Wednesday April 3, 2013

A nice day today, perhaps not as warm as it looked out though! There is sporadic sap running. Karen noted a high variability between the trees in the Sandhill Forest. (She is pinch hitting for Chuck who is "sapped out" this week, quite ill and very missed.) We admit we had a good laugh tonight that Chuck would not have approved of Brad's wood splitting technique and he will not be happy when he finds out Gerri broke the air intake door handle (woops!). Jack took the news well, but he is tired.

Yes that is SUN shining in the steam doors!


 The yield is down to about 50:1 now.

The grates are in need of repair! Of course we said that last year!

The handle on the bottom door is what broke off Chuck.Can you weld?

Kevin had the day off of work so he and Bob and Muff started out earlier than usual. Family friends (Shane & family) came to help. Gerri & Brad showed up late and got to help finish the 175 gallons tonight. It is a little more yellow and the ants are here!

Today would be Clarence Rine's 100th birthday. We wonder what he would think of the quiet generator or Bob taking picture's on the IPAD for the blog? OR 183 gallons of syrup?
 
?

Total sap:7517.5
Total syrup: 183 gallons

Friday March 29, 2013

A very nice day with sun and high temp of about 44 degrees (which to us felt like 84). What a nice change. Cody, Brad, & Bob worked on cutting wood for the camp, again. We spent some time today trying to figure out what to do with all the syrup we have taken off! The natives with Dale, Ted, Adam & the Oney's  gathered a surprisingly low 276 gallons. Chuck returned to supervise the firing for a bit. He has been trying to mentor Brad, but this one seems "unmentorable".Today was the first day the leaves were dry under your feet in the woods and the walking was a little easier today for sure.

Jim & Jenny and crew visited in the evening for awhile. It was nice to play catch up. The fire was started early so it burned out and we were home by 10:15pm. This is a record for the week.

The sap is amazingly clear for being this far into the season. The syrup is STILL not turning very dark. The yield has been noticably dropping off though!

Total Sap: 7342.5 gallons
Total Syrup: 180 gallons

Thursday March 28, 2013

Strange day. Full Moon! 426 gallons of sap. Yield is down for sure. Muff, Brad, James, Bob, Kevin, Jenny and Nathan gathered. Chuck and Jack got a little fire going and the Oney's stayed to help out while Bob and Muff went to church.

Jack was reminiscing with us tonight. He is certain from what his father, Clarence, told him there was a sugar camp farther back  in the woods, perhaps where the stones are along the south path. The camp that preceeded this one was built somewhere in the 1913-1915 range as Clarence has told it. That camp was built with some leftover lumber from the building of the North Barn at the farm. So, there was almost certainly maple syrup production even prior to 1913. We will have to do some more digging. Bob pointed out we should have had a 100 party for the old camp this year! The current building was first used in Feb of 1992 when Cody was born! We feel like we have been gathering since 1913.

UNBELIEVABLE.......
Total sap: 7066.5 gallons
Total syrup: 171 gallons

Wednesday March 27, 2013

The sun was out for a good bit of the day which was wonderful! However, it really cooled down fast when it went down and a little breeze kicked up. Brad, Bob and Gerri started gathering and were joined by the middle of the south path by Kevin, Jenny, Chris, Muff and Dean. It felt miserably cold on the south side tonight, but warmed up when we got out of the wind by the north path. The trailer was completely full by the end of the north route so Brad pulled out into the field and emptied it at the camp and returned to the eastern half of the East path.

We returned to hot food and fire in the camp. (This is possible if the retired guys get going early enough in the day!) We are becoming camp foodies having learned several new tricks this year. Tonight we learned that frozen garlic bread is warm by the time you are done gathering if you lay it on the ledge at the base of the fire pit. Jack successfully burned himself (& we appreciated the sacrifice) steaming broccoli on the back pan. We are sorry we laughed so hard Jack. Muff made crock-pot lasagna that was enjoyed by all.

It must be almost time to quit as we are running out of sample bottles and buckets to put syrup in! And more people are mentioning things that hurt. Hmm?

