Hello from Archie’s Acres!!
And Happy Spring!!
It seems like the weather may finally be heading in the right direction. Our lows may still be below freezing but our highs are in the 40s and 50s which is just enough warmth to allow us to work on spring farm preparations.
Tree Tapping Time!
This past weekend we tapped a few more maple trees since the weather was just begging us to do it. The general rule of tree tapping is that the daily highs should be at least in the 40s and the nightly temps should be below freezing. The reason for this is because the act of freezing and thawing creates a sort of pressure system inside of the trees that pushes the sap out. And some of our trees really have a lot of sap to give.
It was surprising how easy the whole process was. It took us about 5 minutes to tap 3 trees. Drill until you see a little moisture (about 2.5 inches deep at an upward angle) hammer in the specially made spile for tree tapping, connect a tube and put the other end in a cleaned bucket. And you’re done! We’ve already gathered around 3 gallons of sap and will, of course, keep you posted when we undertake the process of cooking it down to make syrup later this month.
Cold Frames FTW (For the Win)
Another exciting part about the weather cooperating is that we’ve been able to put the cold frames that we built into use! It’s our first year using cold frames so we wanted to guarantee a small amount of success. So even though it’s below freezing every night, we get a great warmup every day with the sunshine mixed with the 40/50 degree temps. We helped with success by putting the cold frames in a South facing location so they get the most sun available.
But even with that, we planted veggies that are still cold hardy just in case of some crazy weather events, which we are fulling expecting to occur at some point. We planted 3 varieties of pretty lettuce, 2 varieties of chard (red and rainbow), pak choy, kale and spinach. That reminds me, I should go check for any seedlings!
In other news, we still have a few more spots available in our CSA sign-up! Check out our last blog post to get the info on it! https://www.archiesacres.com/sign-up-now-for-our-csa/
Cheers! And thanks for reading!
Leslie wants to build a raised garden, too. We are still trying to figure out the best place in the yard for best sun. That’s a bit of a challenge with all the huge old trees around us!
You do have some awesome trees; beautiful but hard for gardening. You could always plant things that are a little more shade tolerant if you’re worried that you can’t get enough sun. Try some greens (spinach, lettuce, chard, arugula, kale, etc.) or broccoli and cauliflower. If you can get sun on the bed for at least half the day, you should be able to grow potatoes and carrots though they would need a pretty deep raised bed.