Everything here on the farm has a purpose! From the chickens, to the farm cats, and now the Walnut trees too. For the past couple of years I have been researching Walnut trees and their multiple uses. We have 6 here on our property and sometimes the mess they leave each year can be a pain to clean up. Each year I have grand plans on gathering the walnuts, knocking off the outsides, drying them, cracking them open, and using their meat in so many yummy recipes. So... THIS YEAR WAS OUR YEAR. We decided last Fall to save some walnuts from each tree. We only saved a bucket full. We dried them, and have now cracked open about half of them. They take a lot of time and half a bucket has only yielded us with 2 small jars. It definitely makes me appreciate them more as I toss them into muffins and bread. The other thing we have been experimenting with is tapping the Walnut trees. Did you know that you can use Walnut sap to make syrup too? It is a long and tedious process, but oh so fun. Keegen and I tapped one tree here a few weekends ago to see if the conditions were right. We learned that we need 4-5 days of temperatures in the 40's during the day and then back to freezing at night in order for the sap to start flowing. It really is a guessing game because the sap can flow anywhere from late January to late March. Beginners luck was definitely in play because we hit the timing right and decided to tap the other 5 the next day. Tapping the trees was easy and didn't take much time. It takes approximately 36 cups of Walnut sap to make 1 1/2 cups of syrup. It also takes most of the day to boil the sap and let the water evaporate. We collect the sap twice a day and store it in a covered food-grade bucket in the fridge. If we keep the sap cold it can stay good for about 10 days. We will be boiling each weekend until the sap quits flowing. It is still Winter in Iowa and Mother Nature decided to throw us another snow storm today so we will see what tomorrow looks like. We may be pulling the taps soon. It really has been a full experience for the whole family. The syrup is much sweeter than Maple syrup. At this time we will keep it all for ourselves unless we would have a surplus. Just a few things that we have learned along the way: First, not all walnuts you pick up are good. We had about a 2 to 1 ratio and I wish we would have kept each trees separate. Second, not every Walnut tree produced the same amount of sap. We have some giving us 8 cups or more a day and some are only giving us 1 cup. Lastly, gather all the supplies you need before you get started. We underestimated how much room the sap would take up and didn't have enough places/containers to put it in. We didn't have the correct screens/filters to run it through and winded up doing that process multiple times. In the end though we are so excited to have learned a new skill that will allow us to become more self-sufficient.
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Gardening? In February? On this snow day? Yes! Gardening, in February, on this snow day!
I spent this snow/ice day starting herbs in my canning kitchen. I love cooking with fresh herbs so each year we plant more and more. We plant both perennials, which come back every year, and annuals, which you have to plant every Spring. On today's planting menu we started dill, chives, fennel, winter thyme, mint, spearmint, lavender hyssop, sage, rosemary, oregano, cilantro, basil, and flat leafed parsley. What we don't use in our garden this summer we will offer as extra seedlings for purchase. Nothing goes to waste on the farm! If an herb doesn't sell or needs to be picked immediately we plan our meals around them, freeze them, or dry them to use later. |
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