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Since we are producing a food product, COVID-19 food safety has been on our minds. Yesterday we received an email from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture with some valuable resources. I particularly like this FDA link as it answers several of my questions. I learned that we are part of the essential critical infrastructure workforce since we are producing an agricultural product, and more importantly I confirmed that currently there is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19.

Food safety is discussed in the March 17th post on the FDA site https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-during-emergencies/food-safety-and-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19.

 

We are so grateful to have sugaring to keep us sane during these strange days of news about the spread of COVID19, social distancing, quarantines, and shutdowns. You can see that our trees practice social distancing and yes, the sap is running. Stay well and safe all of our friends and followers out there and know that we are still making maple syrup.

Friday the 13th, 2020 is a date that will be long remembered. A national emergency was declared due to the coronavirus pandemic. We headed out to the sugar woods to look at our sap tanks and were surprised to find them almost full. It was a rainy, blustery day but we started processing sap.

We made really nice syrup and by evening we had 2 barrels full (80 gallons). The day ended on a somber note as we got word that Jay Peak and Burke Mountain were closing down for the season on Saturday to help abate the spread of COVID19. Gone were our chances of getting out on the slopes, skiing on retro day, doing syrup tastings in the parking lot on tailgate day and seeing all of our winter friends one last time. Strange times indeed.

We just finished tapping our trees on March 3rd and the sap started running. On the morning of March 5th our tanks were getting full so we started up the Reverse Osmosis machine to concentrate the sap and then we fired the evaporator and started cooking the concentrated sap. Often the first day we boil, we run out of sap before we can make syrup and we call it "sweetening the pans" but this year the sap kept coming and we made almost a full drum of syrup (40 gallons). The first run of sap made syrup with a classic, delicate maple flavor and amber color.

Groundhog Day was gray and overcast and we did not see our shadows. I decided that it was a good day to bake some cookies so I looked in my recipe box and found a recipe for oatmeal cookies that I wrote when I was about twelve. I adjusted the recipe to use real butter and maple sugar. Result is that they are really good. Here is the modified recipe:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup maple sugar
1 large egg + 1T water
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. Baking soda
2 cups oats
Handful of raisins and dried cranberries
Bake at 350 deg for 15 minutes.

This is a simple sugar cookie recipe made with Maple Sugar.

Snow and cold has arrived earlier than usual here on the farm. The conditions make working in the sugarbush a bit challenging; however it is an opportunity for us to spend time in the woods on our skis.

We spent foliage season on sugarhouse projects. We replaced the front porch on the sugarhouse. It was thirty years old and collapsing from the weight of moving 500 lb. drums of maple syrup over it. The new porch is bigger so we can host more guests.

 

We also replaced a smaller porch on the end of the sugarhouse which holds a water tank. And last, but not least we filled the woodshed with firewood for the 2020 sugaring season.

 

As we bid summer farewell and our gardening season draws to a close, we are harvesting root vegetables. These beautiful carrots can be eaten raw or steamed and then glazed in some butter and Dark maple syrup.

We have lots of blueberries this year so we made some blueberry jam from our extra, ripe blues.
For 1 pint of jam: mix 4 cups of berries with zest of one lemon, 1 T vanilla and 2 T maple syrup. Let sit for 2 hours; stir twice.

Add 3/4 cup Maple Crush. Mash berries until not all are broken.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 35-45 mins.
Process 10 mins in canning jars.
Enjoy on toast or biscuits or oatmeal all winter long.

When you are out and about this summer, you can purchase Judd's Wayeeses Farms' maple sugar and syrup at local stores and farm stands:

Morgan - The Morgan Country Store (syrup & sugar)

Newport - Pick and Shovel (order the maple sprinkles on your ice cream), Newport Natural Market & Cafe

Barton - River's Edge Farm Stand

Westfield - Berry Creek Farm

East Burke - The Hub Trailside (syrup & sugar), East Burke Sports

We have rebuilt our website using the Shopify application and help from our friend Mike. The new website is mobile friendly, shows our products better, calculates shipping better. Plus we have added this blog where we will keep you updated on what is new at Wayeeses Farms. Hope you like the new website and free free to comment on what works and doesn't work!