Spring Brings Hope Forward
We are getting little hints of spring. The days are longer, the birds are starting to flit in the cedar tree in front of the house, snow melts into puddles during the day and crusts with ice over night.
Today, I went to the Eggplant Urban Farm store with a friend to participate in the Tapping of the Boulevard Maple Tree. It was surely one of those eclectic experiences where I feel like I live somewhere between hippie and yuppie.
I was meeting up with a friend at the store. This friend is getting chickens this year. Her little chicks will be arriving at the store on Thursday. I helped build her chicken coop and have emotionally supported her urban gardens and food self sustenance practices. Some folks go on the Pardade of Homes Tour, or the Home Garden Tour with a Master Gardner at every location. We went on the chicken coup tour taking notes on all the options to be considered for my friends coop - which we have affectionately named Bok Joy.
While waiting for my friend, I wandered the tiny store, reading about herbal gardens and herbal remedies. I listened to a customer and store owner discuss the issues around sick chickens and euthanisia. I tried not to listen but the stores is quaint and small and has great accoustics...ahem...and it was not an easy conversation for either the customer or the owner, alas...in an effort to distract myself I moved from the herb section to the canning section to the 'worms eat my garbage' composting section and then to the back where the chicken feed and heating lamps are located. Finally, I asked where my friend might be and whether I was missing the lecture - I was warmly escorted to the basement.
Today, the urban farm store was providing information on how to make your own maple syrup by tapping the maple tree in your yard (or boulevard). We listened to a lecture that included a power point presentation. Then we went outside to tap the tree in front of the store. There was a quick discussion on whether or not there were going to be neighborhood complaints that the boulevard tree was getting tapped and then one woman suggested saying something respectful to the tree to honor it as part of the universe. And in a second it went from hippie to yuppie as the store owner produced a cordless drill with a half inch drill bit. Like a home improvement show she had marked the tree with the spot to drill using blue tape. She marked the 2" depth on the drill for the spigot. She promptly drilled into the tree. The bucket hung on the spout. All in all it was pretty cool. Love the idea of making maple syrup in your own backyard.
The perfect time for tapping maple trees is when the temperature is above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. In Minnesota this could likely be any month but January when it is always freezing. March happens to be the perfect month for this activity. If it is time to tap the trees it is time to think about spring.
At our house, this is a messy time of year. I am struggling to make sure I can hold out for the real spring. I start to remember what it is like to work the dogs outside. With the cold, the boys have been continuing to work through their door manners. Kristin and I are working on our pack leadership skills. When I take the dogs out running I have one less layer and no face mask. The ipod can make it for the whole run instead of getting too cold to stay charged. Chewie loses his ball less often and Gromit looks like a cartoon dog on ice frosted sidewalks, slipping and sliding.
Chewie has been working very hard on his agility skills this winter. In our last class, the instructor mentioned that if I ever get the trial bug Chewie is ready. Ahhh - spring brings hope forward - my little osha dog might make a new breakthrough for our budding partnership - LOL!
Today, I went to the Eggplant Urban Farm store with a friend to participate in the Tapping of the Boulevard Maple Tree. It was surely one of those eclectic experiences where I feel like I live somewhere between hippie and yuppie.
I was meeting up with a friend at the store. This friend is getting chickens this year. Her little chicks will be arriving at the store on Thursday. I helped build her chicken coop and have emotionally supported her urban gardens and food self sustenance practices. Some folks go on the Pardade of Homes Tour, or the Home Garden Tour with a Master Gardner at every location. We went on the chicken coup tour taking notes on all the options to be considered for my friends coop - which we have affectionately named Bok Joy.
While waiting for my friend, I wandered the tiny store, reading about herbal gardens and herbal remedies. I listened to a customer and store owner discuss the issues around sick chickens and euthanisia. I tried not to listen but the stores is quaint and small and has great accoustics...ahem...and it was not an easy conversation for either the customer or the owner, alas...in an effort to distract myself I moved from the herb section to the canning section to the 'worms eat my garbage' composting section and then to the back where the chicken feed and heating lamps are located. Finally, I asked where my friend might be and whether I was missing the lecture - I was warmly escorted to the basement.
Today, the urban farm store was providing information on how to make your own maple syrup by tapping the maple tree in your yard (or boulevard). We listened to a lecture that included a power point presentation. Then we went outside to tap the tree in front of the store. There was a quick discussion on whether or not there were going to be neighborhood complaints that the boulevard tree was getting tapped and then one woman suggested saying something respectful to the tree to honor it as part of the universe. And in a second it went from hippie to yuppie as the store owner produced a cordless drill with a half inch drill bit. Like a home improvement show she had marked the tree with the spot to drill using blue tape. She marked the 2" depth on the drill for the spigot. She promptly drilled into the tree. The bucket hung on the spout. All in all it was pretty cool. Love the idea of making maple syrup in your own backyard.
The perfect time for tapping maple trees is when the temperature is above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. In Minnesota this could likely be any month but January when it is always freezing. March happens to be the perfect month for this activity. If it is time to tap the trees it is time to think about spring.
At our house, this is a messy time of year. I am struggling to make sure I can hold out for the real spring. I start to remember what it is like to work the dogs outside. With the cold, the boys have been continuing to work through their door manners. Kristin and I are working on our pack leadership skills. When I take the dogs out running I have one less layer and no face mask. The ipod can make it for the whole run instead of getting too cold to stay charged. Chewie loses his ball less often and Gromit looks like a cartoon dog on ice frosted sidewalks, slipping and sliding.
Chewie has been working very hard on his agility skills this winter. In our last class, the instructor mentioned that if I ever get the trial bug Chewie is ready. Ahhh - spring brings hope forward - my little osha dog might make a new breakthrough for our budding partnership - LOL!
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