Sunny Spring Days
The first warm sunny days bring out the best in all of us here in NE Ohio. Everyone seems to be in a better mood, they’re is excited that the long cold gray days of winter will soon be only a memory. People are out and about smiling, working in their gardens, walking their dogs and they seem to be having a good time. I waved to many neighbors while out on the front porch getting some seed flats ready.
It won’t last long, winter isn’t even close to being over her in Ohio. We’ll still get a few more snowstorms and some crisp cold weather. I still have at least 2 months to be patient until I can plant anything slightly tender in the garden. Even cold tolerant plants can easily get nipped by the usual winter relapses we have. So one must be careful to remember that spring isn’t yet here when we have a few warm days.
While the warmth is here we take full advantage. We’ve been going on nice long walks in the afternoons, soaking up the sun and getting some exercise (and preparing for our spring hiking vacation). On Thursday I even hung out the first load of laundry this year. Mr Chiots checked on one of our beehives that sounded a little weak, and as of right now both hives survived the winter.
I checked the soil in the raised beds, and it’s still frozen solid about 1/2 inch below the surface. I covered one bed with the cold frame yesterday and seeded some lettuce. I’m hoping to cover the remaining cold frames with plastic to warm the soil more quickly and protect the plants inside from the worst of the remaining winter weather.
What do you do you take advantage of the first beautiful days in the spring?
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Finishing Off our Maple Syrup
Sugaring season is just about over here in Ohio. We had a warm snap that ended it about a week earlier than last year. Although a short season, it was still successful. We ended up with over a gallon of golden goodness straight from our back yard! Next year we’re hoping to tap even more trees so we can, hopefully, get a few gallons of syrup, then we could give some away (perhaps a jar to a lucky reader). But with only one gallon this year, we’ll probably give some to my parents and we’ll keep the rest.
The hardest part of making maple syrup is the finishing. You have to heat it to a certain temperature; not below or it might spoil, not over or it will crystallize. Everywhere you read you get different information about the temperature or method for finishing your syrup properly. I read this article and used their method, which worked beautifully. I figured the experts at the Ohio State University would know what they were talking about!
After heating to the proper temperature, you’re supposed to strain your maple syrup through a felt filter, some use wool, some use synthetic. Since I’m more of an all-natural kind of person, I bought some organic wool felt from Syrendell at Etsy.com to make my own filter. I figured I could make my own much cheaper. Unfortunately I bought the felt a little too late and it didn’t get here in time, but I’ll have the filters sown up and ready to go for next year.
We ended up filtering ours through a few layers of cheesecloth. We filtered once before finishing the syrup, we poured the hot syrup that was almost finished through cheesecloth to get most of the sugar sand out. Then we finished the syrup and strained again, through some fresh layers of cheesecloth. This did a remarkably wonderful job of straining the syrup. It’s beautifully clear, with hardly any maple sand in it (I’ve read maple sand can make the syrup bitter during storage, which is why it’s recommended to strain it out).
I took some of our finished maple syrup outside yesterday morning to get a few shots, it’s so beautiful! I love these little Weck jars I got to store it in, they should be the perfect size for 2 meals. You can see the two different colors of syrup we got from our two batches. It’s so delicious, hard to believe we made it at home. One thing is for certain, not a drop of this will go to waste! When you take such a hands on approach to making your own food you really appreciate it because you know the effort that goes into it.
What do you recommend for our first meal to enjoy our homemade syrup on:
pancakes, french toast, fried mush, ______________?
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First Seeds Planted this Season
We’ve had some beautiful sunny warm days this week that have awakened my gardening spirit. I spent some time on the front porch in the sun starting a few flats of seeds. The first seeds of the 2010 gardening season. What did I plant? Onions, of course.
Onions take a long time to germinate and they can be planted outside earlier than many other plants. So typically onions are the first seeds to start in late winter. Many people prefer using onion sets since they’re easier, but I like the variety offered by onion seeds. I planted 2 different varieties of heirloom onions this week.
