
Tomorrow Scott and Adin are taking the long drive to Merrill to pick up a bunch of insulated sliding glass door panels that we are going to use to build our greenhouse. I am so excited. Yeah for Craig's List. The girls and I will be at day care for the day, playing and working respectively. I guess I get to play some too. :) This kind of weather just makes me smile and puts me in the best mood. Such a great day.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Sugaring #3
The last 2 days have been very productive. The sap is a flowing and the snow is a melting. We still have tons of snow, but with each 40 degree day more and more disappears. Yesterday was my son's 5th Birthday (we are having his party this weekend), he and I went out to collect sap with the 4-wheeler and because the snow was so squishy we got it stuck. I am glad that we have a winch on it, so we were able to get unstuck. Unfortunately my finger got in the way a bit and I now have no feeling in my ring finger on my left hand. (typing is a bit challenging) It was already a damaged finger, but that is a different story all together. Let's just say it is a very unlucky finger.
Any way we were able to pull 2.5 gallons yesterday and 2 more today for a total of 7.5 gallons so far. I am glad that I am off tomorrow, so I can start boiling as I am running out of milk jugs to recycle. Good thing we drink a lot of milk around here and that I work at a day care where the kids drink a lot of milk.
I am actually excited to see how much we'll get with this batch. I know I have read that to get one gallon you need 30-40 gallons of sap. My brother-in-law says that he gets a ratio of about 14/1 so we'll see what we get. It would be nice to get a good amount. Tonight is supposed to stay warm, so I am praying that it doesn't mess up the flow too bad. After tonight, it is going to be cold at night again, so maybe just one night won't goof things up.
 |
| 7 1/2 Gallons of Sap |
Any way we were able to pull 2.5 gallons yesterday and 2 more today for a total of 7.5 gallons so far. I am glad that I am off tomorrow, so I can start boiling as I am running out of milk jugs to recycle. Good thing we drink a lot of milk around here and that I work at a day care where the kids drink a lot of milk.
I am actually excited to see how much we'll get with this batch. I know I have read that to get one gallon you need 30-40 gallons of sap. My brother-in-law says that he gets a ratio of about 14/1 so we'll see what we get. It would be nice to get a good amount. Tonight is supposed to stay warm, so I am praying that it doesn't mess up the flow too bad. After tonight, it is going to be cold at night again, so maybe just one night won't goof things up.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Sugaring #2
This morning before work I hiked out to the woods to check on our taps, mostly to see if any critter met it's fate in our buckets. To my thanks no critters and to my surprise - sap! We had sap already and yesterday wasn't even that nice of a day. It was frozen in the buckets, so I left them for tonight. When the kids and I got home from work, we hiked out to the trees and low and behold - more sap. We have now collected exactly 1 gallon from 5 taps. The taps in the red maples aren't doing anything, but those sugars are dripping nicely. It was really fun to see the kids so excited to check out each bucket to see if we had production. We'll go check them a couple of times tomorrow to see how the flow is. I have to work this weekend, so I'm not sure when I'll be starting the boiling process. Until then, the sap is safely in milk jugs sitting in the mounds of snow we have in the front of the house.
One Year of Blogging
Today marks one year and 10 days of blogging our family adventures and what nots. We have accomplished a lot. Beautiful garden built, wood stove purchased (it was fun getting calls from the gas company asking if we needed any propane and us saying "No Thanks") and paid off (as soon as taxes come back), trees cleared around house and barn, learned how to can along with many other things.
As 2011 moves forward, so do our plans for becoming even more self sufficient. This year I fear is going to see some hard times in our state and community for many people. Gas prices are rising at a rapid rate which is not only going to make filling our vehicles painful, but it will also drive up the cost of everything else around here. I am glad we have the wood stove and our garden. We may also see some major fallout from our Governor's new budget balancing bill that he is working on. Don't get me wrong, we really need to get control of the state's budget, but the way he is going about it is going to hurt the education of our children and hurt a lot of us financially. Seeing is how he is pretty dead set on "His Way", I am going to try to plan and prepare for the worst.
Now that we have gone through one year of gardening, I know what I need to plant more of and what I need to can more of. I am going to get over my fear of pressure canning and borrow my Grandmother's pressure canner (she already gave me her hot water bath canner) that way I can can veggies and other things with a lower acidity. I am going to try and produce more potatoes so we can actually store them for the winter instead of just only getting a few meals out of them. We will have chickens so we'll have our own eggs eventually. I am going to do everything I realistically can to make us more able to be self-sufficient off of these 20 ac. we have. I will not get a cow! Here is to better days despite impending trials and tribulations, to looking for the silver lining in every situation, to having a positive & productive year with lots of learning.
As 2011 moves forward, so do our plans for becoming even more self sufficient. This year I fear is going to see some hard times in our state and community for many people. Gas prices are rising at a rapid rate which is not only going to make filling our vehicles painful, but it will also drive up the cost of everything else around here. I am glad we have the wood stove and our garden. We may also see some major fallout from our Governor's new budget balancing bill that he is working on. Don't get me wrong, we really need to get control of the state's budget, but the way he is going about it is going to hurt the education of our children and hurt a lot of us financially. Seeing is how he is pretty dead set on "His Way", I am going to try to plan and prepare for the worst.
Now that we have gone through one year of gardening, I know what I need to plant more of and what I need to can more of. I am going to get over my fear of pressure canning and borrow my Grandmother's pressure canner (she already gave me her hot water bath canner) that way I can can veggies and other things with a lower acidity. I am going to try and produce more potatoes so we can actually store them for the winter instead of just only getting a few meals out of them. We will have chickens so we'll have our own eggs eventually. I am going to do everything I realistically can to make us more able to be self-sufficient off of these 20 ac. we have. I will not get a cow! Here is to better days despite impending trials and tribulations, to looking for the silver lining in every situation, to having a positive & productive year with lots of learning.
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