Family introductions (part 2)

God tells us in His Word that children are a gift from Him, and ..."blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them" (Psalm 127:5)  And, we are very blessed to have four....

Our firstborns...(yes, we did have twins, then went on to have more and lived to tell the story!) are Will and Nate.  Don has not one, but two, "right-hand men" - it's pretty handy having them around....

                   

Nate (left) usually wears blue in photos, and Will, generally wears red.  It has been this way since they were babies!

Nate, archery practice, 2013.

Will, target practice, 2014.

Despite being twins, they are very unique individuals, but both are hard-working, love the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing, and have a heart for agriculture.  I just can't believe they will have drivers' licenses very soon! (I have mixed feelings about this....can you relate?)

Family introductions (part 1 of 3)

I thought that I should take a moment to introduce the family to those of you who may not know us, personally:

This is Don, the head of our family, visionary leader, loving husband and father, and so much more.  On our wedding day, he promised me our lives would never be boring.....

   

And, in our 18 years together, it NEVER has been!!

Don is an "out of the box" thinker, and has a talent for recycling things, often times taking objects apart and rebuilding them into something new.  He is a self-described "scrounge".  Determined not to go into debt to start our maple syrup production, much of the equipment we have for processing the sap has been built by Don out of materials given to us, or bought inexpensively, like this sap releaser (many thanks to a dairy farming friend) :

  He never fails to impress me after all our years together!

First "Fruit"

In mid-January, we had a brief "warm up" here in CNY.  God took pity on me and my fellow fair-weather friends up here, and the daytime temperatures rose slightly above the freezing mark.  Dare we try it?  It's our first time.....it might be too soon.....but, what the heck!

My husband, as excited as a child who sneaks downstairs on Christmas morning and peeks in his stocking, decided we should tap a few trees down by our house, "Just to see...", I quote. 



So, on Jan. 16th, we tapped 6 trees.  In 24 hours, or so, we collected 3 and half gallons of sap!

                             

Seems like a good amount, right?  However, we diligently boiled it down, heating it to the proper temperature on our stovetop.......and, this is what we ended up with.........

 

 

 

 

Doesn't seem like much, but we are thrilled!!!!  It is a beautiful light amber color and very tasty!    Now, our very well-below freezing temperatures are back, so the trees will hold onto their sap, as they creak quietly in the breeze.  A few more weeks to go.....

Getting Ready

For weeks, we've been working hard at preparing for our first maple season.  We have decided to use tubing, to gather most of our sap, but we will use some bucket taps as well.  This means running a tube line from each tapped tree into a central 3/4-inch tube that runs into a collection tank.

 

We still enjoy daily walks through the woods, and the many photo opportunities our woods offer, we just have to pay attention so we don't "clothesline" ourselves! 

I'm really a "warm-weather" person, and sometimes dream of spending this time of year in South Carolina or Georgia.  Don, on the other hand, is part polar bear!  But, I'm finding that this time of year can be quite beautiful "up north", as well.  I'm getting used to layering my clothing!

 

A new direction

After being here for 6 months or so, and completing a few of the projects on our list, Don really began to miss the hands-on farming.  He actually became friends with a neighboring farmer, I think, mainly because he wanted help with the actual planting and management of the crops for his own pleasure!

So, as a family, we started praying for God's direction - He blessed us with this property, now, what in the world are we supposed to do with it?  We believe in putting your resources to work... for God and for you...and that includes the land you own!

 

So, while walking through our acres of beautiful woods one afternoon...

 

Don suggests, "We could buy a sawmill and harvest some of these hardwoods...."

 

True.  But, then my 16 yr. old son, Will, pipes up, "Aren't a lot of these maples?  We could make maple syrup...."  The idea took hold, in the weeks that followed.  It's farming of a very different kind, but still farming none-the-less!

 

With much prayer, we began asking questions, doing research, and talking to other maple syrup producers.  By God's grace, we have managed to buy, gather, and build the equipment needed to begin this new adventure!   Keep checking into my blog to follow our progress and share our lives as we build our new business!

Our spring and summer of 2013

Before we even moved in, my husband and sons had to create a large paddock for our horses and reconfigure the barn so they'd have a proper shelter.
        


Even before the snow and ice melted, Don and my sons, Will and Nate were felling trees to open up pasture, and chopping fire wood for our future heat.

Come spring, they went to town!  We removed the poorly-placed, poorly-kept swimming pool....

 

Built a new coop for our chickens.....

 

Made flower beds around the house.....

 

And much more! 

 

In review....

I guess I should start by giving you a brief background.  Prior to moving here, my husband farmed close to 80 acres in Chester County, PA.  Farming is not just something you do.  It becomes part of who you are.  He's always been a visionary, had a passion for all-things-living, and a love of the dirt.  Good, honest hard work is important to him.  One does not give up farming easily, but after much prayer and seeking God's will for our family, we decided he should accept this position as a ZSM - zone support manager, for the Northeast for his seed company - still in agriculture, but not directly farming. So, we packed up our family - 4 kids, 4 horses, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 13 chickens and a guinea pig - and moved to Central NY.  These photos are from the 1st time I saw my new home: 




My husband bought this property without ANY input from me - yes, you heard me -  wrote a check without my ever having seen it!  I was in PA, "holding down the fort"  while he was up here working and house-hunting.  I was, admittedly, surprised, because of it's lack of open ground.  Farmers usually search high and low for tillable ground or good hay ground, but he's also an avid outdoorsmen, so I just went with it.  And, to his credit, the house itself was refurbished inside, ready to be moved into.  The surrounding ground left something to be desired.  We are steadily turning it into the little homestead we've always wanted. 
These photos are from our first couple of months in CNY.  All the snow has taken some getting used to.
                                             

 

                         

First Post

This has been our home for over a year now.  It already looks quite different, as we've been working steadily to improve the property.  My husband took on a new position, supporting a field he loves: agriculture.  This career move meant moving 4+ hours north of where we both spent our entire lives, south-eastern PA.  I've been meaning to document our journey since we made the move, so here we go!