Total sap: 6640.5 gallons
Total syrup:157.5 gallons ( includes 3 buckets off as of press time @ 2200)

Tuesday March 26, 2013

Jack checked buckets early and he and Chuck started a fire about 4 pm. Chris, Dale, Bob, Brad, Dean & Muff had a workout tonight! 870 gallons (largest run of the season!) Brad said it seemed like every tree was a trip all by itself! He also noted he "hurts" in several places and is the youngest of the crowd! We estimate there is easily another 125-150 frozen in the woods yet. The fire burned on until around 1130 pm.

The hot topic of discussion tonight has been how many gallons of syrup we really have and how best to figure that out. The entire conversation was rather frightening as a couple of these people have degrees in math & accounting etc and argued about how best to figure it out! Brad and Gerri went home to do chores at 9 pm (and brad had math homework that clearly nobody at the camp was gonna be helpful with!). Dean thinks we need a new window as we are running out of sample bottle spots!



We tapped on Feb. 22nd. Today was the 14th time collecting! This is going into overtime. We write the date and the amount of sap we collect down on the wall of the sugarcamp. This makes an interesting record and nobody gets in trouble for losing the paper! (The + somethings at the right are the amounts imported from the East-Sandhill Rd.) Yes, Brad's handwriting needs work.



Total Sap:6040.5 gallons
Total Syrup: 144 gallons




Monday March 25, 2013

Snow Day! about 4 inches of heavy wet snow, beutiful day out. Did not even think about trekking about in the woods!

Sunday March 24, 2013

Today we broke one of our old rules.We gathered on a REALLY windy day.Bob advised to keep an "eye to the sky" and pay attention ahead of you. The creaking and groaning sounds were rather unsettling. (He yells this to Jenny as she is standing under a tree leaning & swaying at 45 degrees!)  We don't usually do this for safety reasons, but decided we might be in trouble this week if the sap runs and the buckets are "too full". Kevin & Jenny helped Brad, Bob and Gerri gather 170 gallons. (Kevin says he is ok but admits he felt a little tough this am after his roll in the mud yesterday). This was generally not a lot of fun today. Gerri drove tractor for half of the woods, (nobody wants to drive). Gerri thought it was because you WILL inevitably get yelled at.... but found out this job is more likely avoided as it is COLD! No fire today and everyone too tired and weather looks as though there will be more soon! Oney's dog Bruce came for a visit and had a wonderful time with Lola, they were clearly the most energetic of the crew. Anything for a treat!

Kevin has extra help gathering!

Total sap:5170.5 gallons
Total syrup: 130.5 gallons

Saturday March 23, 2013

This is somewhat tiring.

This is a picture of an upside down iscicle formed by the sap drops!

 

Well we had a much needed break from the woods this week although it sure went fast! The weather has been very cold and miserable all week with scattered snow and lots of wind! Many came to help as we gathered about 530 gallons today. The mud has changed this week and you had to watch your step very carefully today. The surface of the trailor became a mudslide and that coupled with brad driving too fast sent Kevin airborne.

Total sap: 4980.5 gallons
Total syrup: 130.5 gallons



Saturday March 16, 2012
Bob spent most of the morning getting wood around in the camp and a small gang came to help collect in the afternoon. It was a cold & rainy day! Cody helped for a bit in the morning and then he was off to DC on a trip for school. Gerri & Kelsey took the day off to run errands.

525 gallons were collected on this fine day!

 Total sap: 4450.5 gallons
Total syrup: 121.5 gallons

Thursday March 14, 2013

The sun was a really nice site to see today after many cold gray days. The trees began to have a slow drip on Wednesday and picked up a little bit today. Chris, Kelsey, Gary, Muff, Dean, Bob, Dale & Karen gathered 370 gallons of sap tonight. It was decided not to boil today, Jack is cold. He has been busy canning syrup, a warm job at least. A new piece of farm equipment delivered today stole the show from the camp. There were as many estimates of total sap today as there were gatherers-so going with the one somebody wrote on the wall.

