Moving…

We hiked down to Connecticut a few Saturdays back to scope out an older, but solid, all aluminum trailer large enough to fit both our horses, all our stuff, and even a sleigh… (If you know how I like to pack, I prefer to bring IT ALL … just in case…)

We’re super pumped about the purchase — especially how great it’s been to have our own set of wheels, rather than bumming rides off our trainer or other Draft Club members.

So far, we’ve loaded up for a few local events. Jed & Finn tried their hand at plowing, teamed up with Finn’s buddy Windy and his owner, Pam …

Finn is in the furrow, the horse and driver (if all goes right) plow a straight line by walking in the furrow they just plowed.

Everyone had a blast… Finn & Jed learned something, and it was great to work around so many knowledgeable people and horses. It’s the best way to learn! (And a great way to spend a cool Spring morning in NH!)

We also made a hike to the beach! Here in New Hampshire, public beaches are open to horses from Oct 1 – April 30. Each weekend (and many days during the week), you can find equestrians out on the beach, enjoying the sand and surf. Moxie loved a good gallop right on the edge of the waves.
All in all, we’re looking forward to a fun summer of independence with the trailer. Living in such a beautiful place as New Hampshire, we’re excited to explore new beaches, forest trails, and other New England destinations (Acadia!) via horseback!

Sap Happenings

16 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by Twin Maples Farm in our house, outdoors

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

maple, outdoors

We’ve been doing a lot of boiling around here… the sap-to-syrup process isn’t a hard one, but it sure is time consuming.
It has taken us about 6-7 hours of boil time for 3 gallons of syrup, and today we’re doing a marathon boil of nearly 5 gallons. We stored yesterday’s gatherings in an old carboy from our winemaking days. This one is a 5-gallon carboy, and we have half of it on the stove right now…

Ours is just a backyard operation, but I could see how people can go nuts with this! Many farms around us collect sap with tubing which terminates in a larger holding tank. This is often near the sugarhouse, which is exclusively used for boiling down sap. In fact, next weekend here in New Hampshire is Maple Sugar Weekend where dozens of area sugar houses are open to the public!

Spring is certainly on the way, but first, we muddle through the messy Mud Season. Late Winter sun melts mounds of snow resulting in lots and lots of mud. It’ll stay this way until things start drying out later in April.

That can’t come soon enough!