Port Potager

This turned out to be a really strange maple sugaring season.  We tapped the tree back in February when we had a bit of a warm-up, and at first things went really well. Afternoons were warm, and we started out with a strong run of sap. Then it got too  hot, and the sap stopped running because the temperatures didn’t drop below freezing for several nights in a row. And then   temperatures plunged , and it didn’t get above  freezing for almost a week. So still not much sap, but for the opposite reason. Then on our final weekend of boiling, this happened: It started as rain but turned to snow while we had the fire going. Not that big of a deal, but not exactly pleasant. But since we weren’t exactly keeping a keen eye on things, we also ended up burning a batch that boiled down more quickly than we expected. And by last weekend, the sap had turned: Once it runs yellow, the season is over. This sap isn’t sweet at all, so I’ve been using...

Last Sunday we decided it was time to tap the maple tree. A look ahead at the weather showed that this week would bring above-freezing temperatures for at least a few hours most days, and that means that the sap should start to run. Last year we waited until March 8, but I think we missed the earliest sap that yields the really pale amber syrup. This year we thought we'd try to get an earlier start. But first, some digging: It's hard to gauge in the photo with all the whiteness, but I am standing in the path to our front door, looking over some steps carved into the snow and across a path that Kirk (mostly) cleared to the tree. The snow here is still 24 to 30 inches deep, and it wasn't easy to shovel as it is now compacted into an icy block. If you look closely, you can see Kirk shoveling behind the tree. In the end, he couldn't get all the way around to complete the circle because the snow on the north side of the tree is really frozen solid. We ma...

Finally! A weekend warm enough to get outside and dig in the dirt!  You may recall that last weekend the weather was terrible, our soil was still partially frozen, and we weren't able to adhere to our original planting schedule. Well, in a week's time the crocuses have bloomed and the soil has warmed (well, most of it, anyway). Because we had some catching up to do, our first weekend outside was a big one. Here's the run down of all the stuff we did. 1. Uncovered the fig tree: Back in the fall we stacked potato boxes around the fig tree  and filled them with leaves to protect the tree from the cold and wind. As you can see, the leaves kept the shape of the box. I guess we'll see in a few weeks how the tree fared as it leafs out again. Despite some droopy branches, there's at least one bud on it that looks ok so far, and if it made it through this harsh if a winter, I think it'll be a keeper. 2. Lots of garden bed prep. This means turn...

"When the sap has boiled down just enough, he fills the buckets with the syrup. After that, he boils the sap until it grains when he cools it in a saucer.  The instant the sap is graining, Grandpa jumps to the fire and rakes it all out from beneath the kettle. Then as fast as he can, he ladles the thick syrup into the milk pans that are standing ready. In the pans the syrup turns to cakes of hard, brown, maple sugar." "So that's why it's a sugar snow, because Grandpa is making sugar?" Laura asked. "No," Pa said. "It's called a sugar snow, because a snow this time of year means that men can make more sugar. You see, this little cold spell and the snow will hold back the leafing of the trees, and that makes a longer run of sap.  When there's a long run of sap, it means that Grandpa can make enough maple sugar to last all the year, for common every day. When he takes his furs to town, he will not need to trade for much store sug...

Now that the maples are tapped and we've been collecting sap for several days, it's time to turn that sap into syrup!  We decided to do this the old-fashioned way, over a fire: First we had to dig out a hole in the snow on our patio to make a place to set our fire bowl. You could also do this on your grill in a pinch, but our fire bowl is bigger. It's not an ideal set-up, but we're too poor for a fancy evaporator , and we don't have any cinder blocks on hand to build a temporary fire pit . The drawback with using the fire bowl is that you have to remove the grate and pans of boiling syrup to re-stoke the fire every so often. That's not hard, but it does slow things down because the pans have to get back up to temperature after they've cooled a little. If we built a cinder block contraption to contain the fire but give us access to add wood on the side, that would be more efficient. Maybe next time! Anyway, here is our actual fire getting ...

Now that our trees are tapped, we need to check the buckets every day. Otherwise, they'll be overflowing on warm afternoons when the sap is really flowing fast. It's easy to do. First, slide the pin out to remove the lid:  Of course, you can lift the lid to take a peek first. This bucket is getting full, so we need to empty it into our storage containers: This photo was from the weekend, when it was cold enough over night for some of the sap to freeze (you can see the ice on the surface above). When this happens, you just throw the ice away. Here's a big chunk I picked out of another bucket: It may seem wasteful, but if it is frozen, that part doesn't have much sugar in it anyway. Think of it this way: Have you ever tried to freeze fruit juice for a toothpick popsicle, only to be disappointed in how soft it was? That's because sugar lowers the freezing point of water. Therefore you can be pretty sure that the frozen part is just water, a...

I don't want to jinx it, but I think our time in the Polar Vortex might be coming to a close. As far as the eye can see on the weather forecast (okay, so about 10 days), the daytime temperatures will be above freezing.  Woo hoo! This is exciting not just because it's warm enough to be outside without freezing your face off — it's also maple sugaring season! That means it's above freezing during the day (probably around 40 degrees) and below freezing at night (probably back in the 20s). We're finally having a stretch of weather like that, and this year we got the tools we needed to give it a try. Here's what you need and how to do it: First, you need a maple tree. We have two:  a great big one in the front yard , and a much smaller one in the back. You can tap any old maple you like, but a sugar maple is best (obviously — the name doesn't come outta nowhere!)  I'm fairly confident that the tree we have in the front is, in fact, a sugar ...

Frost has been here, so there's not much left in the cutting garden. We do have some hardy flowers out in the perennial border, though. This is the final Flower Friday post to show off these hangers-on. Enjoy! Hardy chrysanthemums in a container. "Blushing Bride" hydrangea. This blooms white in the summer, but as the flower heads age and dry out, they shift to a dusty pink. The leaves are also beginning to turn as well, and it all keeps this shrub interesting for a much longer season than one would expect. Toad lily. More hardy mums in the perennial border. These are very pale pink but look white in bright sunlight. We inherited these, and I think they are the unstoppable remains of someone's once-compact fall pot of mums. Glad to have them! All those chrysanthemums in the front perennial border make for a nice fall scene, especially with the maple and jack o'lanterns getting into the act.