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Maple Moon
By Dorothy MacFarlane
Posted Wednesday, April 16, 2008
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I wrote last month’s column long before that terrible car accident. I couldn’t know that it would appear in print at the same time as the accident. My heart goes out to all the families involved. I only mentioned driving and accidents because so many people are hurt on the roads, especially young people. I hoped my comments might make a difference to the way a driver thinks.
It is late winter, and maple sap is running. I tapped my tree again, and even though I have done it many years in a row, I still stood back in amazement as the sap flowed out the hole, bringing the sawdust with it. My big old maple runs like a faucet, this year more than two gallons a day per tap.
I should get a pint or two of syrup when I boil it down. I will pull the tap early again this year, as it takes so long, and so much energy, to boil away the excess water. The ants will appreciate the easy access to the sap, and the tree will stop the leak in due time. In two years, I won’t even be able to find the hole.
The tree will eventually fill it, and bark will grow over it again.
None of the sap that I collect will be wasted. I use the sap as is for making stew, and freeze some for use later. The stew broth made this way is slightly sweet, and the maple flavor gets into the meat as well as the vegetables. Some of the sap is used at the Nature Center for our programs, including Maple Day, and for Scout groups that want to know more about Maple Syrup. It is truly one of natures best gifts to us, pure and natural, sweet and wonderful.
I enjoy sharing the story with as many folks as possible, especially children, who these days are less and less able to connect with our natural sources of food. To many of them, the source of food is the supermarket. There is a look of awe on their faces when I explain where maple syrup really comes from, and I enjoy that.
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Maple Moon[Apr. 16, 2008] I wrote last month’s column long before that terrible car accident. I couldn’t know that it would appear in print at the same time as the accident. My heart goes out to all the families involved. I only mentioned driving and accidents because so many people are hurt on the roads, especially young people. I hoped my comments might make a difference to the way a driver thinks.
On the Road Again[Mar. 4, 2008] If you take exit 13 off the north bound lane of Route 3, you see a large, dead white pine on the far side of the exit. Look to the top, and quite often, you will see a red tailed hawk sitting in that tree. Recently, I saw three of them, one in the tree, and two circling above the highway.
Oh Deer![Jan. 29, 2008] This was a good month for nature watching, both here and at work. First, I saw an odd animal in my field. At first glance, it looked like a coyote, but it seemed too small. It looked more like a fox, but it had the wrong coloring for a red, and was too big for a gray. I can only assume it was a small coyote. Coyotes often cross the field, looking for mice and other animals to eat. They scare me a little, but usually they stay away from the house.
Cast Offs[Dec. 23, 2007] I found a remarkable rug recently, hanging on a stack of cement blocks behind the barn. The rug is an old, long discarded braided rug, and it has been completely overgrown by a deep emerald moss. The moss follows the braids, so the original pattern is still shows. It is still a beautiful rug, though now not very practical. Mosses are one of my favorite plants. When all the larger plants shut down for winter, mosses keep on growing. If the temperature is above freezing, even if the moss is covered by snow, photosynthesis goes on.
The Mulberry Tree Revisited[Nov. 27, 2007] I have written about our mulberry trees before. While in fruit, they are a riot of life, and during the summer months, I collect leaves to grow silk worms at work. When fall comes, the leaves turn a sort of yellow. It is not the color that is so spectacular; it is the way they fall. Early in the morning, after some signal only the trees know, the leaves start to fall.
All’s Quiet[Oct. 30, 2007] It’s been very quiet on the old farm lately. Summer is winding down, and fall is starting up. The young hawks haven’t been around for a while, and even the insects have stopped singing. I haven’t seen many animals going by, no foxes, skunks, or coyotes, but I know they are there. It is the same with deer; you have to be in the right place at the right time to see them. Or maybe it is not the right place. Deer are easily startled, and can be quite dangerous.
The Dry Summer...[Sep. 28, 2007] I've been through dry summers before, but I have never seen so many mature trees in trouble. Swamp maples, sugar maples, dogwoods, and birches have all started to dry up and drop their leaves. Some of them are turning intensely red or yellow first, but this is not normal fall color; this is a tree is severe distress. It is quite possible that some of these trees will not leaf out next year.
Woodchucks...[Aug. 27, 2007] Did you know woodchucks can climb trees? I know they can, because I saw one coming down out of my mulberry tree! There is a bumper crop of the little devils this year, and they eat everything, including my marigolds. The quantity of food available might be why the hawks raised two babies this year, a male and a female.
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