Rising of the sap

With temperatures this week predicted to be consistently above freezing during the daytime, below at night, we have the perfect conditions for sap movement in sugar maples here in southern Maine. Personally, I am a great fan of the light amber syrup, the first run syrup which seldom makes its way into the grocery stores--I buy it at Ted Greene's sugar house in East Sebago, but you have to get there before Maine Maple Sunday.

Last year, I put a tap on this sugar maple at the corner of Willis and Melbourne Streets here on Munjoy Hill. It took constant attention from two households to keep our collecting buckets--milk jugs--from overflowing. It took a lot of hours to boil the sap down to so-so syrup on the stove, with the primary beneficiary being Northern Utilities. This year it's Ted Greene's for me.

Though it's about ten degrees colder in Vermont than it is here, you can click on this link to track the movement of the sap at the University of Vermont's Proctor Research Center website, where they have maple trees rigged up with temperature and pressure sensors. Not incidentally, the sensors track the reverse of dormancy, as they monitor temperature in twigs--the first to unfreeze--trunk, and ground, along with the sap pressure in various locations (sunny side of the tree, shady side). Also tracked is air temperature, and if you check during the day, you can see how midday temperatures affect the tree's metabolism. All in all, this site is a treasure for plant geeks. And it reminds us the best days of winter are just ahead.

Whole Food, wholly different

The new Whole Food store opened amid much fanfare on St. Valentine's Day. It's down the block from the former Whole Grocer, which it bought last year, but couldn't be further away from a consumer perspective. The old Whole Grocer steadfastly featured locally grown produce, including greens and root vegetables in winter, and a large selection of bulk foods. The new Whole Foods has no local produce--not even Maine potatoes--and doesn't even sell the basic ingredients for home-made granola. Also missing is the WG large bulk tea and medicinal herbal selection. The largest section of the new Whole Food market is devoted to a food court, with a stunning array of ready to eat foods such as soups, salads, prepared meats, and Indian and Mexican food. Whole Food brand goods have replaced some old staples, like Little Lad's wonderful almond butter (still available from the Little Lad Bakery on Congress Street.)

Wild Oats is looking better than it used to. On the upside, Whole Foods staff seemed to respond positively to specific requests for products previously carried by WG.

Update: Whole Foods now carries the basic ingredients for homemade granola, after customer requests. But it looks like Big Fish has eaten Little Fish, with this week's purchase of Wild Oats by Whole Foods, and the rumored closing of the Wild Oats store just a few months after it opened.

Backyard Beauties: Are they really as good as summer's tomatoes?

The new

Backyard Beauties

, greenhouse-grown in Madison, Maine, are at Hannaford's, and they are gorgeous to look at. Medium-sized tomatoes, good tomato color, nice shape and feel. A bit thick-skinned, a bit dense in the flesh, but not important. What is important is the flavor, and they have a pretty good tomato flavor for a winter tomato. They are not as sweet as I like, but a few more days sitting on the kitchen table should take care of that. They slice extremely well, and appear to keep well. At $2.99 a pound they are cheaper than a lot of other winter tomatoes, though they are not organic. Will I buy 'em again? Definitely. Do I still like a winter Roma, well-ripened on the kitchen table for a few days, in the winter. Yup. And neither is as tasty as an Early Cascade just off the vine in the last week in June, warm and dripping juice. But I have to hand it to the folks at Backyard Beauties for taking a giant step in the right direction.

Why Madison, Maine? Apparently it is cheaper to heat greenhouses in winter than to cool them in summer (I know, hard to believe this week especially, and Madison is a very cold place in winter). And Madison enjoys very low electric rates due to the presence of the New York Times newsprint reprocessing plant there. Though Madison is only about a half hour from I-95, you have to wonder why the growers didn't set up shop in Eastport--zone 6 winters, a lot warmer than Madison, and cool summers. Maybe the nearest airport is too far away, but isn't local what Backyard Beauties is all about? They shouldn't need an airport.

So good for Backyard Beauties. I look forward to the first cuke crop. I hope Whole Foods buys their product, and I look forward to seeing their trucks on the interstate.