Sugarin' Season Again

It's the second weekend in March and our sap buckets are running empty; lows in the 40s the past few days have left our trees thinking about splitting buds instead of sending sugar sap up. We did get about 27 gallons of sap between our tap date of March 2 and March 10, which boiled down to a pint short of 1 gallon of syrup. The syrup is a nice quality with a medium amber color. We need to work on our post boiling filtration though; our jars have a lot of sugar sand in the bottom of them. The weather forecast is calling for a few nights in the low 30s this week; we are hoping that's enough to get sap flowing a little bit longer or its going to have been a very short sugarin' season. We have other spring tasks going on around here besides making syrup. There are young onion plants growing in a flat in the upstairs window, and we just planted peppers and cole crops one evening this week. The broccoli seeds have sprouted, and we would anticipate many more to follow soon. It is crazy how fast spring is approaching, and with it so many outdoor tasks. It won't be long before our frypan special chick order will be waiting for pick up at the post office, and we'll be anxiously watching our turkey hen for signs of egg laying and broodiness. We hope Good Friday finds us planting potatoes and onions, and maybe even some peas and broccoli. Keep your fingers crossed for a seasonable, pleasant spring!