There’s now less than 60 days left to our year as locavores.  The process was only somewhat painful when I was spending a lot of time preserving food for the winter.  I believe this year of eating local will change our eating habits forever!  It’s great to have Bill embracing this adventure too, so much easier because we have such different food interests and habits.  It’s pizza Friday – yum-o.

In the fall of 2008, we set out on a quest to identify the few maple trees we have on our 40 acre parcel, in the hopes of harvesting some sap and turning it into maple syrup the following spring.  We found about 30 maple trees and labeled them with blaze orange tape.  Then I set about finding out what I had to do to produce the syrup.  From various sources – the internet and friends in the area – I garnered enough mapling knowledge to make me dangerous (as they say).

Materials

Next we had to accumulate the materials necessary for the process.  Since we weren’t convinced that we would be successful maplers, we didn’t want to go overboard on our purchases.  We found a supplier that had used “taps” and used buckets.  We bought the taps but didn’t want to spend $10-$15 for used buckets.  We decided to go with 5-gallon buckets from Menards @ $4 a piece.

The most expensive item – one that proved to be an excellent investment – was a hydrometer.  It’s a simple little tool that is placed in the boiling syrup to determine if it is ready for canning.  When the consistency of the syrup is right, the hydrometer floats at a certain level.  Several of our friends who tried making syrup without using this tool, ended up with watery syrup which wasn’t sweet enough or syrup that eventually crystallized.

We also needed a large container in which to boil the sap.  Our supplier would have been happy to sell us an official looking vat which was designed specifically for the purpose – at $360.  I bought a large galvanized wash tub for $17.50 which seemed to work fine.

We ended up spending less than $100 for all the materials.

The big event

Then on March 17 we attended Wisconsin’s official grand opening of the mapling season for the state, which happened to be nearby in Luck, Wisconsin this year.  We saw a wonderful maple syrup operation that utilized thousands of trees and created hundreds of gallons of syrup.

The next day we went out and tapped 13 trees which I thought were large enough to handle the stress.  One of the problems I faced was that the trees were not grouped conveniently close together.  Consequently, collecting the sap was a laborious process.

Collection

That first week I collected about 50 gallons of sap.  As I collected it, I stored it in a large garbage can, so I could cover it and protect it properly. 

The fire

We were warned from several sources that constructing the fire for the boiling process was a step that required careful consideration.  Everyone agreed that it was unwise to try to do the job indoors.  It takes a long time and the result of evaporating sap in one’s kitchen is a thin coat of sweet and sticky guck on every surface in the vicinity.

So I built a simple outdoor pit with cement blocks and created a chimney (it was suggested that we wanted to keep the smoke away from the syrup to avoid a smoky taste to the product).

Fortunately, we had a lot of dead trees I could harvest for firewood.  I maintained the fire almost constantly for about 50 straight hours.  As the sap would boil off I would continue to add more fresh sap to the cauldron.  We were aware of the 40 to one ratio (sap to syrup) which seems to be universally espoused.

The product

When the syrup seemed to be thickening, we transferred the boiling to the barbeque grill since at this point we were down to about two gallons of material.  We finished it off that way, constantly testing the solution with the hydrometer to determine when it was done.

After two separate weekends of boiling approximately 100 gallons of sap, we ended up with two and a half gallons of the most luscious maple syrup we have ever tasted.

While the process was tedious, the result was so delectable and so local that we are already making plans for taping at least 20 trees next spring and trying to double our output.  Besides our own use, the syrup makes wonderful gifts.

Pears from Lindstrom Farmers Market

The end of the growing season came early this year with frost the first part of October.  The Farmer’s Markets have all closed up for the year and we’ve eaten our last leaf of lettuce (boo hoo).  While it’s a sad time, saying farewell to fresh greens, I am looking forward to digging into all the yummies I’ve canned.  They include:

• peaches 
• tomato sauce
• pears
• beets
• pickles
• apple-pepper jelly
• grape jelly

My sister, Patti, gave me a Food Saver contraption a few months ago, and I am using it almost every day.  I bought an accessory that will seal a canning jar lid (DISCLAIMER:  not an alternative to real canning) and it’s awesome!  It keeps things in the fridge longer and I’ve also frozen jars of soup using the sealed lids.  Last week alone I made four different kinds of soup.  Note:  I am also running out of freezer space and will be glad to have our environment turn into a frozen tundra so I can use my porch as a freezer.  Did I just write that –  it was 60 degrees this weekend and I loved it! 