Jaune Paille Des Vertus (onion) – Introduced about 1793, this old onion is now hard to find. It is also called Brown Spanish by French seed house Vilmorin; in 1885 they said, “The winter supply of Paris and of a great part of Europe consists chiefly of this variety, which may be often seen hanging up in dwelling-houses in long hanks formed by interlacing and plaiting the withered leaves together.” The roots are flattened and 3″-4″ across, the skin is a brownish yellow and the flesh is flavorful. This antique is known for its keeping qualities that made it a standard in Europe for over 200 years.
Yellow of Parma (onion) – Long-day type–Large, golden onions are oblong-globe shaped. This late onion makes an excellent keeper; a rare and hard-to-find Italian variety.
I waited a little longer this year to start onions. Last year I had onion seedling that needed to be planted outside and nowhere to put them due to weather and too wet conditions. (this is a photo from April 10, 2009)
Later this spring (as soon as I get the seeds and the ground thaws), I’ll be direct sowing a few other varieties of onions in the garden as. I’m going to compare the effects of starting the seeds indoors or direct sowing in the garden. If direct sowing works well, that will sure save me some time each spring.
Any seeds being starting for your 2010 gardens? Which ones?
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Some Like it HOT
I’m a big fan of hot food, and by hot I mean spicy hot. You’ll find me adding crushed red pepper to just about everything I eat. Because I like it so much I decided to grow some in the garden last summer. I ended up with quite a bounty thanks to the full sun conditions in my mom’s garden and the few plants I had here at Chiot’s Run as well. I dried the ripe cayenne peppers and have them stored in a big jar in the basement pantry.
Every so often I add a few to my spice grinder (which is a coffee mill only used for grinding spices, who wants spicy coffee?). I grind them a few seconds for freshly ground red pepper flakes. I’m sure enjoying my homegrown cayenne, it’s much hotter than the red pepper you buy in the store and has a great fresh flavor. BEWARE – don’t inhale too deeply when you open the grinder, you’ll end up in coughing fits!
I’m glad I like cayenne pepper because it’s health benefits are quite numerous, see references below. There’s even an entire book about it The Health Benefits of Cayenne, I must get this from the library.
I love spices because they make your food taste so much better and they really up the nutritional content by adding all kinds of vitamins, minerals and trace elements. They’re a great way to layer on the flavor and the health!
So what about you – are you a hot & spicy kind of person, or do you have a more sensitive palate?
read more about the health benefits of cayenne pepper:
Organic Facts
The Worlds Healthiest Foods
The Health Benefits of Cayenne Pepper
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The Days Were Clear and Bright
The days were clear and bright. Laura and Mary stood on chairs by the window and looked out across the glittering snow at the glittering trees. Snow was piled all along their bare, dark branches, and it sparkled in the sunshine. Icicles hung from the eaves of the house to the snowbanks, great icicles as large at the top of Laura’s arm. They were like glass and full of sharp lights.
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House in the Big Woods)
One of my favorite things to see in the winter are icicles. We don’t get them very often since our home is well insulated, but when the sun shines brightly on a cold day it melts the snow on our dark roof. This makes icicles form on our front porch. They’re so lovely with the blue skies behind them and the sun making them sparkle. They don’t last long, one moment they’re gracing the front porch and the next they’re gone. I’m glad I got out to capture a few photos when I did, they were beautiful.
It took me a few patient moments to catch this drip falling from the icicle. If you look at the large image you can see that the drop reflects the ground upside down, wonderful!
Icicles are one of my favorite parts of winter, they always seem to come as the days get longer and sun gets warmer. I especially love them on days like this when they sparkle in the sunlight, it’s almost as if they’re announcing the coming of spring! Most likely there will be no more icicles this winter. They will give way to leaves that will clog the gutters.
What’s your favorite part of winter, the snow, the ice, the cooler weather for your southerners?
