Although it’s ostensibly spring, the recent ice storm is reporting otherwise. I kept venturing outside to see the familiar trees and shrubs looking magical under a coat of ice.  I didn’t worry about them surviving this onslaught.  They are New Hampshire plants who have seen it all before. Something I hadn't seen before is the way the ice formed grooves and canals to match those on the buds and leaves.  
 
I recently visited the cherry blossoms in DC and saw a similarity in the photos I took of the blossomed cherry trees and the iced crabapple trees.  Just like those much beloved cherry blossoms, the ice spectacle didn’t last long.  After a few days, the ice was shed like hailstones. Unlike the reliable, annual cherry blossoms; ice storms are rare.  The lesson to me is to seize the moment before it melts away. 

Courtney Rogers led an enthusiastic group of 30 adults on Saturday, March 8th, around her family’s maple farm on a picturesque piece of land in Warner, New Hampshire.  The Sap2Syrup tour was organized by Jamie Wilson of the wonderful Ausborn Sargent Land Preservation Trust.*
 
Courtney explained that her husband Kalvin is an expert who has been tapping maple trees since he was a boy.  His father Philip started as a young child and built his first sugar shack when he was 13 years old in the late 1950’s with lumber his older brother gave him. When Phillip married, sugaring became a family affair and his son Kalvin absorbed Phillip’s passion. You could say that sap runs in their veins.  Sadly Philip passed away in 2017 but his legacy lives on. 
 
For years they used those ubiquitous buckets that you see hanging from the lower trunk on maple trees this time of year.  Using buckets was a labor intensive method which resulted in an equally delicious product, but now thanks to advancement in equipment for harvesting, filtering, and processing; a season can yield more syrup.
 
Kalvin taps each of his 4,000 maple trees which are connected by a series of tubes that bring the sap to the sugar house with vacuum action.  Courtney explained that she and Kalvin sometimes walk around their 120 acres of land and listen for leaks.  I think it’s safe to say they know all their trees intimately.
 
After our brisk walk in the sunny woods, we were treated to a tour of the sugar house where we met Kalvin, his mom Marian, and his helpmate Roger Andrus.  They pointed out all the tubes, filters, and monitors. Kalvin told us that he recently purchased a reverse osmosis machine which takes some of the water out of the sap. The more concentrated sap takes much less time to boil and and uses much less wood. Kalvin used to burn 40 cords of wood each season but now burns only 10.  The farm yields more than 1,000 gallons of syrup during the short season (March and April).  The water that was separated doesn’t go to waste.  Kalvin runs it through the tubes, pipes, and vats at the end of the day to clean them. 
 
After they patiently answered all our questions, we were in for an unexpected treat.  Marian handed everyone a tiny cup of still warm syrup. What flavorful, buttery, maple syrup!  I could taste the pride and love that went into their 'liquid gold.'
 
Ines Wishart who is the vice president of the garden club arranged with Courtney for a private tour for the club next March.  Keep an eye out next year for the field trip to Rogers' Maple Farm.
 
Here's the website for Rogers' Maple Syrup:  nhliquidgold.com
Here's the website for Ausborn Sargent Land Preservation Trust:  https://www.ausbonsargent.org/

*A portion of the walk was on the adjacent Brown Family's Frazier Brook Farm which Ausbon Sargent holds a conservation easement on.  The conservation easement protects the Brown property in perpetuity and allows the land to be open to agricultural activities such as sugaring.

Spring’s approach was marked on March 1st in Brookside’s Orchard when arborist Colin Davis, Conservation Commission member and founder of Wild Tree LLC in Grantham, demonstrated his approach to rejuvenating old apple trees.

Garden Club members will remember that Gail Jellie of NH Extension as well as Jeff and Susan Figley of King Blossom Farm advised the Commission last year. Afterwards, Commission Chair Dave Wood and Garden Club members then spent two days last March beginning the process of taming the wild trees to produce more flowers and fruit for pollinators and wildlife. It worked, and the Commission is excited to think of the future with an ISA certified arborist caring for the trees going forward.
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Colin prefers to use only hand tools in pruning, frequently returning to the ground to evaluate the presentation of the pruning cuts he has made. As he says, “You are always pruning for the future.” He plans to bring all the trees down to more manageable heights over the next several years.

Garden Club Members are encouraged to visit the Orchard whenever they walk Brookside and watch the transition. Additionally, the Mini Model No-Dig Pollinator Garden will be in bloom thanks to the help of Garden Club members Rene Gustafson and Amelia Lantz. Please visit, take photos, and then “SHARE” them on iNaturalist when you do! The Commission wants to know what is happening at Brookside, and you can help.