There's a pig in the house!

On April 13th Softie joined our family. He's a cute little guinea pig, born on 2-21-13. He's a fuzzy cute ball of fun.

Spring is finally here!

We've been busy in the garden this weekend. Between the Plant Exchange, the Farmer's Market, the Greenhouse and our own seedlings, we have all the flowers and veggies we could possibly squeeze into our small garden.

Basil and lettuce

5-in-1 Apple tree!

Strawberries

Tomatoes, peppers, onions, radishes, zinnias and marigold

Beans, peas, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, cauiliflower, spinach, broccoli, zinnias and marigold

We also have several herbs in planters, cucumbers tucked between flowers in another flower bed and a couple of veggies still in little pots looking for their permanent spot.

So glad color has finally returned to the garden!!!

Sugaring

We have one big Maple tree on our property, and we wanted to try making our own maple syrup. We researched the "how-to" and then ordered spiles and tubing online. On February 28th we tapped the tree, and the sap started flowing right away. We were very excited!

We collected sap daily and kept it in the freezer to prevent spoilage. A little over a week later we had collected 5 gallons of sap and where ready to start boiling. Lacking anything resembling an evaporator, we used an electric griddle, and that worked just fine.

All day long we kept adding more sap and evaporated most of it. By late afternoon we were ready to finish it off on the stove.

Not too much later it reached the final temperature and I filled my two half pint jars with beautiful syrup.

Looks gorgeous, doesn't it?
We let the jars cool down, and the next morning made a batch of pancakes to have with our first ever homemade syrup. Luckily I tried the stuff before pouring it over the pancakes, or I would have ruined a perfectly good batch of pancakes too... It tasted horrible, the concentrated version of the weird smell it had while boiling off. Woodsy and not good at all.
I dumped the syrup down the drain and searched the world wide web to figure out what went wrong. I knew our Maple wasn't a Sugar Maple, and apparently what I have buds early. Long story short, there are chemical changes in the sap that result in the buds swelling, changing the flavor of the sap, and putting an end to sugaring season. We will try again next year, and even though we don't have any syrup to show for it, we've learned the process.

But next time I'll definitely keep a closer eye on the branches!

Think Spring!

Today I went to the Seed Swap that our local Botanical Garden holds every year. I think I have all the seeds I could possibly need, and then some. Nearly 50 packets!!!
Now if only that dreaded snow would melt... I think it's still a little early to start seedlings indoors, but I am ready!

A chicken Christmas

Look at who we found under the tree this year. Henelope came in for a visit.  What fun she had under that tree.

Chickens seem to be afraid of the snow. But I am not afraid, I conquer.

A case of mistaken identity...

This cat will put up with a lot when there's food involved! More surprising was that the chickens put up with his presence. Our leftovers are THAT GOOD!

Run, Chicken, run!

Maximum entertainment value out of an old piece of bread!