Total Sap: 3925.5

Friday March 15, 2013

 Nathan did a fair amount of trailer patrol Friday night.

 Never seems to be a shortage of MUD!

 Below right, Cody ran to the camp to get the lid as sap was sloshing out the top!

Someone returned unexpected from spring break today to get the old guys moving faster and earlier than usual. They started a fire about 3:15 which was a blessing as there was 505 gallons of sap tonight. A few of Muff's friends and the neighbor's stopped in to help in addition to Dean, Muff, Nathan, Kevin, Karen, Dale, Chris, Kelsey. & Mark.  Brad took the night off so his dad did the tractor driving. The soft maples are producing clear sap that has little taste at this point. Muff and Bob stopped and tipped a few up for a drink, the blogger wishes she would have thought quick enough to get a picture of them drinking out of the 5 gallon buckets or better yet, to have been a little closer to "help". The ants have arrived, always a bit of a worrisome sign.

We thank Pastor Cathy for the large quanity of leftover soup we had for dinner. We had fun trying to figure out how long it really takes to cook corn bread in the pie iron. From the appearance of the product, we still don't know. It really is good though. We enjoyed conversation about nothing in particular and Cody getting in trouble for forgetting the generator fuel, (it was a little romantic for awhile). Jack started his truck so the lights could shine in the window. Inventive. Reminds us how nice it is to NOT listen to the old generator any more! Thanks Parks family!
Kelsey drew the shortest straw of the evening and gave the dog her bath. Kelsey was VERY excited to find a new critter at the neighbors and had to tell us all about it, at length, Gerri was just excited it was NOT a skunk.

At 11:15 pm the fire was allowed to burn down and the project will be addressed again tomorrow!

Total Sap: 4431.0
Total Syrup:99 Gallons

Sunday March 10, 2013

64 degrees today, wow. A little windy at times. Pooped last night and left the entire bottom tank full so started the firebox by noon today. Brad and Gerri went to church and then to St. John's for carry out lunches. Gerri and Brad made a quick trip home for poultry chores, piano practice, homework and laundry ( and MORE buckets for finished syrup). Bob ran in and out of the camp today leaving Brad and Sue in charge of the temperature gauge , scary. Jack brought some more wood into the camp. Pam and Stan road the wagon and emptied buckets today, (grandaughters Tegan and Taylor walked the paths) with Kelsey, Chris, Muff, Dean, Kevin, Nathan, Ted, Nancy (sorry your back to the books Adam!), Muff, Dean, and Gary. Grandpa "New Boots" Bishop welcomed grandson Simon to the world today but still found time for a little exericse. (Grandma went to Arizona for a closer look!) There were approximately 530 gallons of sap today. Emptied  the trailor after each path.


Pam & Stan understand why we told them they have hold on tightly while brad plows through the paths.

We made pancakes on the griddle for supper. Susan made a MESS of Bob's tidy canning area and will never hear the end of it.

This was another LATE evening of boiling, Bob arriving home at 11 pm.


Total Sap: 3555.5 Gallons
Total Syrup: 88 Gallons

Saturday March 9, 2013

Picture perfect weather all day. 27 degrees this am coasting up to a balmy 53 this afternoon. The guys spent the morning using the buzz saw to replenish the wood boxes. Mr. Boilermaker started a fire around noon to work on the "leftover"sap from yesterday. We had sandwiches for lunch and did odds and ends since the weather was the best of year thus far. Took the time today to change filters etc. Several friends and neighbors stopped in for a visit today.

A hearty gang showed up to gather at 4:30 including the Oney Family (Caleb we miss you), Mr Boots and his spry wife, the ever dependable Clark family, Jerry, Chris, Dan (almost a regular -this is more fun than P90X huh?!), Karen, Muff, Brad drove tractor and Dale dumped buckets. Amazing how much drier it is today than yesterday! The temperature cools off quickly such that it is still advisable to wear carharts, but we all were a little red faced by the end today. We gathered in a different pattern tonight which totally screwed even the natives up. It is fun if you can just walk, but if you throw having to think in there, it really SAPS you out. We enjoyed pizza and the warm fire and fellowship for some time (thank you Papa Jimmies for being quick!)

