John enjoyed 2 days fishing on Lake Ontario recently. He brought us 11 lbs of Brown Trout which are now vacuum bagged in the freezer. A good year's supply. Meanwhile, back home, the daffodils finally bloomed and the fields are just barely turning green with the dry weather.

Easter Oven

What Easter wouldn't be perfect without firing up the wood oven and baking a fresh ham? And so we did. The first day of firing was the hottest and so the pizzas were done, including my interpretation of the Green Mountain a la Parker Pie in W. Glover.  This includes, spinach, sliced apples, onions, garlic, cheddar cheese and drizzled maple syrup. The pizza above was grilled chicken with caramelized onions/peppers/garlic and 3 cheese blend. Second day, bread was baked (one herb and one cinnamon raisin) and then the ham, temp 400. This was too hot for the poor ham, but we would have had to wait another day for 325, and then it wouldn't be Easter. Third day, monday, the temp was falling below 300 when I baked up a mighty supply of granola, using up many seeds, flakes, nuts and dried fruit that I have had for long enough. Coming soon....granola cookies, ummm good, from the Craftsbury Outdoor Center cook book. Food is so much fun.

Sugaring Time at Last

The buckets were hung on March 10. We collected 46 gallons and boiled on March 13 leaving some unfinished syrup still in the evaporator. We made 1 gallon of syrup that is delicious. However, the temperatures have stayed warm day and night, so the sap is not flowing very much. I dumped what little there was and now it time to dump the rest and clean up. The whole thing did not last long for us and yielded little. Last year we made 10 gallons. At this post, March 20, the first day of spring, our snow is gone, what there was of it. Temps are breaking records all over this week. We are see low 70s during the day, and 50s at night. Cooling is predicted, but the sugaring season is done for this year. This will be remembered for a long time. 

Hydroponic Herbs in Winter

In the winter months when the sun is low, this little hydroponic planter works well for herbs. I tried lettuce, spinach, etc with larger leaves, but it did not produce well. The light was not strong enough, so this year we have a light suspended over the tower. At night we place a reflective box around the whole thing to intensify the light. Even though fresh herbs are available locally, this is something to do and fun to watch the growth. It's called a   Vertigro planter . I have chives, rosemary, basil, cilantro and thyme. I am so pleased with this setup now that it is really producing just enough for our meals.

Winter's Workshop

I don't know what we would do without winter to work on new and old projects in the workshop. First we started working on the porch railings for the house, four to do there. Then, new bluebird houses were in order, eight there. And among other things like auto maintenance, my Aunt Helena's ancient garden pixie needed repair, head on with new epoxy there. With bluebirds reported north of us already, we have to move on finishing them soon. When the sugaring starts weeks ahead of time ( such is the case this year), we lose time on the winter projects. I live for the day when we don't have  projects and we can just go off and do whatever for a few weeks. Maybe next year.

Taking Trees Down for More Solar Power

With the open winter so far, John is taking down some tall white (cat) spruce in the swale that cast a shadow (note shadow) on the solar panels when the sun is low. Our neighbor can use the wood with his portable saw mill. The brush will get piled and burned later on. The ashes will go into the compost and onto the plants. That's the plan....