Tuesday March 8, 2016

Day #14


You can tell everyone is tired. Muff contributes: Not much sap, 320 gallons, ants. everybody scattered, didn't get pictures. finished before dark. Brad, Dean, Muff, Adam , Katie and Bob collected.  Brad got started  early alone, he panicked a little as he started a fire after school and was getting a little low on sap so he headed into the woods to grab some quick.

 

At 9 pm there are 9 inches in the upper tank, Bob is a little unsure what to do. Filters are plugged with syrup but sap won't last. Might be done. Maybe not. Syrup considerably darker!

 

Total Sap today: 320 gallons

Total Sap to date: 3,712 gallons

Total syrup off tonight:11 gallons (3 from late last night)

Total syrup off to date: 63 gallons

Monday March 7, 2016

Day #13

Warm and windy and misty today. Busy day for all. Brad, Muff, Dean and Bob and Mr. B got started on the south path. Gathering went off without a hitch as nearly as can be discerned. Chuck and Sue and Katie rounded out the crew at some point. There were 27 gallons from sandhill rd and 520 gallons from the woods tonight. The sap is 1% sugar and after 3 hours of boiling none has been taken off. As of 9 pm there are 13 inches in the upper tank, it does not smell quite right, Bob is wondering if it is worth the wood to cook it tonight. However, it clearly will not last until tomorrow. Will tomorrow be the end?

Total sap today: 520 gallons + 27 gallons sandhill rd
Total sap to date: 3.392 gallons
Total Syrup to date: 52 gallons

Sunday March 6, 2016

Day #12

The weatherman sadly missed the mark today as we were promised a few hours of sunshine and much warmer than what materialized,...... gray, overcast and 34 degree afternoon with light wind. The sap has run a little the last couple of days and Bob wanted to get that processed to take the pressure off of the week as the warm spell is to start tomorrow...murphy's law!





Ice in the evaporator to start the day!







Brad checked buckets after church and split some wood. Adam, Gerri, Bob (his first trip into the woods to gather in a LONG time!), Brad, Muff, Dean, Dave and Gary gathered at a pretty good clip. Mr. Birch, back for more, dumped buckets on Wallie again allowing us to keep moving. Almost all buckets had some degree of ice in them today, we tried to get the sap and leave the ice behind to help preserve the sap tomorrow when it is supposed to be 60 some degrees out.

The picture shows the typical piece of frozen sap in each bucket, with the hole where the sap has been dripping in!

 

 

Bob started a fire as we discovered the valve was frozen shut on wallie. He made a make shift funnel out of an old clorox bottle and poured hot sap into the hose and several of us pulled this up in order for the hot sap to flush back into the valve, this actually worked on the first try (thankfully). Lesson for the day, park on an incline to empty Wallie completely.

Tomorrow night is 4-H, FFA and church council meeting and the first 60 degree day of the winter, so not much going to be going on tomorrow! In anticipation of sap running like a fawcett, Bob gave Adam some tips on being home alone tomorrow, including a Wallie driving lesson. Adam was quick to point out that he did not HIT anything (as others have). Mr. B was returned in one piece and reported that Adam did a fine job driving :)

Apparently it is all about the confidence.


Mr B about froze his hands off, he had to stay close to the fire for a bit to get the feeling back. Dale is now in sick bay, likely with Bob's plague (that seems to be still plagueing him). We did not really enjoy the pictures of Ted and Nancy in sunny arizona at spring training. Chuck went to a wrestling meet so he had the day off.

In a surprise corporate move, Bob has promoted Nicholas P. to Vice President of marketing. He thinks he has a  culinary appreciation for syrup and the personality fitzpah to get the job done right. Shout out to DUCK...please ask him about his rise on the sugarwood ladder when you see him!


Two Bob's and a Brad...........................

Sophisticated book keeping system.

Total sap today: 240 gallons
Total sap to date:  2,845 gallons
Total syrup today: 4.5 gallons
Total syrup to date: 52 gallons

Monday February 29, 2016

Day #11

Leap Day! Brad came home from school to check the woods, he thought there might be 300 gallons so he figured we should go get it. Bob sent out a text that this would happen asap.

Chuck showed up early to clean out the fire pit, he filled an entire wheel barrow that Brad soon emptied. He said this extra duty kept him from gathering the Sandhill forrest. Bob and Brad headed north through the woods soon joined by Muff. Adam caught up a little later and finally Dale and Karen. They found 280 gallons. Finished before dark. 

Chuck had to leave to assist Sue with a wardrobe snafu and quickly returned. They lit a fire and quickly boiled in tonight's haul and home by 9:10pm. Brad was off with James celebrating their love of moving furniture.

We had Aunt Dorothy's soup and Baldosser hot dog's for dinner--sent Brad to steal those yesterday! Nothing says Christianity like sending your kid into your neighbor's home to steal food on the way to church.

Bob is beginning to recover from the respiratory plague, no naps all day today, ....however just beginning to fight with the SAND in the syrup. There is a fine grit in the syrup--you can't see or taste this---but it plugs up filters quickly. 10 gallons completely plugged 2 new filters. This makes the final filter process really slow. We left 4 gallons in the filters last night as we ran out of patience...good thing as it was still sitting there tonight. Bob reheated the syrup and tried again with new filters.

Brad claims that tonight he saw 4 bald eagles about 15 yards of the edge of the yard at the farm. No video of this although he reports he tried!

Thanks to our helpers tonight!

Total sap today: 280 gallons
Total sap to date: 2,555 gallons
Total syrup today: 9.5 gallons
Total syrup to date: 47.5 gallons