The last month has flown by in a whir of whipping a greenhouse together, tapping maple trees, collecting the sap and boiling it down, bottle feeding baby goats and watching winter turn to spring. On a late afternoon, not more than a few weeks ago, we took a walk to the creek in early evening. The red-winged blackbirds had arrived and the stale winter air took on a new, yet familiar sound of male red-wings telling the world that he would be the best mate this year...
The syrup season felt just right this year...started slow--first too warm, then too cold, and then all the sap rushed out in a matter of days, hundreds of gallons for us. We scrambled to find containers for storing it all. Our evaporator could only boil so fast. For two weeks, the weather was just right: freezing at night, warm during the day, and an occasional snow to cool things off again in time for the next big run. I spent ten days straight sitting by the evaporator, stoking the fire, checking the hydrometer, watching the levels so nothing burned, trying desperately to get through all that sap and make it into something sweet: the perfect condiment.
Our CSA shares are full for this season. I am planting madly in the greenhouse, watching the onions grow in height and width. The peppers and eggplants have been transplanted, the tomatoes are emerging. For now, all those little seedlings fit in one tiny space, but soon they will take up an entire field.
This is a glorious time of year...each day there is something new to see and the sun shines brighter and warmer and longer. Having time to notice all these changes--that is the challenge.
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