Devon Akmon » Gardening

Abundant Strawberries

Devon Akmon — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 01:30:09 +0000

The summer solstice, my birthday, and fresh strawberries are just a few reasons why I look forward to month of June each year. Speaking of the latter, I stopped at Rowe’s Produce Farm in Ypsilanti on my way home from work last night. In a mere 25 minutes I was able to pick just under 13 pounds of succulent strawberries. The berries are so fine and tasty! It’s definitely peak season and I don’t think the crop will last much longer given the weather forecast. The clock is ticking and I’m hoping to head down to Whittaker’s Berry Farm to resupply before the season runs out.

So, what have we done with 13 pounds of strawberries? Well, we’ve made a batch of strawberry paletas (our best batch yet!), 8 half-pints of strawberry jam, and 6 half-pints of strawberry-rhubarb jam. Yeah, we’ve eaten gobs too! Hopefully we’ll crank out a pie or two, as well as freeze a couple of pounds for use later in the year. Mmm, another strawberry paleta sounds good right now!

Dharma with a Strawberry Paleta

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Maple Trees: From Sap to Syrup, Pt. One

Devon Akmon — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:13:26 +0000

It’s that time of the year. With daytime temperatures rising above freezing and nighttime temperatures dipping back below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, maple trees are being tapped for sap! We have two silver maples in our yard and this year we’ve decided to try our hands at making homemade maple syrup. Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing how this project progresses. Hopefully it will end with some quality maple syrup!

I recommend checking out TapMyTrees.com if your interested in trying to produce your own homemade maple syrup. We purchased the starter kit with plastic buckets. The kit affords you to tap up to three trees.

To get started, the first step is to identify your maple trees. This is a much easier task when leaves are on the tree, but it is possible to determine the type of tree in the winter too. The most commonly tapped maple trees, in order of both preference and highest level of sugar content, are:

Sugar Maple
Black Maple
Red Maple
Silver Maple

Once you have identified a healthy maple tree, you’ll need to use a 7/16 bit to drill a hole 2-2.5 inches deep into the trunk. Drill at a slight angle upward. I recommend drilling the hole three to four feet from the ground on the south side of the tree. It is possible to have more than one tap per tree. According to the Cornell Sugar Maple Research & Extension Program:

A healthy tree 10-17 inches in diameter (31-53 inch circumference) should have no more than one tap. A tree 18-24 inches in diameter (57-75 inch circumference) should have no more than two taps. A tree larger than 25 inches in diameter (79-inch circumference) should have no more than three taps.

Once the hole is drilled you can now gently hammer the spile with hook into the tree. Next, hang the collection bucket and lid (I highly recommend using a lid!). Finally, hope for ideal weather conditions and wait for the sap to flow. The sap collecting period should last anywhere from four to six weeks. The sap should appear clear and you can expect to collect anywhere from 5 to 10 gallons of sap per tree. Keep in mind that it takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make make one gallon of syrup!

Drill a hole 2.5 inches into the trunk.

Install the spile and hook and hang the bucket with lid.

A detail of the spile

The final package. Hope for sap!

We’ll share more as things progress. If you live in the Ann Arbor area then I also recommend reading these two articles on tapping maple trees:

Ann Arbor Chronicle: Tapping Ann Arbor’s Sap
AnnArbor.com: Wildcrafting – Maple sugaring in the city and the country

Good luck!

- Devon Akmon

All About Bees!

Devon Akmon — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:40:27 +0000

Listen up, listen up, all you locavores, gardeners and apiculturist! My friend Joan and her husband Rich Wieske of Green Toe Gardens (Wild Detroit Honey) are putting on a one-day, natural beekeeping workshop on March 6 in Detroit. The workshop, All About Bees!, has been designed for the novice to the expert and will feature many well-known speakers from around the Midwest. The workshop will include sessions on:

Beekeeping 101
How to Build a Beehive
Honey Tasting
Meadmaking
Bees and Spirituality
Biodynamics
How to Develop a Honey Coop
Bees and City Hall
Apitherapy
Bees as Part of Community Development

The fee for the workshop is only $20 and includes a light breakfast (bring or buy your own lunch). Stay tuned to http://www.citybeesdetroit.com/ for updates (the official site should launch tonight). Also, be sure to check out Kim Bayer’s Edible WOW article on Rich and his urban beekeeping operation. Hope to see you at the workshop!

All About Bees!

- Devon Akmon