Maple Syrup!

There's an old joke about Vermont having five seasons instead of four:  spring, summer, fall, winter, and mud season.  While it's true that mud season can be pretty epic, everyone here at Whitman's will tell you that we actually have six seasons.  The sixth usually starts a little before mud season, right about this time of year, when the sun's providing more warmth and daytime temperatures start nosing above the freezing mark but still drop below freezing at night.  Any guesses?  Here are a few hints: Maple trees. Buckets.  Boiling.  That's right:  Vermont's sixth season is sugaring season.

Vermont is justly famous for the quality and quantity of its syrup (in 2013, 2 of every 5 gallons of maple syrup produced in the US came from VT), and it's not just the commercial producers with big sugar woods and miles of lines who are sugaring.  Lots of people have smaller operations - some produce enough so they can sell a few gallons, while others just tap a couple trees in the front yard and boil enough for their own needs.  So if you're interested in trying your hand at producing some syrup, we have what you need here at Whitman's.

The basic equipment for sugaring:

• 7/16" drill bit. 
• Spouts with hooks.
• Sap buckets with covers. (Yes, you can use other containers, but few things are as quintessentially Vermont as an old-fashioned sap bucket hanging on a maple tree).  We have new buckets, and some previously-used buckets in excellent condition.
• Large (at least 2 gallon capacity) pot.  We have canning pots that work beautifully.
• Syrup grading kit (not strictly necessary if you're only sugaring for home consumption, though it's nice to know what grade you produce).
• A good "how to" book.  We have several in stock, but for concise instructions delivered with dry Yankee humor, it's hard to beat Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin "Making Maple Syrup the Old-Fashioned Way" by Noel Perrin.

First, you'll need to tap your trees.  You're going to drill about two feet off the ground and about two and a half inches into the tree, and on a slight upward angle so that gravity will help the sap run.  You can tap any sugar maple with a trunk at least 10" in diameter, and add another spout for each additional 6"-8" of diameter (maximum of 4 taps per tree).  

When you have your holes drilled, install the spouts by tapping them gently but firmly into the holes.  You don't want to drive them in too far, as they'll be very difficult to remove, but you want them in firmly enough to support your sap bucket.  Hang your buckets and check them in about 8 hrs.  When you have a couple gallons, you can start boiling!

Now, a word of wisdom here.  It takes a LOT of boiling, and much more sap than most people realize.  To produce a single cup of maple syrup, you'll need more than two gallons of sap; you have to reduce the sap to about 1/35th of its original volume.  So be sure you have at least a couple of gallons of sap to boil.

We won't go into the entire process here - that'll be covered in the "how to" book you're going to get - but after sufficient boiling and careful monitoring, you'll be rewarded with your very own batch of homemade maple syrup.  You might decide to try your hand again or even increase the number of taps and get a more professional set-up (again,you'll find information and resources on that in the "how to" book).  But even if you decide it isn't an experience you care to repeat, you'll have bragging rights and a very interesting story to tell!

Starting Seeds Indoors

It's that time of year again!  Even though we have lots of snow and truly Arctic temperatures at the moment, calendar spring is just 6 weeks away, and - for the majority of our area - the last frost date is only12-14 weeks away.  So if you're thinking of starting your own seeds, it's time to get moving.

ADVANTAGES

With some long-season veggies like tomatoes or melons, starting from seed (or buying plants) are your only options, since our growing season is too short for them to mature if seeded directly into the garden.  Starting your own seeds usually gives you a wider variety of plants to choose from, so you can experiment with heirloom and/or unusual varieties.  It also gives you the advantage of knowing where your plants came from, what pests and conditions they've been exposed to, and - especially important for organic growers - what has and hasn't been used for starter and fertilizer.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

The Essentials

• Seeds (obviously!).
• Markers or labels so you know what you planted in each container.
• Containers.  You can use pretty much anything that will hold seed starting mixture.  We have Jiffy pots, peat pots and reusable seed starting trays/"greenhouses" here in the store, and you can also use home-made newspaper pots, recycled cottage cheese containers, paper cups or even empty cardboard egg cartons to start your seeds.  If you're re-using trays or containers from a previous year, wash them thoroughly and then let them soak for a few minutes in a 1:9 bleach and water solution to kill any disease organisms they may harbor.
• Seed starting mixture.  There are several options for seed starting mixture, but the important features are that it must be light and drain well.  You can buy pre-mixed seed starting medium, or make your own (one recipe here).  Keep in mind that if you use a compost-based starting mix, you won't have to worry as much about fertilizing - Dr. Earth's Root Zone Starter Mix has seaweed fertilizer and beneficial bacteria mixed right in. If you prefer to use a soilless mix, we have several kinds of starter fertilizers and foods, including Bonide Plant Starter Food, Dr. Earth Root Zone Starter Fertilizer and Espoma's Bio-Tone Starter Plus.  Seedlings in a soilless, nutrient-free medium should be fed when they develop their true leaves, and once a week thereafter.
• A space that's heated but not too hot, and that has lots of natural light.  Seeds need heat to germinate (soil temperature should be around 75°-85° F), so keeping the flats or pots on top of the refrigerator or in another warm spot until they germinate can be a big help.  After they've sprouted, move them to an area with plenty of light and an air temperature between 60° and 70°F.

The Luxuries

• Heat mats.  These little gems keep the soil at an optimal temperature for seed germination and growth, and can help keep seedlings from falling victim to damping off, which is a fungal disease caused by cool, damp, overcrowded conditions.
• Supplemental lights.  Kept about 3" above the tops of your seedlings, they encourage sturdy, stocky plants.  They also eliminate the need to move your plants around to assure that all seedlings get an equal dose of sunlight.  You don't need to spend a lot of money on "grow lights" - a bank of fluorescent shop lights are perfectly adequate for most seed-starting endeavors.  
• A fan.  A gentle breeze blowing through your seedlings has multiple benefits.  First, it keeps air circulating so moisture can't build up and cause damping off.  Second, it keeps excess heat from building up.  And finally, it (along with sufficient light) can help encourage stocky, sturdy plants.

If You Have Questions

Starting your plants from seed is a fascinating and gratifying experience, but sometimes problems can crop up.  If you have questions, please give us a call at 802/442-2851.  Penny Ela is our gardening specialist at Whitman's, and many of the staff here are pretty "garden competent".  We also have a good selection of books on gardening, so whatever your gardening question, we have you covered!