Sap Tutorial

For those who have questions about where the sap comes from, here's a tiny tutorial on xylem and phloem. Can't say that I understand it well yet, but I think it really is kind of like the liver. Wherever it comes from, I'm keeping the total sap collected recorded over there on the right side of the screen, you know, because I have nothing better to do!

Check out the latest maple sugar season photos:

maple syrup

cooking the syrup to exactly the right temperature

Note that the correct temperature is 7.1 degrees F above the boiling point. That's today's specific boiling point, based on your current barometric pressure and your elevation. Um, yeah, I may have a B.S. Chemistry, but I don't think that prepared me well for this complicated process. I mean, seriously, this is syrup!

Here's another example of my industrious husband at work, demonstrating what you can do with leftover sweet potatoes.

sweet potato ravioli!

Aah, just call us the Ingalls family. I'm going to go make some butter and mend some clothes. Considering getting some pansies started under the grow light. Hoping for some early Spring weather this weekend! We're going to be working the ground before we know it!