Winter’s Day on the Farm: From Sap to Syrup
MORRIS TOWNSHIP, NJ - Put on a warm coat and boots, and come to Fosterfields Living Historical Farm on Saturday, February 6 from 12 Noon to 4 p.m. to experience firsthand what wintertime farm life may have once been like. This year, the seasonal event becomes Winter’s Day on the Farm: From Sap to Syrup as more activities have been added from the Maple Sugar Festival, previously held at the Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center in Chatham.
Warm days and cold nights assure that the maple trees’ sap starts to flow. Take a wagon ride or walk to the maple grove to take part in interpretive walks led by MCPC naturalists. Learn about maple sugaring history, and help tap trees to collect sap. Then gather around a wood-burning evaporator as it boils down sap to make sweet maple syrup. Enjoy taste-testing samples of different maple syrups, and choose your favorite!
Watch as the Fosterfields’ farmers cut blocks of ice from the pond using special ice cutting tools, weather permitting. Next, see Calvin and Hobbes, the Belgian draft horse team, haul the blocks to the ice house by horse-drawn sled. On the farm, help with farm chores such as sawing wood, cracking corn, and churning butter. Watch the operation of the single-cylinder gasoline engine prepare food for the farm animals. Meet the many resident farm animals. Assist with egg collecting, and observe the farmers milk the Jersey dairy cows. Just for fun, board an open-air, tractor-pulled wagon for a memorable ride around the farm!
Step into the Farmhouse and The Willows’ cozy kitchens to find out what treats are being prepared using the wood-burning stoves. In the auditorium, families can create a craft to take home.
For more information, please call 973-326-7645 or visit www.morrisparks.net.
Warm days and cold nights assure that the maple trees’ sap starts to flow. Take a wagon ride or walk to the maple grove to take part in interpretive walks led by MCPC naturalists. Learn about maple sugaring history, and help tap trees to collect sap. Then gather around a wood-burning evaporator as it boils down sap to make sweet maple syrup. Enjoy taste-testing samples of different maple syrups, and choose your favorite!
Watch as the Fosterfields’ farmers cut blocks of ice from the pond using special ice cutting tools, weather permitting. Next, see Calvin and Hobbes, the Belgian draft horse team, haul the blocks to the ice house by horse-drawn sled. On the farm, help with farm chores such as sawing wood, cracking corn, and churning butter. Watch the operation of the single-cylinder gasoline engine prepare food for the farm animals. Meet the many resident farm animals. Assist with egg collecting, and observe the farmers milk the Jersey dairy cows. Just for fun, board an open-air, tractor-pulled wagon for a memorable ride around the farm!
Step into the Farmhouse and The Willows’ cozy kitchens to find out what treats are being prepared using the wood-burning stoves. In the auditorium, families can create a craft to take home.
For more information, please call 973-326-7645 or visit www.morrisparks.net.
Labels: farm, fosterfields, maple sugar, winter activity