It’s Maple Tapping Time!!!

First, let me say that a little preparation goes a long, long, long way. 

     Last year, we tapped anything that looked remotely like a maple tree.  The result was a funky mapley-tasting syrup that wasn’t half-bad, which made it only half-good.  Who knows what we were pouring onto our pancakes.  To repent of our wayward tapping habit, we went out into the woods last fall and searched for actual maple trees and then marked them with orange tape.  One tree had rows of woodpecker holes at several different heights.  I learned something important from this–if a bird likes it, it’s a good tree.  You wouldn’t believe how much sap flowed from it –it’s amazing!  It’s like a fountain of sugary wonder–my taste buds are crying with happiness as I type this.

     Last year, our spiels drained into open buckets subject to the elements and critters.  This year, we ordered 5 new spiels with hoses.  At first, I was annoyed that Bob wanted to do this.  I’m the cheapest person I know and I saw this as waste since we had 6 perfectly good spiels and our tapping operation was just fine.  I can see now the folly of my ways.  Instead of the sap water brimming with leaves, twigs, floating dead bugs, it is pure.  I should’ve gotten on board with this sooner since I am not a fan of proteins that are not cheese, eggs, chicken, beef or fish.  You guessed it, I’m never going to be that person that relishes the idea of fried grasshoppers or chocolate coated worms.

     So here are some facts for making your own syrup.  Did you know that you can tap trees other than just maple?  You may not get the same taste, but it will still be good.  Some tapping varieties are box elder, walnut, birch, sycamore, poplar and hickory.  However, not all saps are created equal–some may be a tad bitter, some will take more sap to make the same amount you would get from a maple tree and the list goes on. 

     It’s an easy process to tap a tree.  First, it has to be the right time of year.  The best sap flows when temperatures are below freezing at night and warming up to above 40 degrees during the day.  Find a tree that is between 10 and 20 inches in diameter.  Drill a hole about 2 inches into the tree with a drill bit that is the same size as your spiel.  Tap the spiel gently into the tree with a rubber mallet.  Hang your bucket off the spiel and wait for it to fill.  It may take a while.  It probably won’t flow like it did in the Hunger Games—when they drove the spiel into the tree, sap miraculously poured out.  It may take a few days depending on the tree.  Don’t be discouraged that it takes 50 to 60 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup–it’s worth it.  Once you have a good amount, put it on the stove and boil it down.  If you have endless amounts of energy (like the heat from a wood stove) or someone else pays your gas/electric/propane bill for your kitchen stove, you’re in luck.  I happen to heat with a wood stove and I’m unapologetic about having the opportunity to make syrup when I can–there has to be some pay off to having to shove wood into that metal monster day and night 5 months of the year. 

     Anyway, once you have your syrup–enjoy.  I put it on pretty much everything–wheat bread dough, cereal, ice cream . . . and today, I drizzled it over my pot roast.  No, there is no such thing as too much maple syrup. 

 

Take care, All.

 

We added our Rain Water Collection book to Amazon recently.  You won’t learn how to tap maple trees here, but it will discuss the ins and outs of rainwater collection.

http://www.amazon.com/Preppers-Guide-Rainwater-Harvesting-Threat-ebook/dp/B00HYR3LGM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1393471248&sr=8-5&keywords=Hillary+Bergeron

Happ-Happ-Happenings on the Homestead in the Coldest of Weather

 

WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING LATELY

 

WHAT I WISH I COULD BE DOING

 

 

Hi friends,

Yes, it’s been a long time and I’ve been absent.  But, in that time, I finished two college courses and I am halfway through another one.  Bob finished his Weapons book and is now working on his water book, which should be great. 

 

We are currently experiencing the coldest winter that we’ve ever had here in Tennessee.  The week before last, freezing air blasted down from the north and chilled us all to the bone.  We had to keep all of our wood stoves going full blast, including the hot tub outside (although it was way too cold to expose our skin to the cold air).  At the same time, we were battling the flu.  So for that week and a half, while trying to keep our pipes from freezing day and night, and trying to keep our animals warm, happy and watered, we were fighting sickness.  Believe me, carrying firewood in while dealing with nausea, coughing, body aches and weakness is no picnic.  It was probably the most miserably inconvenient time to be sick.  But you know how Murphy’s Law works  . . .

