Spring in the Air!

This last full week of February, winter transitioned to spring. Two day temperatures exceeded 70 degrees! That never happened in any winter. Broke all records, by many degrees! Inches of snow everywhere and thick ice on local ponds disappeared. Soil turned to mud.

But we're now in my favorite season: replacing wood we've burned for cooking and keeping warm, gathering sap from maple trees for syrup, planting seeds, losing weight and toning muscles. 

Moonrise With Lots of Snow

This Winter We Had Few Opportunities for Cross Country Skiing

February 18 Warmed  and We Tapped Four Maple Trees

 We Use a Gallon Jug to Collect Sap on the Tree We See from Our Front Window

Seven Pots Boil Sap to Make Maple Syrup

The First Batch: Six Quarts Boiled to 104C (219F)

Pond Ice Almost All Gone: February 25, 2017

Now There Are Four Sets of Onion Tubes Sprouting Above the Warm Stove

Many More Plants Are Sprouting in the Front Greenhouse