Our 2025 and 2026 winter season was surely an old fashioned winter. We had plenty of good, solid cold and snow. We had a foot of snow on the ground by mid November. Our sleigh rides were filled with people from near and far. For us Vermonters, it was a long winter!
Our 2026 sugaring season proved to be a challenging one for us. When it warmed up for the sap to run, it was too warm to make light syrup. We made no Golden Delicate, some nice Amber Rich and more Dark Robust than usual. We had some big runs of sap and were working with a new evaporator which certainly had a learning curve to it. We had some big wind events that threw a monkey wrench into the mix and ended up with a below average crop for yield.
This is farming. But as Red Hooper always said (he owned this land before us), “we always make some.”
We are thankful for Seth Anderson who joined us for tapping this year and for the help from our long term help, Kimberly Piscaldo.
This spring, our beavers have repaired the dam as you enter the driveway and it’s wonderful to see they survived the winter. We have a pair of geese nesting on the beaver’s summer lodge. It seems the beavers still reside in their winter lodge in an adjoining pond. We have seen otters and the Great Blue Heron has been back hunting for food in the beaver pond. Recently, we had a Tom Turkey on great display for some hens that are coming up the hill.
The garlic is up in the garden and the wild leeks are out.
The vernal pools are filled with frog eggs. (Ah, all these happenings of glorious spring!) The world here is turning green instead of winter white. We hope wherever you are the signs of spring are giving you joy.
