Making Your Own Maple Syrup

Here are the pic's provided by Mary Lou and I'll give you my version of how it is done.

First you tap the trees. How am I doin' so far :)? Then you gather the sap and cook it for hours and hours.
She has this fire pit that she adds wood to constantly day and night until the sap boils down to about a gallon...maybe a little more. Then she brings it inside to complete the cooking process. She strains it and then jars it to give to her friends :). We all got one of these jars of oh so yummy "Pure Maple Syrup". Doesn't that sound simple? Truly it is not, you have to tend the fire all day long and into the evening hours. I think she said it takes 30 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. That is a lot of cooking down.

Thank you Mary Lou for your generosity.

Pancake Breakfast at MaryLou's

What a great time. Mary Lou has always told stories of her slaving away at boiling down a zillion gallons of maple sap (is that what it's called?) to make a gallon of pure maple syrup. Today we got a taste of all her diligence and hard work....Yummy!!!! We even got to see the famous fire pit, and her stock of wood to keep the fire burning for days and days (God love her for that, I don't think I could do it. I'd have to take a month off of work {sounds good but I don't think it would go over to big with the school district}). Of course I didn't think to take any pictures of the fire pit or the syrup that was being made at the time. I thought my assistant was taking care of that. I think I'll have to reprimand him for slacking off on the job. You just can't get good help these days :). I also learned about Bee keeping and may even get to experience it first hand. I didn't get any pic's of the fire pit but I did get the most important pictures. I tip my hat to the host and hostess with the mostest!

And here are all those who partook of this most enjoyable, delicious breakfast spread. What was on the menu you ask? We enjoyed: pancakes, Belgian waffles, bacon, sausage patties, breakfast sausage, cinnamon rolls, wholegrain raspberry bars, pound cake, cookies, Strawberry and Blueberry toppings, mimosa's, (what? it has Orange Juice in it...a very good breakfast drink indeed), coffee, tea, fresh fruit, and let's not forget the guest of honor, the fresh, home made Maple Syrup.

What a spread.

Some people are just ham's trying to corner the market on getting in on every picture. And what's he doing here? God only knows! :) Good Grief!



We had a few of our members unable to attend. One was Brian (a SUNY Bkpt. student) who sent an email to me, which I read for everyone, saying he was regretfully going to need some time off. However he did have a request that I eat 12 pancakes for him. There is no way I could eat 12 pancakes but I did make a pig of myself in YOUR honor. In fact when I took 5 pancakes, Nancy said: "are you eating for two?" Thus trying politely to remind me of my manners when eating out. I'm sure what she really wanted to say was "you're eating at someones house, don't be a pig." My answer of course was "YES" :). So Brian, we consumed: 1 mimosa (it was actually guzzled :)),
coffee, 5 pancakes topped with lot's of blueberry topping, whipped cream and strawberry on top, of course, maple syrup, 2 pieces of bacon, 1/4 of a waffle (I had planned on taking the rest of it home as I didn't want to waste it but someone felt the need to dispose of it...what a sin :)). Unfortunately, I fear I enjoyed it much more than you did. We will miss you Brian and hope to see you soon.





Here we have Mary Lou showing off her newest gift. She is so in her glory. She has
wanted a chainsaw for so many years and now she has one. Now she can cut her own firewood for next years maple tapping. ;)

Mary Lou and Dave, thank you so much for hosting such an extravaganza.
God Bless you!

By the way for anyone envious of my overindulgent plate, I was still full at dinner time and ate only a few of those oatmeal raspberry bars.

Remember you can enlarge pictures by clicking on them.

Helleborus, Raspberries , Rhododendron, etc.

What a wonderful day today. Did anyone get outside? Work in the garden? You know, raking up leaves, clearing out all the old debris left from fall? What a great feeling. I got quite a bit done today though there is much more to do. One nice thing about today is there was no wind. Usually when I am out clearing all the fallen leaves from flower beds it is windy and much of the raking is for naught and just gets blown back into the flower beds. Today, I raked the leaves out of the garden and....they didn't go anywhere. Ha! What a time saver :). I moved most of the leaves to the raspberry bed and used them as mulch but fertilized first. Hope it wasn't to early for that.

Here is an updated picture on the Witch Hazel. Kind of cute isn't it? Interesting flower production however I didn't make the purchase for the flowers though they are quite unique. I bought it for it's fall color. Can't wait to see that but let's not rush it, time flies quickly enough.

As I walked around I made mental notes of all the things left to do (as if I wouldn't know, you just have to look around there is obviously plenty). I noticed the Helleborus is finally going to bloom. You can check out the new growth for yourself. It is not a "pretty" picture (yet) but it is a promising one. Also known as the Lenten Rose, could it be because it will be in bloom during lent? As I pulled away leaves and old damaged foliage I saw new growth beneath...how exciting. I put that in two years ago and this is the first flowering I've had the pleasure to experience.

I also took note of the damage to many plants made not from mother nature but from varmints in the garden. Could someone please tell me why we marvel at the sight of deer when we see them in the yard or those adorable, fuzzy little bunnies? Blast them all!!! Now if the deer would only cut back the raspberries by a quarter instead of 3 quarters I would certainly appreciate it much more. I just planted a Rhododendron last year with beautiful multi shaded light pastel pink to a darker pink flower. It was so breathtaking I couldn't pass it up. The deer trimmed it all up quite nicely, yup, took care of all those nice little buds for me they did...damn!!! . Bunnies...well, I haven't had any problems with them yet but that is only because there's nothing there for them to munch on yet. ..it's only a matter of time.

Sorry for so few pictures but the camera died on me while out taking them. I haven't had it charging lately. I hear we should expect a dip in temperatures once again. Hope you are enjoying the warmer weather while it is here.

REVERSES

Excellent video check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

Spring Is Sprung!

The new job continues to keep me busy however I did make it a point to take a stroll through the gardens to check out what's popping up. This is the Witch hazel I planted in the fall. I'm not sure if this is at it's peak or if it is just opening. Well, I know it is just opening but I don't know if it will look any better. Perhaps! Not the most pleasant flower but it does say "spring". There are lots of buds so I'm guessing there will be much more color soon.

I didn't actually purchase this shrub for it's beautiful flowers, I liked the fall foliage. As it turns, it not only has spectacular color in the fall but attracts butterflies so I am looking forward to this growing season not only to observe all the changes that take place to enjoy them and the flying flowers it invites.
Other happenings in the garden...many things were snipped by deer especially my raspberries. I didn't put the snow fence around them in the fall. I'm pretty sure I'll be sorry for my laziness. This is so irritating. You know, they don't eat it, they just snip it and leave all the remain on the ground. I guess I would be less irritated if they actually ate it but they don't so what the heck are they doing? Other damage from deer: my rhododendron, Oak leaf Hydrangea, mini rose bush and several other shrubs. Lucky I did cover a few things. Remember if you want to see any pic's close up just click on the picture.