INTRODUCTION
Barlow Roots Newsletter - 3/20/2025

What an interesting stretch of weather we’ve had so far this spring! It has been as warm as 75 degrees, we’ve had thunderstorms and snow storms, lots of wind, and some chilly, damp days too. As a weather lover, it has been a fun and diverse stretch of weather. We are doing mostly indoor work still. It is muddy, making it difficult to get outdoors and do too much. The problem with this early season of course is that with every move you make when it is wet and muddy you just make a huge mess. Lessons have been learned in the past, so now we wait.

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Enjoy this weeks newsletter!

HOMESTEAD UPDATE
First Finished Syrup of the Season, Tree Pruning

We’ve been tackling some classic spring projects on the homestead. The first big project we completed was cooking our first batch of sap into syrup. I thought we had about 100 gallons of sap to start with but that was clearly off because we ended up with over 3 gallons of syrup. At a ratio of 40 to 1 that puts us at more like 120 gallons of sap to start with. We cooked over two days, consistently stoking the fire and adding sap to our pans. With 4 pans available we’ve got two that work well as kind pre-heating pans and then two that are more directly engaged with the fire that get a good boil going. The first day we started the fire around 9 am and eventually topped off the pans and let the fire go out about 7 pm that night. We started the fire the next day around 7:30 am and finished things up late in the afternoon. It sure seemed like it took a long time! Labor of love! We finished up the syrup with another hour or so of cooking on our gas two burner camp stove on the deck and then got it bottled up. We celebrated that evening with chicken and waffles with fresh, warm maple syrup. Delicious!

We are currently having a really good stretch of weather for collecting sap and are refilling the tote. The first cook was brought about by some serious warm temperatures, we were concerned the sap was going to go bad if we didn’t cook it so we went for it. I for one was ready to be done at the point but the rest of the family disagreed so here we are! We’ve been getting full buckets this week and should have several more days of collecting before we do a FINAL cook for the end of the season.

With the nice weather I have been picking away at the big job of pruning our fruit trees. I am trying to take advantage of our nicer days to get out and work on it. I have the trees pruned where I can reach with 2 stints of work but will need to get the ladder to finish up. I am approaching pruning with a new vigor this year after having just too many apples the last couple of years. Two many apples means stressed trees, breaking branches and diseased fruit. My hope is with a more severe pruning this year I can limit some of the fruit and find a nice balance. That is my plan anyway. Pruning is a really interesting task and one that can very easily overwhelm people. When you realize how resilient the trees are it makes the whole process a little easier with less pressure.

MARKET GARDENING
Seeds in the Ground, Tomatoes Started

We have started planting out into our high tunnel and starting many seeds indoors. The high tunnel currently has rows of salad mix, super salad (mesclun), and carrots. Soon we will transplant out spinach, bok choy and head lettuce as well. We are working to keep the soil moist and we should soon see those seeds start popping up outside. It will be an interesting year as we are using the same tunnel for our early crops as we will use for our tomatoes. We are planning to leave a little space down the middle of each bed to slot in the tomatoes when they are ready. For a time they will all need to share the same beds!

Indoor plantings have been really solid so far as well. The germination chamber worked amazing to get our tomatoes started. I am not sure how many we have planted but we have a really good start with them. They spent 3-4 days in the germ chamber before they started to sprout and we got them under lights. We’ve got two big racks with lights sharing space in my office right now, all the little baby plants are looking really good.

CLOSING
Walking…

I have been walking lately. It has become a lovely part of my morning routine. I don’t walk far (1 to 2 miles) but I have been making an effort to get out and do it no matter what. I have seen through raising children and through my own life the benefits of routine. Of predictable things to look forward to each day. Over the years I have often thought about walking, for the exercise and the fresh air. I am enjoying both those elements but also enjoy seeing my neighbors out with their dogs, feeling the sun on my face and having some individualized time for thinking or listening to an audio book or podcast. I hope to continue, though I do know a busier season is dead ahead as the garden season ramps up. I know I enjoy it and look forward to it and so maybe that is a good season that I should continue!