Fresh Maple Syrup and pancakes tonight!

Pancakes and  fresth Maple Syrup tonight, mmmm, mmmm good!

Jesse checks the syrup.

Boiling started today. Boiling sap is an all day process, even though we have a professional unit this year for the first time. This unit boils much faster than our previous make shift set-up, so we boil several times more gallons of sap in one day now. Jesse loves "testing" the sap as it boils. The more water reduction, the sweeter it becomes as the boil progresses. Mmmm, mmmm fresh maple syrup on pancakes tonight!

Maple Syrup, time to tap trees!

Maple Syrup Time and Tapping Trees arrived today!

The guys started tapping trees today. They will finish the job tomorrow. We are ambitious this year, 100+ trees! That is a lot of boiling. Sap flow depends on the temperature. Ideally, days above freezing and nights below freezing produce a heavy flow of sap up the trees, and that is what we need to collect lots of sap. One gallon of pure maple syrup requires 40 gallons of sap collected from the trees.

Plant Now for Winter Intrest in Your Garden

Zebra Grass in foreground

Winter gardening?  An oxymoron?  Maybe yes, maybe no.  Think about existing plants in your garden and landscape.  Those coneflowers, Russian Sage, and others with strong stems can withstand winter onslaughts, if we just leave them undisturbed.  They provide architectural interest in the "winter garden" as well as food for winter birds.  What can you add to your garden and/or landscape now to increase that architectural interest?  Grasses.  They sway in the winter winds, poke up from the mounds of snow, and break up unending blankets of snow.  Choose some varieties that fit your specific needs and plant them now.  Imagine one of these beauties in your winter garden.







Winter landscaping.

Many wonder if it is too cold to install landscaping plants now. 

The answer is, "if you can dig, you can plant".  Just be aware that plants still need moisture, even when the ground freezes, so go ahead and dig those holes and put those evergreens, shade trees, ornamental trees, and flowering shrubs in the ground.  Give them a good drink of water and backfill with the dirt from the hole.

If you plant trees, you may need to stake the plant to prevent winter blow over from winter winds.  Drive three short wooden stakes into the ground equi-distance around the tree, about 30 to 36 inches from the tree.  Thread strong rope ( or use wire) through  pieces of rubber hose to protect the bark on the tree.  Tie one end to the wooden stake and tie the other end to itself around the tree.  Tighten to hold the tree in a straight position.

Remove the staking at the end of next year's growing season.

The guys in our nursery dug about two dozen trees and "heeled" them in along a drip line for sales next spring.  We cover them with shredded bark to hold the "freeze" in for the winter and protect them from a cycle of freezing and thawing through the winter months.

Planting now gives your plants a head start on life as roots continue to develop, even in the winter.

Plant and enjoy the benefits next spring and for many springs to come.

Winterize raspberries, blackberries, kiwis, and blueberries.

Winterizing the garden includes special care for those delicious raspberries, blackberries, kiwi, grapes, blueberries, asparagus, and other small fruits that you enjoyed during the summer.  Trim back long canes on berries to 24 to 30 inches.  Leave them a little tall because they have a tendency to freeze back if you live in a cold climate.  After cold weather sets in, throw a couple of shovels of dirt up around each plant to mulch it for the winter.  The mulch helps hold the "freeze" in the plant.  Thawing on warmer winter days, and then sudden freezing when the temps dip again kills these plants.

When spring comes and the danger of freezing temps are past, then you can remove the mulch and prune your plants to the size you like.  Work in a little 12-12-12 fertilizer and expect delicious days ahead.

Leaves, leaves, leaves, what to do with them?

Our maples and oaks provide an abundance of leaves in the fall. We put them on our vegetable garden for added humus.  Do not put walnut tree leaves on your gardens. Raking and blowing leaves into large piles is part of preparing our garden for its long winter sleep.

Dumped pot soil

Earlier in the fall, we dumped soil from plant pots (the plants didn't survive the summer) on a new part of the vegetable garden.

Yesterday, we mowed down all of the standing plants in the garden. 
Today we used a big leave blower and made big piles of leaves.  Later this fall we will cover all of our hoop houses with poly to protect the potted material through the winter.  When we remove that poly in the spring, I always save some large pieces to use for a variety of purposes.  A piece of poly makes a great "drop cloth" for dragging a pile of leaves to the garden.

My grandson taught me several years ago that I can turn my leave rake with the tines up and push large piles of leaves onto the plastic sheet.  The sheet holds nearly the entire pile of leaves, then I can grab two corners and drag it to the garden.

We dumped many loads of leaves and then scattered them over the garden.  David will work them into the soil with a large tiller on the back of the tractor and they will decompose while the garden sleeps this winter.  Next spring, we will apply 12-12-12 fertilizer and work up the soil for our spring planting.

Putting garden to bed.

Gardens in Indiana sleep in the winter.  They need attention now to prepare them for their long winter sleep.  Day before yesterday, I harvested all the red and green tomatoes and all of my sweet green peppers, everything large enough to be useful. 

Then yesterday, we pulled the tomato baskets, the steel fence posts that supported them, and then all of the tomato plants.  We put the tomato plants on the burn pile and then David mowed everything else to the ground.  We burn the tomato plant debris to help prevent the spread of any disease they may harbor.

If you rake leaves, put them on your garden to provide humus and work them in this fall.  Next spring spread a 12-12-12 fertilizer over your garden before working the soil for spring planting.  Decomposing leaves use the nitrogen in the soil and it must be replaced.

Remove debris from your plant beds, too, but leave tall plant stalks with seed heads for winter interest and food for wildlife. 

We have had about 3/4 inch of rain since July 31, so we are very dry and under drought conditions.  There is a no burn order in effect until we get rain.  A few local farmers have experienced combine fires because of dry conditions.  In an adjacent county, farmers used discs to cut up and turn under a corn field that caught fire.  So we are praying that the rain in the forecast for this weekend becomes significant.

Blessings as you prepare your gardens for a long winter sleep.