Justin's Life

Dear PEDAL blog readers.

I have been spending my time at home in Sutton, Ontario, since November 2010. Ever since I rode the train home from Vancouver, BC, I have been working on all sorts of projects inspired by my time with PEDAL Across the Americas.

Oh and here is my home, with lots of snow:

A home built home:

I'll start with the most recent project. Maple syrup production. This is inspired by the idea of DIY, which we learned a lot about during the bike tour, especially when you have a small budget with a lot of time!

I have been thinking of making my own maple syrup for a long time. This year was a perfect time to try it out since around the month of February and March my schedule is not as busy as the warmer spring months when I begin to work outside more. My local aunt and uncle have made syrup before using some handy metal buckets and spouts, then boiling it down in a big cast iron pot, so I went to visit them for advice and some materials.

Here are some pictures to describe what I did.

I used a drill with a half inch bit size to make a hole for the spout. It depends on the spout size of course. I drilled deep enough to insert the spout but not too deep to damage the tree. It has to be drilled on an angle so that the sap can drip down. the spout that I have has a handle to hold the bucket, then we made some lids to prevent dirt and rain water from entering. Be careful that the wind does not throw it off!

The sap runs quickly some days. I sometimes check morning and evening! It tastes nice as a drink too.

I collected it in 5 gallon buckets. Here is more then 30 gallons ready for the pot!

My Mom and Uncle helped watch. The tripod was made with cedar poles and tied with metal wire at the intersection point. You need enough wood around to keep it going, it needs to be tended to quite often. As the liquid boiled down I added more sap until it all fit.

This is near the end after several hours of boiling. It started to taste very sweet!

Voila! We put it into jars. Makes a good gift and also for pancakes!

Some reading material. Also check out http://www.tapmytrees.com/

 Oh and Pie! I used some of the syrup for this:

Mystery Cream Cheese Pecan Pie

The other project I have been working on with my dad recently is the building of a workshop and garage. It is so good to learn how to build. Wood framing is such a simple and quick building method. Some of the wood was locally cut and milled!

You can even build in the winter!

There is going to be a loft on top, the roof trusses have yet to be put on.

The plywood went on within a few days.

It was built in the location of an old greenhouse which we have been taking down for the past 9 years or so. A lot of the glass is stored and saved. Hopefully in 10 years we can build one again.

This used to be in operation.

It a bit grown in.

A good indoor project when it is cold outside is making a chicken tractor. (mobile chicken coop, with wheels!) Just design it to fit out the workshop door. We barely got it out!

I used old wood from the old greenhouse above! Reuse, reuse, reuse! The 3 R's

I am also working on a design for a Edible Forest Garden. Here is the start of the plant selection:

These are 4 Butternut trees started from seed/nut. Garrett helped prepare the nuts 2 summers ago. We had to file (with a metal file tool) them down which makes it possible to germinate. I found them growing where they we planted this spring surprised to see the survival rate. 4 out of 8! The nuts from these trees are tasty, but there is a disease that affects the species. I hope these grow big and strong.

A saved cardinal that flew into our window. It survived!

That is all for now. Stay sustainable!