Tap, Tap, Tap…
When we lived in Ohio, Valentine’s day was always the day we tapped our maple trees. We’d put in one tap and wait until it started flowing, then we’d tap the rest of the maple trees. Typically, I tap the trees in late February here in Maine. When Mr Chiots looked at the forecast, he said it looked like perfect sugaring weather.
I decided to tap one tree to monitor the flow, as soon as I started drilling the hole the sap started flowing.
I ended up putting in 8 taps yesterday, all but one was flowing. I may add more tomorrow, but I may stop at 8. Coincidentally, Valentine’s Day is also the day I fertilize all my indoor citrus trees as well. I find setting major holidays as dates to do certain chores works very well for me.
Is maple syrup produced in your area? Do you have set holidays when you do certain chores?
If you’d like to read more about small scale maple sugaring, I highly recommend this book: Backyard Sugarin’: A Complete How-To Guide (4th Edition)
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Couch Potatoes
The Winter Olympics have been on for the past few nights, which means we’ve been parked on the couch watching them. We’re not big fans of the summer games, but the winter ones always suck us in.
The Nordic events always draw us in, we watch them all in their entirety. We’re not big fans of the popular sports like figure skating. Generally, we don’t watch sports, but boy the winter games find us spending most evenings on the couch watching. It’s a good thing they only come once every four years.
What’s your favorite Winter Olympic sport to watch?
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Grow Light Salad
A few weeks ago, I seeded four flats of various types of greens. Arugula won the race to the dinner place, we enjoyed a delicious salad on Saturday morning for breakfast.
Being one of my favorite greens, I’m happy that arugula won the race. In fact, we could have harvested enough for a salad in the middle of last week, I just had some greens from the grocery store in the fridge already. It’s exciting to be harvesting things from under he grow lights. In the future, arugula is going to be my go-to winter grow light crop.
Are you harvesting anything for your plate at the moment?
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Friday Favorite: February Light
We have reached that point where we have over 10 hours of sunlight once again here in Maine. I start monitoring the daylight hours in mid-January. One thing I love about February is the light. The days are longer and you can tell and the sun is still at a low angle in the sky. The result is that the house is bright, noticeably brighter than it is in December & January.
I wait to do yoga until the middle of the afternoon, so I can do it in the sun as is streams in through the windows. You’ll find my working on my laptop throughout the house, following the sun as it moves around. Living in the north will make you a sun seeker in the winter.
What’s the light situation like in your area? Do you live in an area with changing day lengths? Is there a time when you notice the days getting longer or shorter?
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New Books
I’ve been a fan of Anna Rifle Bond’s art for a while, when I saw this Puffin in Bloom collection featuring her artwork I knew I had to have it. Not being much of one to splurge on myself, I kept them in my book list for a long time. Finally, when I got a gift card I purchased them.
They’re just a sweet in person as they are on-line. I love each of these books and have read them all more times than I can count. At the moment, I’m reading Ann of Green Gables. I decided that as I wanted to reread many of the classic books I read as a girl, I’m going to buy nice copies of them. Most likely, I read them each a few more times in my lifetime. Having a beautiful copy of a well-loved book is a very satisfying thing. There are books I can read on my Kindle, but these kinds of books are not those. When I read a classic story I love, I need to turn the pages, feel the paper, the cover, and enjoy the tactile part of reading.
