Here at Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, we enjoy the friendly competition of Bird-a-thon. For the last 8 years, we have won the prize for most species recorded (actually tied with Ipswich Wildlife Sanctuary a few years ago), and we have won the top fundraising award as well.

Donations from previous Bird-a-thons have helped Drumlin Farm fund:

• Five vans for birding trips
• Loaner binoculars
• Top-of-the-line Swarovski scope
• Digital projection equipment
• Birding info kiosk
• Extensive bird feeding area
• Bird banding equipment
• Youth birding clubs

This year, we’re seeking support for our extensive bird conservation and education programs. And while our team of birders for Bird-a-thon may be at capacity, you can still help us stay on top by donating to one of our team members.

Better yet, join us for Winging it Over Drumlin  on Saturday, a fantastic program where children ages 7 to 11 (with a parent) will look for birds along the sanctuary’s trails with one of our naturalists. Fees from the program will go directly to Bird-a-thon (and are tax-deductible).

Wish us luck, and happy birding!

It’s nice to have what feels like a real spring—something we’ve missed the past two years as we’ve seemed to jump straight into summer! We’re busy spreading compost (thanks to the animals and our livestock team), uncovering garlic and strawberries from their winter mulches, plowing fields, and seeding in the greenhouse and directly into the soil.

Despite the cool weather, a walk through Boyce Field will show you all that is already growing: our first three successions of greens and radish (we seed these crops every week) are in the first field and are under row-cover for protection from flea beetles. Unfortunately, the deer are walking across the row cover on a regular basis, poking holes in it with their sharp hooves. As a result, we need to tape up the holes each day. We’ve also sprinkled blood meal around the perimeters of the covers hoping that the smell will deter them, and we’ve added flash tape to shoo them away with sound and color. Despite these efforts, we’re anticipating significant crop losses as the herd is growing quickly. (I’ve seen seven travelling together at a time)!

Deer are a nuisance, but the killdeer (what’s in a name?) are our friends despite their tendency to build nests right where we need to plow. Last year, we worked around five nests in the fields and were gratified to see so many little ones scurrying around. So far, the crazy antics of the parents have helped us locate and avoid two nests. In addition to killdeer, we’ve seen bluebirds, turkeys, hawks, and swallows in the fields where successions of chard, beets, spinach, peas, and fava beans are sprouting. We seed most crops in succession—even tomatoes—to provide high yields of high quality produce, and a continuous harvest throughout the season. We’ll be experimenting with adding a second planting of eggplant and watermelon this year to try to boost our production of those high-value crops.

Ahead of last week’s rain we planted 3,500 strawberry plants (about a quarter acre), 4,500 spring leeks, 4,000 beet transplants, 1,200 bunches of scallions, and a bed of head lettuce. This year we’ll also be growing baby lettuces for cut salad mix. Cut greens have been the key to our growth in restaurant sales over the past three years. We’ve focused on arugula and mixed Asian greens, and now are hoping for more success with other favorite lettuces due to the efforts of our stalwart volunteer Fred Costanza. He has added two seeders to our three-row direct-seeder machine, turning it into a five-row wonder machine. In one pass up the bed we can now lay down five rows of radish, arugula, or lettuce seed. The conversion saves time and allows us to make better use of bed space with the crops that don’t mind being a little crowded. The close spacing also makes weed control easier as more of the bed’s surface area is covered by crops, not left exposed where weeds can germinate.

Anne Patterson, another dedicated volunteer, has been dealing with health issues and has been away from the farm for two weeks. She hopes to return by mid-May. We miss her spirit and, at this time of year, her amazing work in the greenhouse. Anne gives about 25 hours per week to the farm, so our team has been really pushing to keep up with the work that she has expertly handled for so long. Calyb, Lana, Dan, and Annie have been doing really good work. We have one more apprentice who will be joining us in a week. By then we will have planted our acre of potatoes and will be anticipating what we’ve come to call “farm hazing week”—the week when we transplant over 40,000 onion seedlings to the field! It’s exhausting and repetitive work, and it all began in March when Anne almost single-handedly placed all those seeds so neatly into dozens and dozens of trays. Thanks Anne.

See you in the field,

Matt

Did you know chocolate grows on trees? That is, the cacao beans that are used to make chocolate grow on trees.  Cacao trees are native to South America but most of the world’s supply of cacao currently comes from West Africa. Cacao pods develop directly on the trunk of the tree and thrive in a damp rainforest habitat.

We think of chocolate as creamy sweet bars, dark truffles, or bite-size nibs that melt in our mouths but chocolate was originally a bitter drink. Over 2000 years ago, the Aztecs brewed cacao beans for sacred rituals of birth, marriage, and death, believing the beans had divine properties. Europeans sweetened the cacao drink by adding honey or sugar to make it more palatable to their taste buds. The milk chocolate bars that we are familiar with were not developed until the late 1800’s.