 

To take extra precautions for the animals, we insulated the chicken house and pulled tarps over the pen for more protection.  We added extra bedding to the cat cubby where they hang out at nights.  Everyone received extra protein and food at mealtime.  Bear, our big dog, refused to go into a dog house.  We tried everything to lure him into that dog house–putting his favorite food into it so he would have to go in to get it, moving the dog house onto the porch so he could be close to the front door–but nothing worked.  He still refused to go in as if the ghosts from dogs’ past were haunting it.  So, to save him from the weather, we dragged him into the house against his will.  You know how little kids perform the wet-fish maneuver when they don’t want to do something?  Well, that was Bear–all 80 pounds of him, as he flopped down on the ground and laid there in a locked paw position, toenails digging into the ground, making it impossible to move him.  It took every ounce of strength to get him inside.  Once in for the night, he refused to sit and stood next to the door and gave me the stink-eye whenever I walked by.  When we put him back outside, he was pretty perturbed with us for a couple of days–and all this because we were trying to save his life. It seems as though no good deed goes unpunished.

 

We had a week of favorable temperatures, but now the cold weather has returned.  However, it should be easier to deal with this time around.  We’ve recovered from the flu by about 80%, and the freezing weather is only supposed to last a day or two.  So, looks like we’re in for a few more days of hauling wood up to the porch.

 

Take care, All.  

If you haven’t had a chance to look at Bob’s Weapons book, here’s the link:

 

 

 

Life Lessons from Raising Chickens and Chick News Week #2

Hi everyone,

It’s week two and the chicks are growing fast.  It’s almost time to find them a bigger home.  I’ve noticed when chickens get crowded that they fight and peck at each other.  Once blood is drawn, that particular chicken is seen as a weakling and the rest will literally peck it to death.  So tomorrow, I will be looking for a bigger container to hold them until it’s safe to put them outside.

     But, before we sit back and point our fingers at the terrible behavior of chickens, keep in mind the human race’s natural tendency to do the same.  First off, when we’re crowded into one area with no hope for escape and have to compete for food, history shows that humans will do whatever it takes to survive.  If you’re looking for recent evidence of this, then all you have to do is read reports from the New Orleans Superdome during hurricane Katrina.  I can’t imagine what it was like for those people to be cooped up in there, trying to weather the storm outside when another equally deadly storm raged inside.  

     As I mentioned before, once blood is drawn, the rest of the flock of chickens will literally peck a  chicken to death.  I’ve experienced this before with my human counterparts.  I remember sitting in a meeting and one person will bring up someone’s negative trait or something maybe he or she did, stop and watch how many people jump on the bandwagon.  One person, usually someone with a strong personality will say something, and everyone else like a flock of chickens will quickly agree.  I’ve seen this done time and time again.  As a rule, I try to sit back and delay any sort of judgement until I know all the facts.  

     This brings me around to the pecking order.  Back when I had a full flock of twelve chickens, I noticed that there were about five favored hens that surrounded the rooster almost constantly.  The other six hens hung out on the outskirts of the group.  Whenever one would get too close to the rooster or were too close to the food when they were all eating, they would get chased away by the favored hens.  To put this into human terms, when you walk into any gathering there is always a pecking order that is established.  If you have never noticed–probably you’re at the top of the pecking order or you’re one of those rare individuals that couldn’t care less.  The learned pecking order starts when a child goes to school.  Every kid knows which kids are the popular ones in the classroom and which ones are gross and kept at arm’s length.  Hollywood has capitalized on this, in that many teen movies tell stories of the poor kid on the other side of the tracks that just wants to be popular. 

      The last lesson learned, is that hens don’t really need roosters.  They will produce eggs without roosters and they can happily saunter through their lives without a rooster nearby.  In fact, if you have neighbors closeby that complain about crowing, you can have a few hens and they probably won’t realize you have animals in your backyard.  I refuse to go into the man versus woman debate–it’s absolutely useless banter and a waste of time.  Let’s just say that nothing beats having a good man around and the same could be said of a woman….

      But back to roosters, a rooster can be useful when you want fertilized eggs and want to hatch out your own chicks.  If you have a good rooster, he will actually protect the hens, as well as ensure that they eat.  Donnie, the best rooster of all time, never ate anything until all his girls ate.  Now, there’s a man!!! 

Take care, All

New Chicks

The newest editions to the homestead. My friend hatched out some eggs and gave me half of them. I’m feeling very lucky today.