Frost Warning Special!

Tonight there are frost warnings.  Once asparagus grows above soil level it is vulnerable to frost.  And once frozen, it is inedible.

So, today Ken picked everything above soil level, and we have some short pieces.  

They are weighed out the same as the usual bunches of spears.  Advantage of shorties?  MORE TIPS!

Piglets Have Arrived!

Each year we get piglets.  Pigs are an important member of the team here.  They are four legged rototillers.  We rotate them from project to project.  Some years the y clear new garden space, renovate areas, clear fence lines, etc.  They love to dig!  And they eat culls from the garden - lower cabbage leaves, broccoli plants, etc.

When they arrive they are small, and Oscar takes on the job of nanny.  This year we are pretty excited to have full blooded Berkshires.  A few years back we had Duroc Berkshire cross bred pigs, and they were great!  

We sell half and whole animals, and usually get only as many pigs as we have pre - sold.  Since pigs don't come in halves, and we had an odd number of families who have ordered, we still have one half available.

If interested, contact us for details.

Spring Opener Preparations

Each year at the start of May we have an open house we call the Spring Opener.  Pottery is washed and priced.  

Fresh eggs and vegetables are available for sale as well as maple syrup.  

Many people walk through the woods and see gardens, blooming trees, etc

The event is Saturday, May 7th and Sunday the 8th.  We hope to see you here between 10:00 and 5:00. 

Maple Syrup - Tree to bottle

Ken makes maple syrup.  Each spring when the warm weather starts he taps trees.  Optimum weather to collect sap is sunny 40 degree days with no wind and nights in the 20's.  The sap goes up during the day and down during the night.  Some goes into the spile and to the bucket.

Ken collects the sap from the buckets.  This year I helped him a couple times.

Then he fills a shallow pan called an evaporator and lights a fire under it to boil down the sap to syrup.












When it is nearly syrup we bring it to the house. 

There I get it to the right sugar concentration - 219 degrees, 32 on the Baum scale and 66% on Brix scale.  

Then we filter and bottle it.  This year in addition to our usual reused juice jars, we also filled pint bottles and 8 oz bottles.  

Then I label them and they are ready to sell.  Some people call maple syrup liquid gold.  It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. I like to think that two five gallon buckets of sap make one quart of syrup!

Boiling Sap to Syrup Begins

Today Ken began boiling maple sap to make maple syrup.
He collects sap in buckets.

When he has enough to boil, he pours the sap into a large flat pan called an evaporator.  As it boils down he adds more sap

He maintains the fire under the evaporator

He continue to monitor the fire and check the sap as it boils and becomes syrup.

Maple Syrup Seaon Begiins

This spring Ken plans to make maple syrup. Each season is different and some seasons are better than others.  The first step is to drill a small hole in the maple tree.

The next step is to tap in a spile to direct the flow of sap into a bucket.

Then Ken has to check and empty buckets of sap.  When he has enough to boil down to syrup, he pours the sap through a filter and into the evaporator.  Then he will keep a fire under the evaporator to boil the sap to syrup. The sap's sugar concentration varies, but usually it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.  For one quart of syrup it takes about two full five gallon buckets.

Optimum weather for maple sap to flow is a combination of daytime temperatures in the 40's with sun and no wind and night time temperatures in the 20's.  

We shall see what the weather brings.  More photos to follow!

Ken's Mushrooms

This year Ken began doing something he has wanted to do for a long time - growing mushrooms.  We have several oak trees shading growing areas - garden, orchard, greenhouses.  And after he took down the first oak he started shiitake mushrooms on the oak that was the right size.

Then he started some mushrooms that required less than a year.  First there were oyster mushrooms - delicious.

Now he has wine caps.  They are juicy and have great flavor. 

With our uneven rainfall, the harvest has been somewhat unpredictable.  We have dried some for sale, too

Goose Eggs!

The short season for goose eggs has begun! Goose eggs are large - about three chicken eggs worth of egg.  The yolks make particularly creamy custard.  Although it takes longer to beat out the whites they hold the lift for light cakes, etc.  And my parent say they make the best omelettes as they have a delicious rich flavor

Weaving Progress

When asked what I would like to do on my birthday, I replied, "Weave some."  And I got to do just that. 
After the souffle and buzzing and stacking wood, I moved over to the loom.  

I am working with some denim and over dyed denim in a combination of larger blocks of blue denim 
.  Here is the start with white t shirt to even out the warp and the end that will be hemmed

with the over dyed denim in smaller blocks

I have six different over dyed denim colors and will have six blocks - one of each color - in this rug.  Here is where I left off this afternoon

Here is the cloth beam with the rug so far

And as of today, Wednesday I finished the rug. Here is the under side of the loom with a couple stripes of over dyed denim

The white is the spacer between this one and the next rug. And now the question is what combination next?

Spring Roots - Parsnips

Each spring as the ground thaws there are roots to be dug.  The first is the humble parsnip.  Parsnips are related to carrots and dill.  They are sweeter than carrots, and become even sweeter when over wintered in the soil and dug in the spring.

Many people love parsnips and look forward to freshly dug food in early spring.  There are many parsnip recipes.  The traditional one is to scrub, slice, parboil or steam to the al dente stage, drain,  and then sautee in butter in a heavy cast iron skillet until the slices start to caramelize and brown.  

Ken uses cooked parsnips to make pie.  He follows a  a squash or pumpkin pie recipe, but uses less sweetener.

I like a cream curry parsnip soup.  Saute onion , add stock, add sliced parsnips and peeled chopped potatoes if desired, salt, peppers, and a bit of curry.  Cook until parsnips arr soft and then puree.  Add milk or cream and a green garnish.

Parsnips are best in spring.  Enjoy this seasonal delight!

Pullet Eggs

Young hens are called pullets.  The first eggs they lay are called pullet eggs.  they are smaller, but I think they have a higher yolk to white ratio,  Then there are a couple bantam pullets.  Ken calls their eggs pipsqueaks

Days End: Moving Chickens. Pullets Get a Larger Space

My birthday ended with moving chickens.  After listening to Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion, it was dusk and we could easily move the pullets.  

They had outgrown the brooder coop and needed more space.

Although Ken had replace coop roofs last fall the weather got cold before he could complete the work on the north coop.  

He finished up what was necessary to do before moving in birds  like the roosts and we were good to go!

Of course he had help from Oscar...

He added nest boxes.  Later he will make storage space for things like oyster shells and grit under the nest boxes.

T

he next morning I took some happy pullet photos in their new home.

In a couple days this will be "home" in their minds