First Maple Sugaring Season!

Today we tapped 12 trees in the back woods with 17 taps. This is our first season sugaring, and being complete newbies we decided to start small so we can learn our lessons and make mistakes on a small scale. Next year we will hopefully know what's what and can tap more extensively.

We are told that each tap generally produces 10-14 gallons of sap per season. With a total of 17 taps, this puts us at somewhere around 170-238 gallons of sap. It takes 50 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup, so if all goes well we are looking at about 3.5-5 gallons of maple syrup at the end of the season. Not enough to get rich, but enough to cover our pancake breakfasts for the next year :)

↓ First we gathered the proper accoutrements -- buckets, taps, tubing, a candy thermometer for sap boiling, felt sap filters, large boiling pots, etc. Most people use evaporators for the boiling down process. Maybe next year.

↓ Josh drilled holes in the buckets so we could run the sap tubing into them.

↓ Next we selected a few trees, and drilled holes for the taps.

↓ Taps were hammered into each hole.

↓ The taps started dripping moments after being inserted.

↓ Tubes were attached to the taps

↓ The other end of each tube was hooked up to the bucket for sap collection. Here's what our contraptions look like.

↓ Riley & Fern spent about ten seconds wondering what we were doing before turning their attention to more important things -- playing in the snow!

↓ Within a few minutes the tubes started to fill and drip into the bucket.

The hard part comes next when we will haul the buckets to the barn and spend hours boiling the sap in large pots we found at the flea market. We have no idea whether this is really going to work, but hey, we're giving it a shot! Stay tuned for updates on how we fare!

↓ Walking back to the house after tapping. The view from the woods was beautiful today. It was above freezing and the snow melt created a layer of fog that collected against the mountains.

Etsy Roundup: Vermont Sellers

Today I am sharing a roundup of some of the wonderful Vermont made products for sale on Etsy. All of the items above are either hand made or curated vintage from sellers in the great state of Vermont. If you've been searching for a unique gift, consider the talented and hardworking folks of Etsy!

Products above, clockwise from top left: Vintage Enamel Light Fixture  //  Handmade Copper Rings  //  Vintage Weather Vane  //  Roman Coin Ring  //  Beeswax Hexagons  //  Upcycled Ball Jar with Pump  //  Reclaimed Hardwood Farm Table  //  Vintage Skeleton Key  //  LL Bean Duck Boots  //  Pure Vermont Maple Syrup  //  Red Oak Salad Bowl   //  Vintage Kilim Rug

Saturated

You'll have to forgive me for posting pictures of snow yet again, but I have never seen the landscape as saturated as it is this morning. Usually the flakes do not stick to every tiny branch, but today they are like powdered glue, sticking to and accumulating in every nook and cranny. I came down with the flu Friday morning (thus my silence on the blog over the past few days), and this morning was the first time I felt good enough to go outside. It was a real treat to have such a beautiful view when I walked down the hill for the first time in a few days.

Fern & Riley

 

Truth be told, we've been pretty lazy for the past few days. On Thursday mornings we generally go to the gym, and yet here I am in a bath robe taking photos of my dogs. In the absence of any real or useful content to share this morning, I'm resorting to the old standby of cute pup pictures :)

Fern is now about 8 months old now, and still as sweet and cuddly as she was the day we brought her home. She would not mind being cuddled all day, and routinely sits in front of me and places one paw on my leg to ask for pets. Riley, on the other hand, is becoming a grumpy man in his old age. He's never fully bounced back from his bout with Lyme disease this past summer, and has a stiff lower back that gives him trouble. We've been working on his hip, leg, and back muscles and giving him a decent dose of fish oil each day, but it still worries me to no end. Despite his back, Riley still rules the roost and Fern follows him around like a big brother. Riley seems to enjoy her company as well, and I sometimes catch him resting his head on her back or snuggling his nose into her fluffy white belly when they take naps. It melts my heart :)

Basement Remodel, Part 4

I finally have a few good images to show for all our work in the basement! (Here's what it looked like before) We've mudded, primed, and painted the walls, and are in the process of installing the wood plank ceiling after sanding, pretreating, and staining all the boards. Josh also installed recessed light fixtures in the hall and inside the den/office (shown above). Once the planks are all installed, we will add trim around the edge to cover the seams. A wood door for the electrical panel (shown below in its unfinished state) and a new frame and pane for the small window (now covered with insulation to keep the draft out) are also still in the works.

We found a nice pair of french doors at a flea market and are planning to use those between the bedroom and office/den. Before they can be installed we need to replace the hinges, clean the knob hardware, prime, and paint them. I have removed the hardware am now in the process of priming the first door as shown below. They look like a mess now, but once I clean up the primer smudged on the glass panes with a razor and get a coat of white paint on them I think they will be really nice.

And last but not least, we've finally decided what to do with the floor. We've gone back and forth between several ideas, including slate tile and bamboo floors, but have finally settled on polished concrete and nice area rugs. We both really like the look and natural color of polished, sealed concrete, and though we will have to hire someone to grind it down, in the end it will be much less work for us than tiling or laying down floor boards and less expensive to boot. I am hoping we can find a transparent treatment with just a hint of green in it. The floor polishers are scheduled to come in two weeks, so hopefully I will have some great "after" pics to share!

Punch Brothers!

Today we are headed to Northampton, MA to catch a Punch Brothers show and do a little thrifting over the weekend. For any bluegrass fans out there who have not yet discovered Chris Thile, I would urge you to check his group out. They have an amazingly unique sound and the musicianship is unreal.

I also recommend checking out the Goat Rodeo Sessions, a collaboration between Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Stuart Duncan, and Edgar Meyer. Below are two of my favorite pieces from that album, which took home two Grammys this past Sunday. Have a great weekend everyone!

Self Watering Seed Starter Experiment Update

Back in December Josh built a self watering seed starter system. The system, which is hooked up to a water pump and grow lights on timers, was an experiment to see if we could start seeds in the basement with minimal work. Well people, it's working. The asparagus, mint, sage, thyme, and gogi berries have all come through and appear to be healthy. The only plant in question is the comfrey, which is still quite small and may need warmer temperatures to thrive. We'll plant the asparagus, mint, sage, and thyme in the kitchen garden this spring, while the gogi berries and comfrey will stay in the basement until they are mature enough to be moved outside. I have to hand it to Josh for a good idea well executed.