From Sap to Syrup

Here on the farm we are constantly learning and trying out new ideas on our 2 1/2 acres.  We have been blessed to be able to: grow a garden, acquire two dairy goats, fill a tool shed with our very own laying chickens, have our own meat-chicken business, raise multiples of abandoned fledglings, and most recently, make our own apple cider.   We are very grateful to God for his constant provision and guidance, and His hand was clearly shown in our latest venture - that of making maple syrup.

Last summer we were very blessed to be able to meet a young Christian family who were selling blueberries.  We became good friends, and were delighted to learn that they tapped the trees on their property and made maple syrup.  They promised they would let us know come spring, and that we could help them out.  Well, not only did they let us help them out (Josiah went and worked two full days with them) but they were so kind as to give us the equipment to tap our own trees!

So on the next sunny day, Josiah trudged out with a drill and the bag of supplies, and began to "tap" our huenormous maple tree out back by the pond.

As soon as Josiah made the hole the sap started running.  We quickly slid the bags on, and with a pat for the tree, left it to collect.

This tree is HUGE!  I mean, we are talking 5-7 separate trunks, all the size of a large healthy tree themselves.  So it had no trouble filling all 8 of the bags we put on.  In fact, we later upped it to 10 taps.  On one tree!  That is unheard of.

In one day (with perfect tapping weather) we had collected nearly 10 gallons of sap, so we began to contemplate just how exactly we were going to turn this "tree blood" (Faith's name for sap:) into a pancake topper.

After a day of making rounds with Mr. Reiche visiting all his "sappy" friends, we found ourselves the proud possessors of an old burning barrel (with holes) a heavy duty pot, and a rickety stove pipe.  In other words, we had a first rate evaporation station.

Beginning early in the morning, we stoked up the fire and began to boil down the sap.

All day long we kept the fire going and the sap boiling.  If the sap stopped bubbling, we had to add wood and get the fire burning again.

In the evening we brought the soon to be syrup, inside for the finishing process.

Once the syrup had come to the right temperature and consistency, we canned the syrup all ready for the next pancake breakfast.

So Saturday morning we invited Mr. Reiche over for breakfast to taste our syrup and give judgement on its quality.

It was delicious!!  We are very grateful for all the help we had in our making of syrup, and are very happy that our tree is doing so well and giving us so much sap.  We were blessed to be able to do two batches of syrup and hope to boil down one more time before the season ends.

~Chs

The Early Birthday Bash

Grace was born on March 8th, that is an undeniable fact.  But.... since Dad was leaving for California (which is a whole other story on it's own), we decided to celebrate Grace's Birthday on Monday, March 5th.  So dear Grace will really have a whole week of celebrations this year!!:)

Grace's elaborate menu included: Brined and roasted Turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, Buchty rolls, and the delicious Cashew Salad, all topped by a flavorful gravy.  (all except the salad that is ;)

Dinner was enjoyed by all, and then we rushed through clean up before showing a slideshow of Grace's life.

Josiah always has a creative way of wrapping his presents.  This year his materials included duck-tape! :)

Instead of a cake, this year Grace requested cupcakes.  So chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting were produced.

Happy 26th Birthday Grace!!!

~Chs

Happiest Birthday Wishes!

Grace Elizabeth Sauve turned 26 yesterday.  She was born on the 8th of March 1986, and according to hear-say (I wasn't around at the time:) the day of her birth was rather warm! (around 70 to be exact)

Grace is our third girl in the family, and has always been the shy, creative type.  We are very grateful for her and all her wonderful talents.  She is an amazing photographer and artist, and she also has quite the affinity for decorating and designing. 

May God bless her even more than He has in the past year, and show her the plans He has for her, while continuing to reveal Himself and His glory to her each and every day.

Love you Grace!!

~Chs

Spring, Or Not Spring: That is the Question

 It was the cloudy gray morning of Saturday, February 18th, when Josiah stuck his head out the window during breakfast and uttered the exclamation: "I hear a Red-Wing-Blackbird!!!"  At first we all scoffed, "No way!  Red-Wings are never here this early; couldn't be."  But upon opening the other window and sticking our own appendages pel-mel out of it, the distinct unmistakeable sound of "Oak-a-lee" smote our ears.

 As quickly as I could, I threw on a coat, grabbed my camera, and thrusting my feet into rubber-boots, rushed outside to see if I could get a look at this over zealous and rather early herald of spring.  But though I could not find him, I was able to catch his voice on video, and therefore have proof of our first sighting (or hearing) of the coming season.

 That next Wednesday, I was out for a walk down the road with Baby.  There I was minding my own business when a persistent sound broke in on my thoughts.  It finally occurred to me that the "check check" noise belonged to the voice of a Red-Wing Blackbird. Thankfully I had my camera with me, and throwing it up was able to get a couple pictures of the handsome male bird.  He looked perfectly at home among the swelling buds of the maple tree, with the blue sky as a backdrop, and it rather seemed as if Spring really was right around the corner.

 So a couple of days later, during our latest snow storm, we were rather amused to find this disconsolate blackbird sitting under our bird feeder table, consulting with himself why on earth he had decided to come north now!!

Oh well little birdy, don't worry. Wait three or four weeks and the crocuses should be out, then you can bring Mrs. Blackbird to stay.  I just hope you can survive the uncertain Michigan weather between now and then! :)

~Chs

The New Apple Sauce Manufacturing Plant.