We found 633.5 gallons of sap tonight. The buds are coming out rapidly on the soft maples so they are on the "watch" list to get the taps pulled, likely soon. Sandhill Rd made a contribution of 13.5 gallons. It seems there is an unusual amount of sap sitting in the camp this year.

We shut the fire down around 9:45pm tonight with A LOT of sap still in the side shed. 14 hours of fresh air was about all we could take and certainly more than Lola could stand. (She has quickly habituated to seeing the carharts go on and waiting by the truck to go to the woods!)


It has been pointed out to the blogger that the blog got pretty behind on posts. The blogger would like to point out to the boilermaker that STOPPING stoking the fire a little earlier would help in the future.

Total Sap: 3025.5 gallons
Total Syrup: 66 gallons (this is great!)-all "fancy grade" thus far
Conversion Ratio: 39.3:1 (includes sap still in camp)

Finally Friday (March 8, 2013)

We had a really fun evening in the woods. Everyone a little joyous about it being the end of the week!! Glad to have Jack back, he looks a little like a glazed donut from the time change. Lots of elves in the woods tonight along with a good amount of sap. The Rine's were joined by Dean, Nancy, Ted, Adam, Susan B. and Mr. Boots (2 days in a row!), Ryan, Kevin, Dale and Karen. Brad drove and Dale dumped buckets most of the way. 

 Kelsey attempting to use Ryan for kindling. Ryan too tired to put up much of a fight.(This is the only work Kelsey did tonight that we know of)

 

 Funny how there is less conversation as the evening goes on. Picture above, almost done.

 

 Gathered 505 gallons tonight. Sandhill Rd. forrest produced 22!

 Ryan catches on quickly and is still smiling near the end of gatherng!

(

Pretty scene with friends and neighbors scurrying to empty buckets while I do nothing but take pictures.)

The boilermaker's horse was lame tonight, so he showed up late and got a little cranky when we told him he had to show up early tomorrow! The taps were dripping at a good clip tonight, so if it cools down this eve tomorrow should be a great day.

We keep a sample of each 5 gallon bucket of syrup we take off of the evaporator. There has been little color variation and every bucket grades "fancy"-by industry standards this is the best, we like the darker stuff a little better! Unusual to have that many buckets in a row of that grade.

 

Running 41.5 gallons of sap to each gallon of syrup according to guy above.

We had lots of food tonight and made smores in the fire box for the first time. Fire box was allowed to burn down by 9:15pm or so. Yea!

Total sap: 2392 gallons
Total syrup: 50.5 gallons

Thursday March 7, 2013
An overcast day with a little wind and again a good run with 430 gallons collected. Bob made a fire and boiled enough to empty the top tank. Chris, Dan, Muff & 2 friends of hers, Dean, Adam, Ted, Dale, Karen, Gerri, Susan and yes Mr. New Boots Mark even showed up.Brad drove most of the way. Muff and Karen each made some food to share. This was by far the biggest crew and quickest gather yet (in about the nicest weather as well). Longest boil for Bob as our boilermaker back in sick bay. Lola got nice & muddy which we hope will help to deskunk one more layer off of her. Likely more sap tomorrow.

 Mr New Boots showed up on a night with perfect weather and food.

 Food & fun after exercise.

 Found the problem, watched pot never boils.

Hanging on for dear life. Not sure Brad is all that great of a driver.