The term “cacao” refers to the bean, the term “chocolate” is reserved for anything made from the beans, and “cocoa” is powdered chocolate. The plant-derived flavonoids in cacao beans provide dark chocolate with antioxidant properties. Milk chocolate has fewer of these flavonoids, while white chocolate has none (it is made from cocoa butter but contains no actual chocolate).

Elegant, rich, delicious, and decadent—there is nothing quite like chocolate. Indulge in a guided tasting of exquisite premium chocolate bars from around the world, learn how cacao is grown, how chocolate is made, and hear more about the history of chocolate at An Evening of Chocolate, Thursday, May 2, from 7-9 pm.

The Salamanders Class

Engaged in a unit titled, “Take Shelter,” the Salamanders focused on the ways in which animals and people keep warm in the winter. Children learned that animals use wool, fur, and feathers to stay cozy, and that people need to make clothing and blankets to stay warm. Children dyed wool and fabric with natural dyes to create comfy colorful artwork. Their final project, a class quilt, was inspired by enjoying stories such as The Kindness Quilt and The Quiltmaker’s Gift.

The Foxes Class

In a year-long unit about habitats, the Foxes have been creating an ongoing, three-dimensional habitat map. As they learn about a new habitat or ecosystem, they add it to their map. Materials used on their map include wood, paint, paper, clay, and recyclables. They have watched the map grow with excitement, and will complete it by the end of the school year.

The Kestrels Class

Unique collages inspired by spring forsythia have been created by the Kestrels. The children clipped branches from the forsythia bush outside the school, and brought the clippings into the warmth of the classroom. They recorded observations as the branches gradually bloomed into bright yellow clusters. Then they recreated the beauty of the blooming forsythia in collages using tissue paper, construction paper, glue, and real forsythia flowers.

The Turtles Class

The Turtles were inspired to make a tree out of recycled materials. Encouraged by bark rubbings that the children had made from a maple tree they had been observing through the seasons, they glued the bark rubbings onto a cardboard “trunk”. To make a bird family for their tree, they glued beaks and wings onto sandwich bags filled with shredded paper. It is a happy installation!

The Crickets Class

An imaginative wall-hanging is the installation by the Crickets. Each element of the wall hanging reflects parts of the lessons the children have learned through the seasons on the farm. Pressed autumn leaves, feathers, and bits of bark were added as they studied the transition from fall into winter. (In a sweet addition, the bark contains notes from the class wishing migrating birds well on their journey.) Pinecones and green paper leaves were included to reflect a unit on seeds, and pieces of naturally dyed wool were added to honor the transition into spring and sheep shearing time.

The preschool nature-art installations will be on display at the Nature Art Festival this weekend, alongside the artwork of many professional artists. We are particularly proud of our young creators, whose work reflects their appreciation for and understanding of farm and nature.

The Community Preschool has afternoon openings available for the 2013-2014 school year. Visit the website for more information, and join us for an Open House, Saturday, April 27, from 10:00 am-noon!

One of our returning Summer CSA members recently wrote to us about a conversation her husband had with their son.

“My husband asked our 6 year-old the names of grocery stores, and his first response was Drumlin Farm.  I have to say that his answer thrilled us!  He knows where his food comes from, he understands that food grows on farms and in fields, and that people plant seeds, work the earth, and harvest the food.”

His answer thrilled us as well! Here at Drumlin Farm, between our livestock and crops operations, we strive to provide food to our community year-round. The next 60 days of preparations will be essential to the success of the 2013 growing season.  We are busy planting eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, basil, and flowers in the greenhouse, where onions, scallions, leeks, and beets have already unfurled and are reaching for the sun.  Our seed potatoes have been arranged in a sunny window in order to grow the sprouts that will later become lush, crawling plants and hearty tubers.  This is called green-sprouting, and it gives the potatoes a head-start so that their growth can outpace the Colorado potato beetle.

We have started planting the fields with varieties of peas, spinach, radish, field greens, and fava beans. These seeds are sown directly into the ground.  We will soon uncover the blankets of straw mulch that have been protecting our garlic and strawberries throughout the winter, weeding our autumn-bearing raspberries and perennial herb garden, and spreading wood chips from the local tree-care companies in order to suppress weeds.  Potatoes and onions will be transplanted in the end of April and early May.

Compost from our farm’s livestock will be spread on fields that are coming out of a two-year fallow period in our crop rotation, and the beds that will be sown with seeds this spring will soon be plowed.  We will be sowing an early pea cover crop in fields that will be transplanted with seedlings from the greenhouse later in the spring.  The practice of spring cover-cropping adds organic matter to the soil and provides more nutrients to the plants later in the season.  Healthy soil plays a vital role in our crops operation – it allows us to forego using any chemical pesticides, herbicide, or fertilizers, and we rely solely on natural precipitation to irrigate our fields.