You might not have known it, but there is a new Apple Sauce plant in town, and according to some it just might rival Mott :)  This new company is located in the Sauve's kitchen, and here is a promotional video.

Alright, so it's not really a new plant, but rather company :)  You see we had a new friend of ours over for the day and we decided a nice activity would be to use up our apples and make sauce.  That and the fact that Mr. Reiche had loaned us a professional apple corer from a friend, found us up to our elbows in apples on Monday afternoon.

 It was a fun time, and really not work at all when you are doing it with friends, and the room and afternoon filled with laughter and chatter.

 (The amazing "Core master", and no we did not chop three apples at once, that was just for a picture)

 Everyone was busy, and hands were always moving. In the end we had two LARGE pots full of delicious applesauce ready to be canned.

 We still have a couple bushels of keeping/eating apples down in our cellar, but all of our sauce/cider apples are all used up now!
~Chs

Happy Birthday Mr. Washington!

In honor of George Washington's 280'th Birthday this week, Faith made the delicious "Washington pie" to celebrate. (If you would like the recipe to make for Mr. Washington next year, you will find it here :)

"Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company." ~George Washington

"I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man." ~George Washington

"It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." ~George Washington

~Chs

A(nother) Dicky-bird in February!!

I heard TWO Dicky-birds today!!  They were singing their little hearts out!

A Lesson From a Dicky-bird

The snow was deep and the winter air

            was bitter and cold that day,

But the Dicky-bird sang as if instead

            ‘twas a sun-filled day in May.

I watched him and wondered if I would be

            singing of flowers and bees,

If I was the little Dicky-bird

            and the Dicky-bird was me.    

He trilled and chortled though the skies were gray

            And the icy wind blew cold,

The snow lay in piles ‘round his Maple tree

            But he sang so brave and bold.

I thought how I would fuss and complain

            As unhappy as can be,

If I was the little Dicky-bird

            And the Dicky-bird was me.

                       

The Dicky-bird sings with a thankful heart,

            I’ve much to be thankful for!

His Creator has given him this day to live,

            My Savior’s done so much more!

So I’ve learned in every season of life

            To live as contentedly,

If I was the little Dicky-bird

            And the Dicky-bird was me.

~ FAS

A Dicky-Bird in February

I heard a Dicky-bird today!!!   The sound always brings such joy to this month.

A Dicky-Bird in February

                                                            

A Dicky-bird sat in the Cherry tree,

one damp and dreary day.

Singing a song to the coming Spring,

and a song to brighten the way.

He twittered and warbled with hardly a care

for the piles of snow or the cloudy sky.

He carried Spring in that brave little breast

and sang, though the sun would hide.

He sang of the balmy breeze from the South,

of the swollen green buds on the trees,

and the melody of the waters' voice

when the brooks and rivers flow free.

He bubbled and chortled in highest glee

as he told of the first Spring flowers,

cheering the world with their brilliant hues

and bathing in sweet Spring-time showers.

He sang to his wife, in her sweet modest dress,

of the babies they'd raise in the Spring.

Of the bounty of insects to feed to their young,

and of teaching to fly and to sing.

He sang with such sweetness, and gusto and joy,

with his head tilted back and his beak in the air.

He gave thanks to his Maker, Creator and God,

As he sang that most beautiful prayer.  

~ FAS

February 14th: Thoughts

"I would rather have one mouthful of Christ's love and a sip of His fellowship than a whole world full of carnal delights."  ~C.H Spurgeon

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  ~Romans 5:8

"Love divine, all love excelling, joy of heav'n, to earth come down.. Jesus, Thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love Thou art;" ~ Charles Wesley

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;"

 ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4

"No joy on earth is equal to the bliss of being all taken up with love to Christ." ~ C.H Spurgeon

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him."  ~ 1 John 3:1
 "And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him...  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, "
 ~ 1 John 4:16,18

Our February Walk

As we had started to do last year, we decided in 2012 to again try to make it to our different nature trails at least once a month.  So far we have made it, but then again, it is only February! :)

Surprisingly enough our February walk at the Sutherland Nature Sanctuary (taken on last Wednesday) was almost cooler than our January one.  But it was still enjoyable and everything was beautiful.

We made our way through the pine forest, craning our necks to look at the towering pine, and gazing down the awesome path lined with the arbores sentinels that we never get tired looking at.

We followed along the stream, searching for and finding new growth of Skunk Cabbage, then made our way through the owl forest and back to the stream where it curves around and past the old cotton wood tree.

"God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars." ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Martin Luther

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." 

~George Washington Carver

~Chs

The VERY last of the Apple Cider

 I know you would think that it being February, we would be all done with cider making, but we had "squirreled" away a few bushels of apples in our newly finished cellar, and as soon as we found the time and a nice warm day, we invited some friends over to help us finish up.

 The girls had fun running around out back and playing with the animals before we were ready to start with the apples.

Holding the chickens and "walking" the goats were two of the most favorite activities.

Soon everything was set up and the process began.  The little girls watched with interest as the "grownups" chopped up the apples and took out all the bad parts.

But when we were ready to start the grinding, everyone wanted a turn, down to the very littlest!

With their very competent help, we soon finished all the apples, ground and then smashed them and then headed inside for a snack for all the hard working cider makers.

It was a wonderful time of fellowship and we are very grateful to now have all of our cider done.  Hmm... now we just need to make some applesauce! :)

~Chs