Seasonality

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Mother’s Day 2012

My parents are a pair.  Each performed their own role in my childhood but they were, in my memory, united.  Among the things they did, both worked to prevent the little boy in me from killing myself doing stupid little boy things.  They barely succeeded.

Dad taught me what it means to be a man.  Mom made me become a man.  Dad modeled how to care for your wife and family.  Mom made sure I learned how to do the same.  I can’t celebrate one without celebrating the other but today I’ll say thanks specifically to my mom.

I love you mom.

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What’s the Buzz?


I saw more bumblebees last night than I have ever seen in one place.  It appears that bumblebees like black locust trees when they are in bloom.

I thought it was appropriate to take stock of what is blooming currently.  Wild black cherry trees are in full bloom.

And the dogwood is looking great.

Elms are finished…

…as are silver and sugar maples.

Peonies are on deck.

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Maple Sap and Nectar

My grandmother planted three sugar maples in the front yard around the time I was born.  We do everything with these trees.  We play catch under their shade, we enjoy their fall colors, we jump in their leaves, we tap them for sugar and our bees buzz their flowers.  I want to discuss these last two briefly.

We are a seasonal farm.  We shut down most of our business for the winter and just catch our breath.  Yes, we try to stretch our garden as late into the season as we can, yes we raise replacement layers in the winter but for the most part we put our feet up and read or play scrabble.  This year we added something to our winter activities.  We watched water boil.  We picked up a tree tapping kit from tapmytrees.com.  The equipment we got wasn’t cheap but was excellent.  Also, you need to be aware that there are different kinds of maple trees and they need to be at least 12″ in diameter before you tap.  Those could be 30 year old trees at their first tap.  You might want to get them planted soon.  Also, this doesn’t hurt the tree.

Here are the steps involved to gather the sap.  I’ll post a follow-up on how we dealt with the sap and made syrup and sugar from it.

Using the drill bit supplied in the kit, drill a hole in the tree.  Drill up at a slight angle and 2″ deep.

Now, tap the …erm…tap into the tree.  It will be a snug fit.  There is probably a bucket hook that goes on the tap before you insert it into the tree.  Again, don’t worry, you aren’t hurting the tree.

The bucket just hangs from the hood and the sap should start running immediately.  We were surprised by the instant and musical drip into the buckets.

Pop the lid on to keep out the rain and check your bucket daily.  Some of our buckets filled in 24 hours while other trees weren’t as generous.

Here’s a shot of the sap.  Please notice it’s a clear liquid.  Once the sap turns milky you’re out of business.

Being out of the maple business isn’t all bad.  A few weeks after our maple season finished the bees were busy at the tops of the trees.  Where the buckets had been drumming, the bees were humming.  What nice trees.  Thanks Grandma.

So, if you have 30 years to wait for syrup, go ahead and plant your trees.  The bees like them, they produce dense shade and beautiful fall colors.  Let me know if you find any additional uses for your trees too.

I would also like to point the reader to pick up a copy of Scott and Helen Nearing’s Maple Sugaring Book.

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Time to sprint!

Our primary sponsor, my employer, needs my attention during the best 8 hours of the day.  That means we get up early and stay up late.  Let’s run down Monday evening and Tuesday this week.  I got off work around 4 Monday, knowing I had more work to do in the evening.  I began building a compost pile.  To build that pile I had to haul the goat manure from the winter goat pasture to the new pile; wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow, manure fork after manure fork.  While I was busy with that, the oldest two children were cleaning out my daughter’s chicken house.  That required one wheelbarrow plus four 5-gallon buckets then they refilled it with fresh material.  The bedding from the primary layer house and a nice, rich haul from the brooder completed the pile.

When the compost pile was finished, my oldest son and I loaded up the tractor with portable fencing and some wiring to complete the circuit to the newly repaired fence.  With the broilers safely surrounded we walked to the barn to get hay for the cows who are currently rotating around the pond, then reconfirmed that the fence was working and the chickens looked comfortable.

Once home again I fed the goats, ate a quick dinner (baked rabbit wrapped in bacon with green beans, salad with guacamole, and honeydew),  tucked in the kids and went out to grind feed for the broilers.  We finished up around 10:00 and came in to watch a bit of Dr. Who (Third Doctor) before falling asleep.

We were up again at 6:00, before it was foggy, and I went out to the pasture to check the broilers.  Everybody came through the night (I was a little nervous).  I walked back to the house and began loading up the remaining 150 broilers.  As the sun came up fog started rolling off of the pond South of the house.  The wind drove the fog North so as I drove the tractor full of chicks out to pasture I passed through a dense fog.  Chicks were all happy to settle in and started eating immediately.  I showered, packed up eggs, hopped in the car and headed off to my real job while the kids had an adventure.

Home again and the chores were waiting for me.

It’s a busy time of year and we’re often sore and short on sleep.  The work is enjoyable, the weather is unseasonably fantastic and we are making a positive impact in our family, our community and the local ecology without shorting my employer.  It’s time to sprint!

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Out to Pasture

Last year the goats hatched an escape plan around March 20th.  This year we headed them off by opening the grazing season early.

There are a number of weeds growing right now and the girls are eating them up.  Well, everything but the thistle.  I guess when there is fresh, soft and tender you don’t mess with the fresh, course and thorny.

This is the same plot that had 3 pigs rooting on it last July.  The pigs above really gave the pasture a workout then we let it rest and recover.  You can see the weedy mess that is our pasture.  We’re working on it.  The goats are helping.

The cows are still on stockpiled grass while I’m waiting for the grass to really take off.  I plan to put the cows in with the goats and rotate them together.  We’ll see what really happens.