While raising nutritious, ecologically responsibly grown food is valuable, the practice is moot without a supportive network of people with which to share our bounty.  We are thrilled that a 6 year-old boy and his family celebrate their close connection to their local, sustainable food source and share in our harvest at their family’s table. Visit our website to learn more about our CSA.

Different breeds of chicken produce this rainbow, and Drumlin Farm has several breeds on the farm. Silver Laced Wyandotte, Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, Crested Polish,  and a variety of Bantams live and lay eggs in the Poultry House, while the Egg Mobiles house Rhode Island Reds, Brown Leghorns, Ancona, Araucana, Barred Rocks,  Partridge Rocks, and Australorp. There are so many breeds, and some flaunt exceptionally ornate feathers!

We use many of our eggs for programming purposes, and our eggs are very popular (as well as nutritious and delicious) so our available stock often exceeds demand. For these and other reasons, it is difficult to know just when we will have supplies of eggs to sell to our visitors.

Even so, stop by the admissions window at the Nature Center and ask for a dozen eggs…you could be having omelets for dinner!

Preschoolers recently participated in several science experiments in the greenhouse. Children planted seeds and explored different growing conditions to determine which methods produced the best results. Experiments included light versus dark/wet versus dry conditions for grass, snap pea, tomato, and potato seedlings. In addition to these growth variables, children used several types of containers (milk cartons, egg cartons, egg shells) to tenderly hold their creations, learning the value of reusing and recycling various materials.

“As a mother, I am delighted to see the children come up the hill after their morning of exploring Drumlin Farm. Whether their cheeks are smudged from play in the dirt, or have a rosy tint from the winter wind, I feel lucky to have found such a wonderful place for my children to grow,” reflects one parent.

Join this community of sprouting minds and bodies. Afternoon sessions are still available at Drumlin Farm Community Preschool for the 2013-2014 school year. Visit our website for more information, download an application, and come to our spring Open House, Saturday, April 27, from 10:00 am to noon to glimpse the magic of our preschool program.

Maple sugaring season at Drumlin Farm is winding down. The sugaring season depends on cold nights below freezing and sunny days above freezing. Once the temperatures stop fluctuating in this range, the trees begin budding, the sap flavor changes, and it becomes unsuitable for boiling into syrup. As we are experiencing warmer nights these days, the sap production is slowing.

While there are many species of maple trees, the sugar, silver, and red maples of our region are the ones usually tapped because of their sugar content, around 2-4%. Once a maple is between 30-40 years old, about 12-inches in diameter, it can be tapped. A tree usually produces between 8-12 gallons of sap a season. When the season is over and the taps are removed, the holes seal themselves.

Sugaring is the first sign of the earth’s awakening in early spring and it is one of the few agricultural processes in North America that is not European in origin. Written accounts of sugaring date back several hundred years but its exact origins remain unknown.

According to an Abenaki legend, tribesmen would merely break off a branch and let the thick, sweet sap drip into their mouths. This made them fat and lazy, so the creator filled the trees with water, making the sap thin and only slightly sweet. To get the thick sweet syrup they so loved, they had to work for it by boiling the sap. They accomplished this by putting the sap and heated rocks in hollow tree trunks, replacing the rocks as necessary to keep the sap boiling. Because they had no way to preserve the syrup, the Abenaki’s would boil the sap to its sugar state. According to the legend, they learned to appreciate this gift of Mother Earth and not take it for granted.

Indigenous people taught the early settlers about the secret of maple trees. By the 1700’s, New Englanders were boiling sap in iron and copper kettles to make syrup and sugar. Sugaring was a way for farmers to earn extra income during the off-season. In the early 1800’s, the maple syrup industry advanced: metal spouts and cans replaced the wooden ones that were used to collect the sap, and the metal evaporator was developed to turn it into syrup.

In the 1970’s, advances in collecting and producing syrup occurred when plastic tubing systems were perfected. Gravity helps the sap run through the tubing directly from the tree to the sugarhouse, saving the labor-intensive task of emptying sap buckets on every tree, every day. Technology to remove some of the water from the sap in order to reduce boiling time has also advanced. Sap is boiled until it reaches 219 degrees Fahrenheit and is then called maple syrup. At this stage, the syrup is filtered to produce a clear amber product. About 40-60 gallons of sap is required to make one gallon of syrup. Once properly bottled for retail sales, maple syrup has a long shelf life, but it should be refrigerated once the bottle is opened.

At Drumlin Farm, we still hang covered metal buckets on metal spouts on our trees. This year we have started to use taps with a smaller diameter to ensure healthier trees. The sap is collected and then boiled down in our wood-fired evaporator located beside the Pond House. The sweet steam emitted by the lengthy boiling process perfumes the air at Drumlin Farm for weeks.

