Iris

When I got downstairs this morning I said to my Mom, "What is all that stuff on the ground?"

Straight faced she answered, "Oh that? It's frosting. Snow is coming tomorrow though."

I'll let you know if she is right or not, I'm hoping for not....

3-29-12 --just another layer of frosting overnight--

Pumpkin Soup

Made some yummy soup with food we had preserved: pumpkin and syrup. Don't forget to leave a comment on the last post to win your own jar of maple syrup. Or, if you can't wait order one for yourself!

Maple Give-Away

In celebration of canning our first few batches of maple syrup we are giving away one 1/2 pint of 100% Pure Maine Maple Syrup! 

To enter simply leave a comment on this post anytime between now and April 7th. Make sure to leave your name in your comment so that you can be notified. Only one entry per person please!

1 random winner will be chosen on April 7th via the random number generator at 9pm EST. The winner will be notified through a post the following Monday (April 9th) and will have one week to respond before a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck!

Brood Box: Before & After

The chicks brood box. 

Looks nice doesn't it?

 But it hasn't always looked so nice.

A few weeks ago it looked like this.

Dad found the box in the barn/basement and Jason wanted to keep it for his truck, but then the urge for chicks struck. Dad needed something to do while he boiled sap so a brood box project seemed like a good idea. Dad spent some time with the box in his shop and now the box looks cozy. More than enough room for the 19 little fluffly bodies coming to live in it in a couple of months.Best of all, Dad had most of the pieces here, the lumber is all reclaimed from other projects or broken objects.

The box features a hinged top is hinged for easy access, four handles to make it easy to lug around, and a little door if we decide to take it outside and let the chicks roam supervised when they get big enough. 

Can't wait!

Meat Loaf

Come on over to The Kitchen and see what we've been eating for lunch!

It Drips

Got some encouraging news when we checked the sap buckets. It's running!

In the Woods

There are signs of spring wherever we look. The ice is broken on the "bog", water is flowing free under the bridge, the piles of snow are melting, and we can walk out to the taps. 

It's actually unfortunate that we can walk to the taps, we prefer to take the snow machine out into the woods. Right now all our taps run into buckets on each individual tree. As we look toward the future we'd like to get lines that will run from tree to tree and into a central location for collection. 

The sap is slowly dripping it's sweetness from the trees. Today Dad spent some time working outside and boiling down more sap. He brought in several large yogurt containers inside to finish boiling at a later date. We haven't had a "good run" yet of sap, but expect one soon.

Plans are being finalized as to the amount of fencing to put up this year. It looks like the chickens and ducks are going to get about 100 foot square yard to run free in, which include the duck pond, some shade trees, a little hill, and a lot of grass to scratch in.