Bluebell grapes from Wild Mt. Vineyard, Almelund

On my wish list is a cold storage/root cellar for all the canned goods.  My basement alternately gets cool and then warm based on sunshine.  Any good ideas out there for keeping things cool but not frozen?  We have a non-traditional home by Enertia http://www.enertia.com/ProjectHub/tabid/56/ctl/ViewModel/mid/375/ModelId/8/Default.aspx

I invested in a dehydrataor to dry some of the lovely *free* gifts from our yard, such as this mushroom, called a Shaggy Mane.  Earlier in the season I was unable to identify the three or four mushrooms I found in the woods, but in October, several of these beauties popped up very near the house.

Shaggy Mane mushroom from the yard!

I’ve also dried local zucchini, carrots, celery, tomatoes, herbs, apricots, pears, peaches and will be working on apples real soon.

One of my favorite fall produce items is winter squash.  This year I tried stuffing squash into medium pasta shells and will eat them with a nice white cheese sauce.  I also cooked pumpkin and made the BEST pumpkin pie ever.  The fresh whipped cream added an extra special treat, especially the next day in my (not local) coffee.

Tomatoes we grew from Tiny Planet Produce

Bill insists on canning our own tomatoes and I put up a lot of them.  He helped for a few hours, which was about all I could stand of him in the processing area.  I’ve gotten really possessive about “my kitchen space”. 

Canning Peaches Aug. 2009

While it is true, local peaches cannot be found in Wisconsin, our good friends Mike and Jan Bauer were kind enough to bring a box of delicious organic peaches back from Colorado and I can now say that I’ve canned peaches.  It’s not too difficult a project, just plan to have about 4 -5 hours of completely dedicated time to get it done properly.  The Betty Crocker cookbook gave all the directions.

Yesterday I visited the Amery Farmer’s Market and was pleased to recognize several vendors.  The Keppers and DeLynn Toews were there as well as Mary Moore from Moore and More farm.  I got a basket of Mary’s fresh pears and will can them as soon as they are perfectly ripe.  They will be a winter treat.

Our nephew and niece were here this weekend and helped pick blackberries from our woods.  Clare even spotted a tree with tiny little plums!  We are truly blessed.  Here’s Sean picking the last raspberries.

Sean and I got a pint of berries

OnJuly 24th, owners Stephanie Lundeen and Brook Waalen together with local CSA farmer Mike Noreen from Burning River Farm http://www.burningriverfarm.com/ and Gary Ehrich from Smokey Meadows http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M21851 sponsored a dine local picnic with live music.  We ate and drank local which I am finding is my NUMBER ONE problem, that is eating out and getting local foods at the same time. 

If I can get a local meal out once a week, I think I can survive this year.  I also need to mention the new Farm to Community Alliance (FTC) http://www.farmtocommunity.com/ coordinated by Arianne Peterson, the St. Croix Falls Buy Local Initiative VISTA volunteer.  Ari organized a delicious three course, sit down dinner on the new deck overlooking the river at Grecco’s on the St. Croix http://www.greccos.com/on July 15 featuring veggies from Kepper’s Produce (Turtle Lake, WI 715-986-4322).  It too was a taste of what eating local could mean on a regular basis.

“The Wild, Wild West – Berry 2”

While “The Strawberry Saga” (see “The Fat of the Land” – Part 2) was gratifying, we little realized the treasure trove of berries available to us until we started our eat local campaign.

Since our first exploration of our 40 acres a decade ago, we were aware of the wild berries here and there.  And through the years, we would occasionally go out and pick a handful.  But the heat and the bugs were usually enough to limit our foray into the wild berry thickets.  

However, as locavores, we now enjoy a fresh awareness of the wild berry potential on our land and 2009 has been much cooler and less buggy, so we’re spending more time in the bushes.

Wild raspberries - yum

Since we built our house on the eastern side of our property, the woods and the trails are all west of the house.  The farther west we go, the wilder the terrain and the flora and the fauna.  Because of the activity needs of our frisky black lab, Oberon, we take at least daily strolls around our land.  For the last two weeks, we have paused on these adventures to pick wild berries.  Oberon has taken to helping himself of nature’s delights too, see photo of him eating the raspberries. 

Oberon enjoys raspberries after a light rain July 2009

Almost every day we can go out and pick a pint or two of what we think are red raspberries.  We also have noticed some darker, smaller berries ripening.  We think they might be wild blackberries or black raspberries.  And then there’s an enormous number of bushes sporting a larger berry which are still green.  We have no idea what they are.  Anybody out there a wild berry expert?

At any rate, while the berries are small and require a certain amount of time and patience to collect, we’ve enjoyed gathering them and, of course, eating them.  Cindy has also made a batch of jam from them.  We expect to continue collecting for at least a few more weeks.

