Homesteading & Life

This season started late. We waited and watched, wondering when the trees would wake up. And just when we began to find our rhythm, it ended. It was short—so short.

Spring has officially arrived here at Wild Faith Acres, and with syrup season wrapped, we’re shifting our focus back to the soil—seed trays on every surface, garden maps spread out across the table, and dreams of warm tomatoes and vibrant blooms pulling us forward.

We didn’t start with ducks. Like many new homesteaders, we thought we’d raise chickens—but as time went on, we realized chickens weren’t the right fit for us. Between the predators, the noise, and the behavior we saw with our young kids around, it just didn’t feel like the right match for our homestead.

Maple syrup has long been a staple of North American life, with deep roots in Indigenous traditions and centuries of adaptation by European settlers. While modern production methods often rely on evaporators, pipelines, and high-tech filtration, we still embrace an older, time-honored method—boiling sap over an open fire and carefully condensing it into golden syrup.

There’s something magical about maple syrup. Its rich, golden sweetness has graced tables for centuries, but it’s more than just a topping for pancakes. For our family, maple syrup is a labor of love—one that connects us to nature, to tradition, and to each other.

Five lessons we learned in our second year of sugar making.