RicelandMeadows

March 8, 2024

The soft maple trees “popped” their buds yesterday. That means its the end of our maple season. A person can still make more maple syrup after the trees have budded, but the syrup has an off, very strong odor and flavor. We only make and sell only the best Grade A, pure maple syrup, so we stop before the trees bud.

This coming week starts the big job of clean-up and organization. Our season was cut short by about half. We can’t fix the weather, only work with it, just like all aspects of farming. Having said that, yep, there is always next year!

I had gone out to the sugarhouse to do a few tasks. I was out there about 3 hours. When I started to the house, that is when I noticed the pink hue in the treetops. Upon further inspection, I took the photo above. I was amazed at how quick the buds opened. I also noticed the honeybees returning to their hives loaded down with pollen. The tree buds are the source. God works in mysterious ways. The maple syrup season over, but perhaps the honey season begins!

In taking advantage of the beautiful day yesterday, after the disappointing news of the tree buds, we hitched Grace to the cart for her second time. She did an outstanding job. She is learning quickly. She still has a lot to learn, but so far has been an outstanding student who remembers her lessons.

The maple clean-up will dominate my work in the coming days, but I will leave enough time for working the young horses. We will even start some field work to prep the soil for Spring planting. A little plowing on late winter/early spring days, makes for a nice seedbed due to the freezing and thawing of the plowed ground.

The work of filling the woodshed will also begin. This job will be a little bit easier this year. We only used half of what we had due to the short season. There are a few blowdown trees that need cleaned up in the woods. They will go a long way in filling the shed. A little logging is also a good thing to train young horses on. So, this too is a win win situation.