Total sap: 1865 gallons

Total syrup:  40.5    gallons

Wednesday March 6, 2013


Another chilly day but warm enough for sap to run. We collected 330 gallons of sap in a pleasant walk through the woods (a real treat compared to last wednesday!) The Oney family (minus there child from down under), Dan and Chris helped out tonight. Jenny made a great pot of chili which we somewhat inhaled so we could get to church on time. The "on time" part didn't happen but we did get there-bob attended without shoes, but that is another story. Tonight was the first run through the woods with the new stone and it seemed to go well. Tomorrow could be a big day given that the taps were constantly dripping as we collected at 6pm. Finished in the light of day, another thing we always appreciate. Came home from church and had the dog take a direct hit from a black thing with a white stripe very near the back door of the house. Didn't appreciate this so much. Spoke with Denise regarding decontamination, confirmed this will be unpleasant for some time to come! Washed the dog and blogged and callin it a day! (Adam, believe it or not, the wet dog smell earlier, ....that was good).

Saturday March 2, 2013
So the blogger is tired, busy and behind. The top picture above is the sap wagon in the barn to keep it a little bit warmer until we can empty it. Saturday was a big day. Marc and Trevor spent most of the day moving #1 and #2 stone into some of the bottomless pits along the paths in the woods. This was a slow and tedious process. The hitch broke on the H so a good bit of the day was spent welding that back together. There was pretty almost white out like snow at times. We did not gather today as it was so cold and not much in buckets. Bob and Chuck started a fire mid afternoon and burned until around 9 pm. The sap seemed to move through the evaporator rather quickly. Cody discovered how to cook ribs in the coals and brad and kelsey made cornbread with the campfire irons that we covered with syrup (that was a big hit). Kelsey made a run to the house for more buckets for syrup! The fire felt exceptionally good at the end of this cold week. Bob was glad to see the tanks finally empty as the next cold snap is coming.

Total Sap: 1435 gallons
Total Syrup: 30 gallons

Friday March 1, 2013

Strange, one of a kind day in the world of syrup making. It was 27 degrees out with a very light snow when Muff, Chris,Gerri, Brad, Kelsey, Cody, Ted and Nancy left to gather.They were joined on the later half of the north path by Heath and Mike. Buckets were full of slush, we had 4 buckets full of ice chips we cleaned out of the screen on the top of the gathering tank. Dorothy sent pulled pork and white chili to the woods which was enjoyed by all. Dale and Karen arrived with a truck with a new tank in the back of it. Bob hopes to use this tank transport up to 125 gallons on John's small trailer.

It was nice to return to the camp with a warm fire! Everyone visited for a bit. syrup was coming off rather quickly tonight. Kelsey ran to get more clean buckets for finished product. Mike and Heath went home and came back later to visit.

They shut the fire down early tonight with plans to meet Mark and Trevor in the early am to begin addressing some of the mud-hole traps.

Total sap tonight: 350 gallons
Total sap this season: 1435
Total syrup off: 15 gallons

Thursday February 28, 2013

Ironically there is sap again today, but no place to put it! Muff made the first visit to the woods this afternoon and estimates about 300 gallons of sap is out there, but clearly no place to go with it. Our boilermaker friend has escaped from the infirmary in time to start the first fire of the year! Bob and Chuck spent a quiet evening in the camp trying to boil enough to empty ...something. The buckets sitting near the evaporator are also full of sap! The camp is sporting a new outdoor light that looks a lot like poultry heat lamp with a new fangled light bulb. Bob states this is to allow you to see which hole you would like to fall in (might say it ruins the surprise). See what tomorrow brings.!

Wednesday February 27, 2013
Really lousey weather day with surprising HUGE run. Brad, Bob and Gerri went to the woods expecting to check buckets and pick up 200 gallons of sap. We decided, given that the weather was so unpleasant and we didn't anticipate much, we would not to even send out a text. We changed our minds about 10 minutes into the south path when we quickly encountered multiple buckets running over! The picture below is the filter on top of the sap tank filled to within a half inch of the top. This luckily coincided with the end of the south path. Chris showed up in time to head out to the north path. We weren't able to make it back to the camp after the north path so took the short cut out into the field on the east side and Bob dumped the tank the second time while the rest of us collected the east path backwards. Ted came in time to do the East path primarily in the dark. Gerri considers it a  great accomplishment that she did not "face plant" once tonight. Fun physics fact, somehow, buckets get heavier as the night goes on. Finished around 8 pm with 825 gallons.

