How Was KettleFest?
Thanks to everyone who came out to Kettle Ridge Farm last month to support KettleFest and to have a good time. We’re especially grateful for all the volunteers who provided their assistance.
Over 1500 people braved the threat of rain—which ultimately consisted of two brief showers—for the workshops, music, vendors, kid activities, and food and drink. Check out photos from the day on our Facebook page!
We would love to know what you thought of this year’s festival. Please take a minute and send us an email with your general thoughts and reactions, as well as any specific suggestions you have for next year.
Honey Update
The honey bees at Kettle Ridge Farm have had a good summer, in spite of drought conditions. Our fall crop is less than expected in quantity but awesome in quality: deep rich honey made from goldenrod, aster, and other wildflowers. We anticipate selling out before too long so if you are hoping to purchase honey as holiday gifts please get your order to us as soon as you can!
Maple Season Is Coming...
Fall is a great time to get out in the woods. The cooler temps, foliage, and lower vegetation levels makes the work much more enjoyable. We've been busy setting up new maple lines and fixing damaged lines, mostly from fallen trees and branches that came down during the offseason. We're shooting to tap an additional 300-400 trees this year to bring our tap total well over 1300.
With more tapped trees comes more sap, and more sap requires bigger and better equipment. We have a brand new evaporator on order that's nearly three times the size of our current evaporator. To continue the chain reaction, a bigger evaporator requires more space... We'll be expanding the sugarhouse into the large section of the garage area for those that are familiar with our setup. Lots of planning and execution ahead, but we'll get 'er done.
We're VERY excited to announce what we have in store for our 2017 Adopt-a-Maple program. In response to suggestions we've received, we are making a few tweaks here and there to improve the whole experience. We'll be rolling this out in the next week or two... Be on the lookout!