We’ve reached the intersection of springtime when sapping and seeding collide. In the morning, I seeded 7,168 onions, 256 kale plants, and 384 flowers (marigolds, strawflowers, and Magic Lime Green Matricaria) and the weight of our responsibility put on a few pounds of potting soil, seeds, and duty to their growth. In the afternoon, I hiked to the sugarbush to fire up the final woods boil, empty the tanks, and pull the taps. Now that our maple syrup class has passed, we’re pulling the plug on this operation, even though the sap was still raining down on me as I pulled the taps. We’ve gathered enough sap to meet our annual needs, and as Rufus says, WE NEED TO MOVE ON with that wild gardener look in his eyes. Although we would love to linger in the woods, the farm requires our full-time labor now. So, I give my gratitude to the trees, one by one, as I relieve them of their plastic slivers, and leave their tapping wounds to heal, turning the page to the next chapter of spring.
~Joy
