Welcome back friends, the snow that we got on April 1st here in Bowdoin is quickly melting away. The Maple Sugaring season has also come to an end here at Juniper Hill Farm for 2011. We had a record year for our little operation and produced 31 gallons of Pure Maine Maple Syrup. While we love to use our maple syrup in many ways, we surely will have some to sell to our friends and neighbors. This year we collected 1200 gallons of sap from 130 taps, burned 3 cord of firewood and spent over 120 hours in the Sugar House tending the evaporator. This is a labor of love, and getting rich is out of the question. Feeding time for Abigail and Casper.
The goats are doing great as well. We've had 4 does give birth so far, 2 doelings and 5 bucklings. Everyone is healthy and growing, waiting for the coming spring days in the pasture. I'm milking the does and feeding the kids with the bottle. The kids are really a lot of fun, especially at feeding time. This year we have also had some local folks that want to try goat's milk for their own family as well, so we'll give that a try.
Another of my Spring projects is to build a farmstand for selling some of our farm products. I've got the lumber, now I just need to find the time. I believe that local food production is more valuable now than ever before. The cost of fuel to ship strawberries from Mexico or apple juice from Chile is such a poor use of our natural resources. Yes, buying local can make it hard to find some things in the winter, but not impossible. Next time you're in the grocery store, take a look at where our food comes from and what its made of. Then make a point to stop by your local farmer's market or neighborhood farmstand to support local agriculture.
Do you ship maple syrup to Washington? I so wish we could have come to your Maple Sugar Sunday...what fun!
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