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posted by Jonathan on 03/22/10

Because of such a long hard winter, the weather didn’t permit us to tap our Maple trees till March instead of February! On the other hand because of all the snow, more water was in the ground causing the trees to have more sap flow in them.

This year we tried an experiment tapping Red Maple and Sugar Maple to see if their was any difference in taste or looks. We wanted to tap twice as many Red Maple as Sugar Maples because we had heard that Red wasn’t as sugar-concentrated. Unfortunately, the store we ordered our spouts from was out of stock. Michael, David and I ended up putting twelve taps in Sugar Maples and eight taps in Red Maples on the 13th of March. Last year we left the taps in for about four weeks and harvested just under 100 gallons of sap. But this year we left them in for only one week and we harvested around 150 gallons of sap! Though two big sap producing Sugar Maple trees fell down last spring in a wind storm, we managed to find replacements.

When the harvesting time had ended we calculated that the Red Maple trees produced about 5 gallons per tree totaling 40 1/2 gallons of sap, boiling down at a rate of 80 to 1. The Sugar Maple averaged 9 1/3 gallons per tree totaling 112 gallons of sap, boiling down at a rate of 55 to 1. After 99 hours of boiling every drop of the150 gallons of sap it all came out to equal 3 gallons of pure maple syrup.

This process would have been impossible if it wasn’t for everybody’s help hauling sap to the house, taking shifts through one night (because of the overload of sap), and watching the sap boil so that I could take short breaks.

Proverbs 13:19a
“The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul”

4 Comments » | posted in Possessing the Land

posted by Robert on 03/19/10

2 Comments » | posted in Politics

posted by Donald on 03/15/10

Surprise! From the oldest of the Staddon sons to the youngest of Staddon sons: a proclamation: to recognize the anchor-position you have in our family David!

Believe it or not, one of those things that the oldest in the family worries about is whether or not the younger ones will always follow his good example, if you know what I mean. The first time that I was away for longer than a month you were only one and I missed you a lot. At that time I knew that Michael and Robert were strong though and it was encouraging to think of them “holding the fort”. Now years later it’s amazing to see that God has given us strength, as a family, right to the very end of our “school years”. With Michael and Jonathan, it has been great to hold the fort with you while Robert, Esther, James and Daniel are away.

In thirteen years, God has had us out on many different missions, adventures, and battlefields hasn’t he? I am grateful for the times God gives us to work and learn as a family. As you’ve gone from boyhood to manhood I see that you are choosing to trust God to be your Teacher and Leader. Now I feel like saying what it says in III John: “I have  no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth”. It has encouraged me a lot and I wanted to let you know that it is one of the single most significant factors that has freed me to “go and make disciples” outside our family too. And guess what!? You will probably end up being an even better example for others really than I was!

4 Comments » | posted in Tidbits

posted by Michael on 03/7/10

Although the weather station predicted about three inches of snow on Thursday and Friday followed by partly sunny weather for a few days, the snow didn’t stop and by Saturday morning, thirteen inches had fallen on top of the existing eight inches and more was still expected the next two days! Although very snowy, it has not been exceptionally cold, and the accumulation of slush on our long driveway has made getting in and out very challenging at times. When it warmed up enough to check on our beehives we found a couple of them had died. And as the snow began to melt further, we discovered a baby deer that had starved to death right in our yard. But along with the hard and the sad comes the due share of joy. Jonathan has once again headed up our backyard sugaring operation which is looking like the best year we have ever had. It is a joy to see honeybees flying and deer and turkeys that made it through. We know that soon the  crocuses will come up and the maple trees will bloom. For winters like this, here is a wonderful song we received from a pastor in Taiwan that is very fitting for the season. The title is "How tedious and tasteless the hours", words by John Newton and music arranged by Lewis Edson from Bach’s cantata 212.

How tedious and tasteless the hours
When Jesus no longer I see;
Sweet prospects, sweet birds and sweet flowers,
Have all lost their sweetness to me;
The midsummer sun shines but dim,
The fields strive in vain to look gay,
But when I am happy in Him,
December’s as pleasant as May.

His name yields the richest perfume,
And sweeter than music His voice;
His presence disperses my gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice.
I should, were He always thus nigh,
Have nothing to wish or to fear,
No mortal as happy as I,
My summer would last all the year.

Content with beholding His face,
My all to His pleasure resigned,
No changes of season or place
Would make any change in my mind:
While blessed with a sense of His love,
A palace a toy would appear,
All prisons would palaces prove,
If Jesus would dwell with me there.

Dear Lord, if indeed I am Thine,
If Thou art my sun and my song,
Say, why do I languish and pine?
And why are my winters so long?
O drive these dark clouds from the sky,
Thy soul cheering presence restore;
Or take me to Thee up on high,
Where winter and clouds are no more.

5 Comments » | posted in Family News