Howell Farm's evaporator in full steam.Sugar Maple sap is flowing freely in the milder temperatures of these past weeks. In the last couple of days Howell's farmers have gathered an average of 40 gallons of sap in a day-- enough to make 1 gallon of syrup! In Howell Farm's evaporator a steady blazing fire for the cooking of sap is being maintained from the early hours of the morning to the day's end.

On Tuesday, March 2, Danielle Houghton finished and bottled our first batch of maple syrup. 5 gallons of syrup was made from 120 gallons of sap, collected over three weeks time.

This first run syrup is now for sale in our gift shop.Boiling sap travels the channels in the evaporator, becoming syrup once it reaches the end of the track.

Buckets hang from Sugar Maples along The RidgeIf Howell Farm's own Groundhog Bill can't tell us Spring is near, the trees can! The sugaring season has begun and Howell Farm's farmers have eagerly trudged through wind and snow to harvest this unique winter crop. On Saturday, February 6 the first Sugar Maple trees were tapped. Farmers bored a small hole in several of the farm's many sugar trees, attaching old fashioned tin pails to the shiny metal taps inserted into the tree. Howell Farm hopes to get a good crop of Sugar Maple sap to be made into syrup and sugar which will be for sale in our gift shop.

See Howell Farm's Calendar of Events to learn when the farm will be offering programs about maple sugaring. www.howellfarm.com/calendar

Howell Farm has two main sugar bushes:  one is referred to as The Ridge, while the other is simply called The Sugar Bush. The Sugar Bush. The "sugar shack" where maple sap is cooked, can be seen in backgroundThe Ridge has the best sun exposure and is always tapped first. The Sugar Bush will be tapped by visiting school children during our Maple Sugaring program.

The first recorded sap flow for this year was Tuesday, February 9 however it was not enough to collect.

Last Friday (January 15) Howell Farm staff found a window of weather to cut and harvest ice before the warm temperatures prohibited all ice traffic. An estimated 3 ton of ice was harvested off of Belle Mountain Pond where the ice was a good four to five inches thick; all in about four hours time.

On the ice were quite a few young helpers: Garrett Houghton (pictured on thumbnail) of five years of age learned the art of 'piking' ice, along with other young siblings. After the harvest the 6,000 pounds of ice were stored in our historic reproduction ice house and insulated with a blanket of dry saw dust.Garret Houghton of NJ and Lisa Schofield of NY 'piking' ice.

Ice was an absolute neccessity for those farming at the turn-of-the-19th century. Refrigeration depended on it. On January 30 we hope to have enough ice on the farm's own pond to take visitors out and harvest this winter crop. That Saturday the living history farm will be open to the public where they too can help harvest ice for our stores or learn about ice and old fashioned farming

It is almost Thanksgiving and the corn is nearly all picked.  The crib is getting full due to the plentiful and large ears that grew during this well-watered season.  In addition to the ears, we will be bringing in more stalks to chop to make bedding for the animals.

The next big harvest is going to have to be firewood, as the sheds are quite empty.  We’ll need a lot more for winter cooking and for boiling the maple sap to make syrup.

The recent abundance of rain has had a range of effects on the farm's crops. Although the deluge of moisture has slowed down our hay and straw production, according to Farmer Jeremy, the benefits have far outweighed the bad. The horse and sheep pastures are green at a time of year when they are typically quite the opposite, decreasing the animals dependence on hay. Our corn, pumpkins and potatoes have also enjoyed the extra moisture and are growing "like weeds", and, of course, one can't forget the benefits of a well filled stream for cooling down young visitors on hot and humid days.