A Deep Sense of Appreciation
I think the biggest reason I encourage people to take an active role in their food production is because it helps bring a deep sense of appreciation for good quality food. I was thinking about this yesterday as I was storing all of our maple syrup in the basement pantry. We put a bunch of it up in these little one cup jars to give away as gifts. As I wiped down this jar I started to think about the amount of sap that went into producing this small jar of syrup. It takes 6.25 quarts of sap to make one cup of maple syrup, at least with our non-sugar maple sap.
Mr Chiots and I have always been mindful of waste, trying our hardest to not waste food, but once you work hard at making something like maple syrup, you see the value in it and you make sure not a tiny drop is wasted. You see first hand the amount of work that goes into it, from drilling the taps, to collecting the sap, to straining it, boiling it down, straining it again, and bottling it.
I also am more appreciative of those that take the time to produce good quality products that I can’t grow/make myself. I’ll never roast my own coffee, but I sure appreciate that Al takes the time and effort to micro roast it so I can enjoy the best coffee. I don’t have a milk cow, so I appreciate that Mike and Dawn take the time to bottle up delicious creamy raw milk for us to drink. I don’t have chickens, and I sure to appreciate that Martha takes the time to let them out each morning so they can roam free and lay the most delicious eggs.
What product that you grow/make do you appreciate most? Is there a product someone else produces that you really love?
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Quote of the Day: Thomas Jefferson
“I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family, and a few old friends dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give.”
Thomas Jefferson, letter of February 1788
I was thinking about this quote yesterday while I was working inside. It was a beautiful day, I couldn’t work outside because I was busy finished up another batch of maple syrup. That didn’t stop me from enjoying being indoors. I love our little house, it’s perfect. After living here for 9 years it’s finally feeling like home.
My living room is one of my favorite rooms on a bright winter day. The walls are light green, they reflect the light beautifully. The curtains are white and let the light through the large windows. The sofa and chairs are comfy, perfect for reading.
What’s your favorite room in your house?
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Quote of the Day: Fences
Put a fence or wall around a garden and there’s now an inside and an outside. You’ve set off private from public and defined the garden’s limits. There’s a sense of belonging and of ownership, of stewardship over the land that the walls encompass. You’ve also defined the scope of your work and delineated the size of your canvas.
Linda Joan Smith (Smith & Hawken Garden Structures)
I love fences, of all shapes and sizes. There’s just something wonderful about a fence enclosing a garden, this quote is very true, it define’s the garden’s limits. I love how fences hide part of the garden, they almost beckon you to peek over. You know you’ll find blooms and lovely things hiding on the other side.
We have a fence along part of one of our property lines. The previous owners installed it and did it very poorly. We’ve taken down part of the fence because it was leaning heavily to one side and we plan on removing the rest of it. It’s a plain wooden picket fence, which is actually quite nice in the garden.
Whenever we’re out driving around I find myself drawn to gardens with fences. Here are a few images of fences I’ve collected during my travels including:
Eliot Coleman’s Four Season Farm in Harborside, Maine. It’s simple and utilitarian, yet beautiful in it’s own way, mostly because the setting behind it is so extraordinary.
I’m particularly drawn to stone fences/walls for some reason, probably because of the amount of this we have around Chiot’s Run. Whenever I think of stone garden enclosures I automatically thing of the Nearing’s Forrest Farm.
White fences are very classic and always lovely no matter what they surround. I really liked the ones at Ash Lawn Highland that surrounded the pastures and the kitchen garden.
I couldn’t forget to mention the huge fence installed by Thomas Jefferson around the vegetables garden at Monticello. This is the kind I really need around Chiot’s Run to protect us from all those deer.
Fences come in all shapes and sizes and can be made of just about anything, from old drift wood or saplings to neatly clipped shrubs. I really want to install a fence around my garden here at Chiot’s Run, I just need to settle on the materials and the design. I guess since I pretty much love all fences I probably will love whatever I end up putting in.
Do you have a fence around your garden? What’s your favorite type of fence?
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Busy Busy Bees
We’ve been busy as bees recently, not making honey, making maple syrup. The sugaring season has been GREAT this year, which is really nice, but it’s keeping us far too busy. We’ve been up late every night gathering sap and we’re up early the next morning to spend our day boiling it down. At least I can check on it while I’m working since I work from home. The lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me, but the late nights and early mornings are well worth the sweet reward. So far we’ve collected 137 gallons of sap and have over 3 gallons of finished syrup.
We’ve been enjoying sourdough pancakes every morning for breakfast with freshly made syrup, you sure can’t beat that! That being said, I’m tired. I need a little of this.
It doesn’t look like that will come until late next week, the weather forecast looks like sugaring will be in our future all next week and maybe into the next.
What keeps you busy this time of year?
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A Big Announcement
For the past couple months I’ve been chatting with the folks over at Ethel Gloves about writing for their blog and I’m excited to finally announce it’s LIVE!
If you’ve been reading here for a while you know how much I love Ethel gloves, I’ve proclaimed my love here, here, and here. Naturally I was excited about the opportunity to blog for them. One of the main reasons I take the time to blog daily, is to encourage people to get out and garden and experience the joy that comes from connecting with nature. Gardening isn’t just bout cultivating food or flowers, it’s more about cultivating your spirit along with a deep sense of appreciation for soil, plants, and the earth.
I’ll be writing exclusive content covering a variety of topics and making videos as well for the Your Day blog at Ethel, so you’ll have to head over there to read it. Check out the introductory post and leave a comment about what topics you would like to read about or see videos covering (it can be anything from gardening to organizing you closet). After commenting make sure you check out all the lovely gloves and use the code CHIOTS at checkout to get 25% off your entire purchase (might be a good time get a few birthday gifts). I always appreciate your many wonderful, thoughtful comments here on my blog and would love to see you over there as well. Don’t worry, you’ll still find me blogging here daily.
