early March

Written a week ago.........
It is a beautiful partly sunny day here in the eastern foothills of the Green Mountains. The maple sap is running in our region as the temperatures rise above freezing each day and drop below freezing each evening. All the cleaning activity of the blue tubes that carry the sap to the stainless steel sap collectors at the bottom of the sugar bush slopes has been done. Using water from the tank trucks (that are used later for carrying sap to the farm tanks), the water is pumped up through the tubular lines that stretch from the bottom of the hill into smaller and smaller arteries that eventually link to each tap on each sugar maple tree. Then the taps are all connected to each tree (a certain number of taps based on the diameter of the tree) and the sap drips into the tubes and flows downhill through the lines connecting into larger and larger tubes until it reaches the tank at the bottom. The Reid’s truck of Sugar Mill Farm comes every day to the bottom of our road where one of there tanks collects sap from the hillside across the road. They check the amount of sap and bring it to the farm when the tank becomes full enough. At the farm, they check the brix of the sap, the sugar content (just like when you make wine) to see how sweet it is. This is what determines how many gallons of sap will make a gallon of syrup. The average amount is 40 gallons! So it has been fun to see the activity each day and entice us to look forward to Maple Weekend, March 20 and 21 when the sap houses all around NY are open to the public for tours and tasting.

Although this year on that weekend, Alan and I will be making our delivery on Saturday, staying in NY and the next day going to the Riverdale annual farmer/member meeting. This event includes any farmers who can attend and the CSA new recruits and existing members who attend to talk, ask questions, and exchange ideas about the upcoming season. It is warm and fun and very nice to be a part and feel the mutual appreciation and respect that everyone has for the wonderful partnership of CSA and farm.

The snow still blankets the ground here – we got 24 inches at the height of the storm. I needed my snowshoes that day to blaze a trail for the pigs to get to their spring watering hole. It was a sight I am sure to see me tromping with big foot steps to make a path across the hillside with a parade of squealing pigs pushing each other to be first in the line behind me. I was so glad they did not step on the back of the snowshoes all the way! All the while they were making a great path in the deep snow that would be used often by them all. Within a few days the snow sunk quickly in the warmer weather to a dense wet layer that now freezes at night into hard pack. With the warmer temperatures, there is running water under the snow every day and the mud cannot be far behind once the snow melts. In the places we plowed and shoveled, there is already mud. We are all getting out our mud boots. I even took a walk through the snow to the greenhouse the other evening to get myself into the mood for getting some garden seedlings started. Spring is indeed on the way!!

Take care and get ready for the new season, Nancy and Alan

the snow is melting!

What gorgeous weather the last two days! It reached 50 degrees on our hilltop and the water was running everywhere from the melting snow. The sky is a bright lovely blue; different than the gray and overcast feel of winter. Even the view on the horizon is hazy with humidity from the evaporating snow. Many places around us did not get the 2 feet of snow we did a week or so ago and so all of their snow is gone already. Others are pruning, cleaning up gardens and getting started with spring, and so we are getting antsy to get outside without being ankle deep in snow. I guess I’ll just spend the time in the nice warm greenhouse planting seeds and soaking up the sunny warmth.

Alan and Colin are making some of the last carpentry details of the north barn where we store all the products and pack all of your orders. Maybe by summer we will move our office there and make it officially not in our library/office anymore. They are trimming around doors, finishing some wiring, finishing the windows and stair railings and hopefully we’ll put up some of the posters and pictures we have had waiting for the final touches. They will be working inside until the ground thaws too. The first big chore of spring is checking the fences – a few miles of them it seems – to be sure we can keep the cows safe in our pastures when the grass begins growing again. Most of the winter there have been tractor repairs to be done and the biggest project, the transmission of the 2 cylinder John Deere 60 tractor, is almost complete. There was a broken gear inside and soon it will be all back together and humming thanks to Colin’s mechanical genius.

So we hope you too are looking forward to spring and new projects and new places for your energy and now that we can feel it, it can’t happen too soon! We love winter but then we love all the seasons and the seasonal beauty of the northeast US!

Take care, Nancy and Alan