We particulary appreciate Chris and Ted for helping us this unpleasant evening. Brad said on the way home they are gonna need double time for this "wicked shift". (It was quite pretty at times this eve, with a soft snow, but little time spent smelling the roses and all the precipitation was wet no matter how you slice it!)  On a positive note we did not get stuck tonight, just a little jockeying around with the trailer. On a down side, the valve at the bottom of the upper tank is toast. Complicating this is the fact that there are 400 gallons of sap in this tank! Not sure how we are going to address this, but...unanimous vote that we were all cold, tired, wet and hungry and this problem can wait for another day.


Total Gallons of Sap: 1,085
Total Gallons of Syrup: A question for another day :)

Friday and Saturday Feb. 22 & 23

Well today, Monday the 25th of Feb., found a rather surprising warm sun without much wind which led to ...sap!! 260 unexpected gallons of it. Bob sent a text out rather late for some help which thankfully arrived in shifts. Bob did the first half of the south path alone, then was joined by Chris. Dale & Karen picked up Brad and met Gerri in time to do some of the north and northeast areas. Twp. Rd 178 had a nice representation this evening with the Oney family & Ted & Susan B (we think we saw her , but it was dark-not truly certain). They had most of the East path gathered to the lane by the time the tractor arrived. (We are all certain nobody saw "Mr I Bought New Boots so Quit Harrassing Me") Hmm?

 

We finished just as the sun was about gone and the moon (which is close to full tonight) took over. All was well until Bob drove through the rather deep track at the northwest corner of the camp. The angle of the tractor and trailer was impressive, Ted summarized it well by understating the problem "ooh, that doesn't look good". This involved a trip to the house for the David Brown tractor and a quick pull which worked on the first try. Bob remained very calm, Brad noticed how much quieter dad is when he is the one who burried the tractor! Once again Jenny arrived with a flashlight in tow that did come in handy unfortunately to hook up chains etc. Thanks to all the help and the many who were with us in cell phone spirit only. Our Boilermaker is "down for repairs". Hope he can get his 3000 mile oil and lube before the weather breaks. We miss him.

 

Total Sap: 260 gallons

Total Syrup: can wait for another day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taps were put in rather at leisure this year in reasonable weather. Cody and Kelsey were home to help and very nicely coincided with Brad and Bob's friday off of school (the roads were bad this morning-Yea!) Gerri & Brad helped Bob finish. The fresh air makes everyone tired! We took water back to the camp and scrubbed the evaporator up!

Also on Saturday Feb. 16th!

 

Well the troops were all home from school on this fine snowy Saturday afternoon, so we decided to tackle the job of putting buckets and lids out so we can tap quickly when the moment arrives. Something, likely chipmunks, wreaked major havock in the camp so Kelsey and Gerri spent a good bit of the day sweaping and sorting in the camp. It snowed on and off rather heavily today, a really pretty day in the woods overall. All of the buckets and lids we have are sitting by trees currently. Bob found a couple of boxes of lids and the tubing and plans to put some other sets together. Brad had some troublesome problems with the tractor for day #1. He had to get off twice for Cody to maneuver the tractor and wagon out of the mud! The dog did not make it home without falling asleep on Bob's lap so I guess she enjoyed the outing! Yes we have two posts for this day, consider it a great day!

Saturday Feb. 16th
Walking is energizing and warm. Standing is cold and only lasted long for a short picture!Chuck and Sue stopped in to survey the progress!

Huge snow flakes made the afternoon walk in the woods more fun!

It was a chilly day with a moderate wind and not smelling anything like camp weather yet. Bob, Kelsey, Chris, Cody, Brad, Gerri and Lola the wonder dog put buckets and lids around the woods. This is a big job done. It makes the big day go a lot faster when we tap and don't have to carry buckets along. We will have to get a few more lids ready as seemed to run out. Now sit and wait. (Yea like that will happen!)