Category Archives: Maple Syrup

A Month Gone By

Posted on by under Bees, Family, Farm, Honey, Maple Syrup, Pastured pride
Sweetie is not my milking goat, but I just couldn't resist sharing this picture

Sweetie is not my milking goat, but I just couldn’t resist sharing this picture

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I’ve updated you all on farm living. Some new developments have us excited.

  • Our newest increase is that we will be getting a female Great Pyrenees today and hope that she and our male will do well to guard our growing goat herd. We also hope to offer livestock guardian puppies in the future. We’ll let you know if Furry and Juniper (Juni) get along well together.
  • Another cause for elation is that we have chicks hatching today. Yesterday, Moe and Fiesty were born. Last month, we had seven born in our incubator. This has been such a fun process for us and we hope to get some good laying hens for future egg production for our own use. Last months chicks; Hawk, Big Goldie, Little Pepper, Cookie, Little Goldie and Speckled Head, are doing well and love following me around the yard.
  • I have also taken up the challenge of milking our Alpine goat, Ivy. She has been providing us with over a quart of nutritious raw goat milk each day. In early June, we will likely start milking twice a day (a whole new challenge). This weekend, we may even make goat milk ice cream. We have enjoyed the flavor and our many guests have enjoyed a little taste too.
  • Mat’s new chicken tractor design is complete. As a result, moving our pastured chickens twice a day is now enjoyable. A smaller number of chickens has resulted in cleaner, healthier birds so far. If a chicken can be beautiful, I have to say that these are. I have actually said it to them more than once as I’ve seen them this year. Maybe I’ve been on the farm too long.
  • Our pigs are growing strong enough and big enough for our youngest boys to ride them. These two boys have become more daring with age.
  • I don’t think we’ve mentioned that we have three bull calves born last month. They were a surprise since we were told our Scottish Highland cows were bred to give birth in June. We are happy with our healthy and fluffy and soon to be steers. They are growing fast.
  • Mat split one healthy bee hive yesterday and has another out there. Hopefully, this will be the year to brag about when we actually get honey to market.
  • Lastly, our maple syrup season went well. We weren’t so sure at first and it was hard work. At $.25 an hour, Mat doesn’t get paid much for his time with this product, but we enjoy the stuff so much that it’s worth it.

That’s it for now I suppose. Hope you enjoyed hearing about our busy lives. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I guess you’ll just have to visit and pick up some fresh food from the farm if you want to see this stuff for yourselves.

Gearing Up For Spring

Posted on by under Family, Farm, Homeschooling, Keeping the Home, Maple Syrup, Pastured pride, Picture posts, Urban connect

Our week in pictures: The boys and I took a week off to help Daddy with a number of projects. Enjoy some pictures from our week. Click a picture to read how it was part of a rewarding week of work.

Boiling down

Posted on by under Farm, Maple Syrup

Another day on the farm. Main event: Boil down gallons and gallons of maple tree sap into quarts and pints of maple syrup. Hopefully by days end we will be having syrup on our ice cream. Tomorrow morning, buckwheat pancakes! Here’s a picture of Mat’s boiler this year: Continue reading →

The Sap Has Started To Run!

Posted on by under Farm, Maple Syrup

sap

Some of our maples have started to produce sap which we will soon start boiling down into the Nectar of the North aka Pure Maple Syrup! This flow of sap will continue as long as we have air temperatures cycling below and above freezing.

When the trees thaw initially they take up water along with the stored sugars they had deposited last fall. As the tree refreezes the water it has taken up expands and creates a positive pressure within that will push the sap out the taps. Eventually the pressure will equalize if the tree doesn’t freeze up again and the sap flow will stop, but each time the tree refreezes pressure will be regained. This process will last 4-6 weeks. By that time the temperatures will stop dipping below freezing or the sap will start to turn off-flavored due to the leaf and flower buds breaking open.

This kind of pressure build up during sap flow is found in only a few types of trees. Thankfully, God has designed the maple in this way so that we can harvest the sugars in the sap and boil them down into a delectable syrup!

One final parting fact: The Box Elder Tree (Acer negundo) is part of the maple family and can be tapped for maple syrup.

Spring is Upon Us

Posted on by under Family, Farm, Maple Syrup

Finally Winter seems to have lost it’s hold on Minnesota. I was out in my long sleeves, jeans and boots today and couldn’t feel a chill. What a beautiful feeling. With Spring comes a rush of new ventures. Continue reading →

Final sapping days

Posted on by under Family, Farm, Maple Syrup, Pastured pride

We’ve been busy…

It’s a messy trail to the sugarbush
Sapping with Bapa
He loves the outdoors
Drinking sap
Bapa gives some chopping pointers
Loving their freedom
Becoming quite the farmer boy
Meeting a new friend
Learning to chop wood
Teaching the basics of sapping to some friends

Oatmeal and Raisins…trying a gluten free, vegan cookie

Posted on by under Maple Syrup, Recipes

Mat is out in the woods all day and night boiling the last of this years sap to make some excellent maple syrup. My boys and I occupied ourselves with a new project today and needed some vegan and gluten free treats.

First, I found this:
Healthier Peanut Butter Balls

Second, I found this:
The Ultimate Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

My boys and I made the peanut butter balls and cut the sugar in half, as I do with most recipes. It turned out not as yummy as I thought it should be. Then we made the cookies. I didn’t cut the sugar in half because of my peanut butter ball mistake. I wish I had (a good excuse to make them again). They did turn out rather yummy, so I wanted to share what I did for all my gluten free loved ones…

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Coconut flour

  • Servings: 26
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print

1 & 3/4 cups pecans, toasted
2 cups regular oats, divided
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup brown sugar (I will definitely try 1/4 cup next time)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp almond milk
3.5 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup raisins

Directions: Coat pecans in tiny amount of oil, a touch of maple syrup and a sprinkle of salt. Toast pecans on a baking pan for 10 minutes. Let them cool. Put in a blender until coarsely chopped (put only half in at a time if you have a small blender). Combine flour, baking soda, 1 cup oats, cinnamon, and sugar. Add the nuts to the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, melt the coconut oil, then add maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of oats and the raisins. Make a ball with the dough, put it on the cookie sheet and flatten it. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes before putting on a cooling rack. This made about 26 medium sized cookies.

This follows the original recipe quite closely, so much thanks to ohsheglows.com, a website I plan to visit again.