I just checked in with Farmer Jim in the Sugar Shack and the boiling of sap in the evaporator is, in the most literal sense of the word, full steam ahead. He said the sap is still running clear, so it seems likely that sap collection will be able to continue for another couple weeks. If so, this will shape up to be one of the later syruping seasons in modern memory.

Just across the parking lot from the Sugar Shack, in the kitchen of the school house, Office Worker Danielle has made her yearly transition into the role of Syrup Queen, in which she assumes the responsibility of finishing and bottling the syrup. Having sampled the finished product, she confirms that it’s as good a batch as ever. I also learned that the very first bottle is set aside for entry in the county fair.

There are now nine baby lambs gracing the barnyard. Every year I'm astonished to remember how much the youngest lambs resemble raggedy dishcloths.

Not everything at Howell Farm is done the old fashioned way. Today a modern well-drilling rig visited the barnyard to drill a new well for the restored farmhouse. 

For some well-drilling history, here's a good primer from welldrillingschool.com:

http://www.welldrillingschool.com/courses/pdf/HistoryofWellConstruction.pdf

Click above for a larger version of the map.

This week, at long last, the sap is running full barrel. Farmer Jim said there have been years when he was boiling the last sap of the year by mid-March. But this year, due to the cold weather, the season is just ramping up. Farmer Jim expects there will be good syruping ahead for the next several weeks. So far, he’s boiled two milk cans worth of sap into syrup, which is waiting to be finished and bottled. Many more, hopefully, to come.

Farmer Rob had Jim and John the oxen out with a cart to help collect sap. One part of the farm was so muddy that conversation turned to what it must have been like for World War 1 draft animals to pull their loads through the muddy, war-torn roads of Europe.

I’ve been hanging around Howell Farm for many years now, but every once in a while I hear someone say something I’ve never heard before. Today I heard Farmer Rob explain to visiting school children that oxen are actually very fast. If they needed to, they could run a two-minute mile, about twice as fast as the fastest humans in history.

For some reason, it always seems exciting and worth a mention when the goose decides to spend the morning with the sheep in the sheep barn. Very likely, the goose is looking for a good place to lay an egg. Or at least that’s what I heard someone say. 

Though we can't speak to its healthiness, one of the most delicious traditional farm meals was served up at Howell Farm today: Howell Farm maple syrup over scrapple and pancakes. It was prepared on a wood-fired cast iron cook stove by Kim, one of the farm's interpreters.

On a cold winter day when there's still lots of farm work to be done, this is the kind of meal that will "stick to your bones."

There's still no syrup yet from the new maple sugaring season. With linger cold but warmer temperatures forecast for next week, the trees are primed for a big outflow. In the meantime, pancake eaters must make due with the final few bottles of last year's supply.