Last year, my grandson learned about the sugaring process, from tree-tapping to pancake-topping, at Drumlin Farm’s annual Farmer’s Pancake Breakfast. He was amazed that sap is more like water than syrup and got to sample the sap to have a firsthand taste of its faint sweetness. This year, the Farmer’s Pancake Breakfast is this Saturday and Sunday, March 16 and 17, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. While seats for this year’s Pancake Breakfast are sold out, Drumlin Farm will be open for regular admission during the event, and families are welcome to come learn about the sugaring process, purchase a bottle of Drumlin Farm’s own maple syrup (while supplies last), and visit our baby animals.

Linda

Our maple trees have been tapped, our evaporator is boiling away, and our maple sugaring season has begun! Sweet maple syrup brings to mind other natural sweets, like honey. Have you ever wondered what honey bees do in the winter?

Honey bees are cold-blooded—their body temperature reflects the temperature in their environment. To survive, honey bees need a way to increase and maintain a warmer temperature during the cold winter months. Not surprisingly, just as busy bees work as a team to create their marvelous honey, they also work as a team to keep each other cozy.

When the temperature dips below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, honey bees snuggle together in a “cluster” in the confines of their hive. Movement generates energy, and energy generates heat, so when their body temperatures begin to drop to dangerous levels, they start moving. The bees on the inner core of the cluster vibrate their wing muscles, while bees on the outside layer, or “mantle,” pack together as tightly as possible to make a dense, insulating barrier. Each bee takes its turn in the inner core to generate warmth, and then rotates to the outer mantle to help keep the warmth inside.

Honey bees team up for food duty, too. Bees closest to the source of the hive’s store of honey pass it along to the bees that are farthest away. It takes a lot of food to maintain this level of energy, which is why it important for beekeepers to keep careful track of the amount of honey they harvest. The bees will need a good store of it to survive the winter!

In celebration of nature’s sweet treats, join us for our annual Sap-to-Syrup Farmer’s Breakfast, Saturday and Sunday, March 15 and 16, from 9:00 am-1:00 pm. Call 781-259-2218 for tickets!

Even though the land is resting and the animals are nesting, the team at Drumlin Farm is hard at work. No one takes the winter off—not even the animals! Folks are busy preparing for upcoming special events and summer camp, teaching farm and natural history in schools and in our winter classes, repairing equipment, removing snow, attending education conferences, distributing Winter CSA shares, hiring people for the next growing and camp seasons, researching new and innovative sustainable farming techniques—and of course the livestock and animals in wildlife care require daily attention, too! No, it is not quiet on the farm front.

In Our Fields…

An old Chinese proverb states, “a snowy winter preludes a bumper harvest.” Spring is only a couple of months away but we are thrilled to have received the winter storm. Not only will all the snow allow us to enjoy wildlife tracking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing, it will also provide insulation and moisture for the crops and perennials that lie dormant in the winter.

Schedules are organized for crop planning, planting succession, and field rotation. Dozens of fields and hundreds of varieties of veggies make this a “spreadsheet task”. This intensive planning is part of Drumlin Farm’s commitment to sustainable farming and helps to ensure an abundant harvest each year.

In Our Greenhouse…

Here, tray after tray of red and green lettuces, arugula, Tokyo Bekana, and mizuna are continually growing for our Winter CSA members, who also take home delicious root vegetables that are stored in our root cellar. Seeding time for spring planting will soon be upon us and healthy emergent sprouts will begin in our greenhouse, gaining strength before being transplanted to the fields to grow for the farmstand, local restaurants, and our Summer CSA members. Learn more about our Summer CSA and join here.

In Our Barns…

The sheep and goats munch in the pastures through the winter months, their diet supplemented with healthy hay. The ewes and does are heavy with babies that will arrive beginning in March. Several calves frolic beside their mothers in the farmyard, and piglets will soon join us in the pig barn. Egg Mobiles will once again move around the pastures (they are stationary in the winter) and the chickens will continue to lay colorful, nutrient-rich eggs.

In Our Wildlife Sanctuary and in Our Forests…

The animals on Bird Hill and in Drumlin Underground snugly await winter visitors, and our program animals visit schools to teach about natural habitats. The deer are foraging, and the field mice, chipmunks, and other wildlife that live in our forests spend much of their time underground where they are protected from extreme temperatures.

Before we know it, the maple trees on the farm will be tapped for their sap so it can be boiled down into maple syrup. When the sap begins to run, you know the annual Sap-to-Syrup Farmer’s Breakfast isn’t far behind. Visit our website to learn more about this hearty convivial breakfast on March 16 and 17.

As you can see, there is plenty of winter activity at Drumlin Farm. It is a great season to visit and witness farm and nature prepare to spring to life.