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.