As I enter the busiest season for my job and other responsibilities, I find myself having to cram as much as possible into one or two days each week. I enjoy all of the roles that I take on outside of farm life, but I long for the summer days when my homestead can be my sole purpose.
As a reminder, I organize my week’s accomplishments according to my ultimate goals for this homestead property.
Food Production
Maple Syrup
In the fall, I purchased three taps on a whim, inspired by a TikTok about foraging sap from a variety of trees. From the moment the first drop beaded at the end of the spile, I was hooked. I didn’t anticipate maple syrup being a substantial part of my homestead because I thought that surely my approximately 10 maple trees would not produce a sufficient amount of sap; I was wrong.
As the jars of sap filled my fridge and then the 5 gallon buckets started to build up on the porch, I started to research boiling techniques. For about $40 in cinder blocks, I put together this evaporator and ran it for the first time on Sunday.
My dad loved maple syrup. As a kid, I never had the fake stuff – only pure Grade A Vermont maple syrup. He was an extremely frugal guy who loved a coupon and never purchased name-brand, but maple syrup is where he drew the line. We would take a day trip to restock once or twice a year.
On the day of my first boil, I spent about eight hours to produce less than a pint of sub-standard syrup – cloudy and runny, likely not quite done. But the taste took me right back to the weekend mornings of my childhood, and the second it touched my tongue I knew that this would be an important part of my annual homestead routine. My second boil was an immediate improvement – 2.75 pints produced, sticky and clear.
As much as the “fake Spring” warm days have been lovely, they’ve also been threatening my sap, which needs to stay cool. I shoveled as much snow as I could, but it melted away. My thoughts are running wild with ideas for a future sugar shack that will let me store sap near the site of production and boil more frequently.
Garden Updates
I started some new arugula and lettuce seedlings in soil blocks. These plants will soon take up residence in my cold frames.
It will soon be time to start our large annuals. We started seeds too early last year; late frosts kept our seedlings inside long after they were too tall. The greenhouse creates ideal growing circumstances, so there’s no need to get a jump start. That said, my adopted mom started some cool weather crops in seed snails, which is her preferred method. I am staying true to my soil blocks because I spent a pretty penny on the soil blockers, but I must say the seed snails have impressed me!
Aesthetic Utility
I have started spring cleaning, including sweeping out and tidying up the barn as well as starting to freshen up the landscaping beds. The great shame of the homestead lately has been Manure Mountain – an enormous pile of manure that built up over the winter when I couldn’t get Gator nor wheelbarrow into the horse’s paddock. I’ve started chipping away at it, but the manure is so heavy that even loading the Gator once is very tiring.
Energy Independence
With the snow gone, I have been able to ameliorate my firewood situation. Even on days in the 50s and 60s, I’m still running the wood stove in the evenings and overnight – it takes the bite out of the air and reduces the load on the mini splits.
The increased sunlight has also increased my solar production, which is a relief. I look forward to the day I actually produce more than I use.
Moving Forward
My busy schedule will continue for the foreseeable future, which is a shame because the homestead demands many extra tasks as Spring takes root. Throughout each week, I keep a list of tasks that need seeing to, and then tackle as many as possible on the weekend.
Talk soon,
KC