We also know that we have some wild strawberries growing out of the seams of some traprock.  But there’s not many and they are tiny – about the size of a wart.

Next up on “The Fat of the Land” – “Mapling”

“The Strawberry Saga”

About seven or eight years ago, Cindy decided to try to grow some Everest strawberries.  She put the plants in a self-watering container – about 20” x 30” – and placed the container in our sunspace. 

A word about our sunspace:  Our solar log home is designed as an “envelope system.”  We have two walls on the north and south sides of the building.  On the north the walls are twelve inches apart.  On the south the walls are six feet apart.  This is the “sunspace.”  The gap between the walls extends all the way around the house, so that air can circulate from the basement to the attic and from the north side to the south side.  The main part of the house is inside this “envelope.”  The south side is filled with windows on the main floor and the walkout basement to take advantage of the winter sun. 

As a passive solar system, the sun will pass through the windows on the south side and heat the sunspace – on below zero days, the sunspace will be 75 to 80 degrees with no other source of heat except the sun.  Then the logs of the inside wall will absorb and retain that heat to distribute after the sun goes down.  Of course, the sun doesn’t shine every day so we have back up systems for heat. 

But the point is – we have a year round growing season in our sunspace.  So we had a few strawberries those first few years.  Then in the spring, we’d move the container outside and we’d get a few more berries. 

After a couple of years Cindy decided to move the strawberry plants out into a flower garden she had developed.  They liked it there.  We got a few more strawberries.

As the years went by, the strawberries flourished until that flower garden is now a strawberry patch with a few rogue flowers.  This spring we pulled about five quarts of strawberries out of that patch.  Cindy made some strawberry sauce for later this year to remind us of our spring bounty.

John Steinbeck’s winsome main characters, George and Lenny, from Of Mice and Men, were often inclined to day-dreaming about their future when they would get a little stake together, buy a parcel of property and become independent farmers in the post depression Southwest.

Their conversation would always end up with the mentally challenged Lenny declaring, “. . . and we’d live off the fat ‘a the land. . .”

Since becoming “locavores” we’ve taken an enhanced interest in the abundance we find on our 40 acre parcel near Dresser.  The land was largely undeveloped when we bought it in 1999.  We built a solar/geothermal log home in 2000 and since then, we’ve developed several small garden plots for vegetables and flowers.  And we’ve found numerous other sources that have contributed to our “eat local” quest.

In the next few days, we’ll be recounting some of the ways we’ve learned to “live off the fat ‘a the land.”  Today’s episode is . . .

The Asparagus Project

Several years ago Cindy ordered materials and instructions to construct an asparagus patch.  The materials consisted of 50 crowns of Jersey Supreme asparagus roots and the instructions consisted of a number of back-breaking exercises we undertook with trepidation.

In essence, we were required to take a sun-soaked 15’ x 30’ area, dig deep into the soil (“stop just before you get to China”), plant the 50 crowns, water abundantly, wait until shoots appear and add more soil, fill the furrows when the fern grows through the soil, weed meticulously, fertilize, keep the deer away, watch for asparagus beetles, then wait three years.  This is our third year and we had a decent harvest this spring – probably 20 to 30 servings.

In the process of preparing the asparagus bed, we ran into several problems, not the least of which was the discovery of traprock boulders just below the surface of the ground.  This wasn’t a particular surprise since the topography of our land features large expanses of the beautiful grey/blue basalt rock known locally as traprock.  Apparently the traprock is a result of the volcanos that roamed the land eons ago.  In this area, the traprock is most spectacularly evident on the banks of the St. Croix River.  But it can extend down four miles below the surface. 

Side note:  We became painfully aware of the depth of the rock when we dug our well.  The well-drillers went down 13 feet before they hit traprock.  Then 380 feet later they declared our well was finished.  Since there are faults and seams in the traprock, water seeps into our well and we have what is essentially a 600 gallon reservoir when it fills – which it does slowly but surely.  By the way, the water is delicious.  Must be the filtering effect of the traprock.

Back to the asparagus patch.  After working around the traprock boulders, we eventually tilled the soil to a depth of one foot, laid down the plants and then built a little fence around the patch to discourage the varmints.

The actual maintenance of the patch is relatively simple – control the weeds with mulch and provide water when nature refuses to.

One interesting note:  During the peak of the spring harvesting season, I went into the patch and picked every spear that was 8” or longer.  Thirty-six hours later, I went back and found some spears which were almost 20” long – 12” of growth in 36 hours.

Next episode on “The Fat of the Land” – “The Strawberry Saga”