Tapping 2013

We put in 15 taps at Catherine's farm this year. The sap was flowing so well one weekend that we had to check on a couple of trees multiple times each day. That's about how many taps we have up north at the Styka cabin every year, but we are hoping for a larger yield here at the farm. We figure that being able to check on the trees more often and rearrange them as needed will help us out.

I hope you can tell in the pictures how foggy it was here. Everything is thawing out and the pond is the fullest Neal and I have ever seen it. The chickens are still little babies about going out in the yard because of the snow. I'm hoping once it is all melted they will go search for worms and such again. We may get some younger chickens this summer when they can forage for a greater percentage of their own food. We want to snag some chickens on free cycle or Craigslist from the type of folks that are moving, decide they don't want chickens anymore, etc. hehe.

Black Walnuts

Black Walnut Sap

Collected in milk jugs that our friends at Casa saved for us

The brew kettle gets a new use in storing sap

This sweet find allowed us to store about 30 gallons of maple sap

Neal worked heroically through the weekend of rain and fog to fix the potting shed.
Joanie and Kevin were nice enough to help with the finishing touches.

Huge maple tree by the chicken yard in the fog

Same tree, different view

You can barely see the trees through the fog... so cool!