A New Tea Room

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The cold fronts keep coming and we're starting to suffer from "cabin fever". This however has not stopped the work from progressing on our Tea Room renovations. Working under some very cold circumstances, the Tucker team started the installation of our "weather wall".

Getting started on the "weather wall" on a very cold day.

The concept of the "weather wall" was adopted to address a couple of issues in the Tea Room. We often had clients complain of bees or insects and even wind; we also had very little opportunity to serve anyone during rainy weather. So the idea was to install light windows (made of plastic) and screens. The windows are quite unique in the way they open; they stack (like a deck of cards) to only occupy 1/4 of their original coverage. This allows us to maintain the open feeling of the veranda when the weather is accommodating.

Opening a "weather wall" window.

By the end of the week, the team had completed their work. The net effect is a radically new look for the Tea Room. The new window concept and new ceilings have turned the veranda into a very comfortable and classy environment.

An entirely new look for the Tea Room

 All that needs to be finished now is the flooring.

While the Tucker team was busy on the Tea Room, we did manage to take advantage of a bit of reprieve from the cold weather. This meant getting right back to our pruning.

We tackled our Raspberries, Blackberries and a few small Apple trees. Even Chef lent a hand.

Pruning Raspberries with Chef

This year we decided not to burn the cuttings but instead to produce some mulch with our trusty Canadian Tire wood chipper. We'll be trying to use this mulch in an effort to control weeds.

Lots of cuttings means lots of mulch

Pruning on a bright sunny day with the land covered by snow meant that we all suffered from sun burns. I guess we started early on our "farmer's tans".

With a couple of days of positive temperatures, we also decided to take Chef with us to tap some trees. The outlook for sap production still does not look good with another cold front and winter storm expected this week. However, it is getting late in the year and we thought we would try to get whatever sap we could. The temperatures reached 2 degrees C, which meant the wood was not likely to crack when drilled.

Tapping Maple trees

This year we used a new system of tubing and containers; we were able to install as many as five taps per container. This has allowed us to tap twice as many Maples as last year. However, we have to admit that this system is not as flexible as our impromptu set-up from last season. The transportation of the large plastic containers will prove difficult once full and the lids are not easy to open and shut.

As a result, we also decided to try an "old fashioned" concept: spyles with hanging buckets. It is the traditional way of doing things, but of course these days most of these things are made of plastic instead of metal. The spyles themselves look fragile and brittles and could certainly not be hammered into a tree. What is also frustrating is that the standard plastic bucket has no lid. Leaving the sap open to wood chips, dirt and insects. So, although a bit more flexible when it comes to collection, this system also has its drawbacks.

Installing plastic spyles and bucket.

This year we decided to tap our Maple and Birch trees, but we also added the Black Walnut to our list. Apparently Black Walnut sap is just as high in sugar as Birch but it also has a distinctive flavour. Some say it tastes like cotton candy....we're dying to try it.

Since we expect another cold front coming our way (now for some reason called a "polar vortex"), I leave you this week with two quick photos: one from inside the manor and the other of the farm, as we suffer from the melancholy of "cabin fever".