Wednesday March 27, 2019

Today was a day that we have been looking for the last three days.  Evan checked the woods and relayed back that we might need to send the call out. Some buckets were half full. 

The text message brought out Brad, Katie, Adam, Melissa to start with Evan.  Kelsey came a little later with Bret following up. Gerri showed up last bringing pizza and salad.  Bob was at home hsaking his crud that he picked up.  Twenty somethings in charge of the operation tonight.  Word got back that Bret called out a temperature of 222,  for the record Bob says he has never had it that high.

Birthday cake was served at the camp tonight. Katie's birthday is tomorrow.  Sadly we pieced it together and realized we forgot Melissa birthday Monday. Happy Birthday to the ladies this week.

Total Sap Today: 280 gallons + 23 
Total Sap To Date: 5,875 + 245 Gallons
Total Syrup Off Tonight: not reported yet gallons
Total Syrup Off To Date: 122.5 gallons

Sunday March 24, 2019

Sunday March 24, 2019

Another beautiful day, great company and a leisurely walk through the woods.   The trees are showing they are growing tired too.  The conversations dwell around not how many days we can gather, but when will the end be.  It is bitter sweet topic but if you've done this you know that is a mystery we have all been trying to figure out.  Maybe it's a short season , maybe it goes on, maybe it rewards you with a double.(2013)

Brad started today at 1:30 with moving empty wood carts to be joined by Bob who was setting up the evaporator while waiting to discuss planting intentions for the next year with Brad C.  Kelsey and Evan arrived to start a fire to cook pizza on open flame.

Brad had a discussion with a hunter that was trailing a wounded coyote thru the woods.  Word was spread by radio to unload guns.  (Hunters in the woods this time of year is not something that we can say we have experienced  before. ) A couple of shots eventually were heard, long story, anyway added some excitement to gathering. 

 Gerri, Muff, Susan, Adam, Katie, Brad, Vivian came to gather joined in guest appearances by Cathy L. and Don C who dumped buckets.Glad to have their help and company today! 

Dale and Karen showed up to help about the time the crew was finishing. ( I think Daylight saving time was last week?????  Bob wrote that to be clear. ) Susan R. brought some maple butter back to try..it was good...we compared it to Bob's version.....

Thanks to Cathy for bringing some of the preserves..always fun to try new stuff!

Bob fell asleep. Some people, (Adam and Katie), thought it would be funny to yell that the temperature was 220,to wake Bob up.

3 minutes later it really was 220 and it was all hands on deck.

Then there was a report we only had 2 1/2 inches in the top tank. In a nutshell, this means we have too much fire and too little sap, the pan running dry is not something we want to experience. This was the fastest everyone has moved , especially at one time, in a LONG TIME. 


Vivian, Katie and Gerri grabbed buckets and went to find any sap they could in the woods and the guys pulled some of the fire out of the pit. 

The "quick gather ' crew was joined by Evan and Kelsey who emptied a lot of buckets to get about 5 gallons. Adam added that directly to the evaporator. Did not burn dry!!

 This really has been a rather grueling stretch. Everybody is tired...including Teddy who did not make it home without falling asleep. 

Dog spa treatment before bedtime. 

Julie will be glad to know that Piper also got  a bath tonight, best described as a "step in the right direction" not a solution. 

Have more fun pics and stories from this weekend and no gumption left to share today! maybe later this week!



Total Sap Today: 220 gallons + 14 
Total Sap To Date: 5,595 + 222 Gallons
Total Syrup Off Tonight: 4.0 gallons
Total Syrup Off To Date: 122.5 gallons

Saturday March 23, 2018

Big day! Blessed with sunshine and low winds today....one of the first spring feeling days for sure!

Day started with usual Saturday catch up chores and the guys worked on several Sandhill Rd projects..dead tree removal at the pond and cleaning up a brush pile. Wally made a road trip on Eve (our name for our trailer....that's a strange thing we do...name the equipment). Anyway this was successful adventure.

Returned to put the tank on Wally and check the woods not as much sap we hoped for today...but thankful most is still clear. Fun bunch of folks showed up to gather and this always makes for lighter work.... Curt, Erin, Evan, Gerri, Brad, Katie, Nancy and Adam gathered while Dale drove and Muff dumped buckets with the help of Tinleigh. 

Turning onto the East path...T yelled "we are almost done guys"...made even funnier as she was correct!

When your arthritis just does not let you jump anymore!


Kelsey joined in about half way through and the Parks family arrived in time to help finish the East Path. 

Aunt Dorothy got a personal tour with Evan on the side by side that they both seemed to enjoy. 

Dave G made an appearance. He is like Mr Rogers , never know when he is gonna turn up in your neighborhood. He brought a syrup making neighbor from New Washington along to see the camp.

Karen got things arranged for dinner while the rest finished gathering.  

We had a quite a lively crew in the camp tonight..enjoyed visiting and especially when not overly wet or cold.

The campfire was certainly a focal point this evening!

Brad and Evan made some hot dogs which we appreciated and everyone enjoyed.

Sometime later in the evening there was  a bit of excitement when Brad took Nancy's collection of yard sticks and added them to the campfire (out back). This created a little flicker that caught Charlie Parks' attention as he was leaving!!


The view from the back..............

The view from the front.......................

We sent this pic to Cody..we were underwhelmed with his response...he said he felt this fire was a bit excessive for hot dogs. 

Total Sap Today: 260 gallons + 20 
Total Sap To Date: 5,375 + 208 Gallons
Total Syrup Off Tonight: 5.5 gallosn
Total Syrup Off To Date: 118.5 gallons

Thursday March 21. 2019
What should have taken three to four hours of boiling in the sap from last night, took 6 hours so that kept bob busy for  a bit.  Brad was elected to go to the trailers and dig out some dry wood.  There was a discussion as to who put the cart of short pieces in the trailer.  Bob did decide that short pieces would be better than the wet wood. Bob is feeling a bit disappointed that the sap did not keep well..the syrup is quite dark tonight...but everyone was really whipped last night and the decision was made to quit.

Some housekeeping details today like cleaning out the fire pit, which included a full wheelbarrow of ash. Replaced a fire grate in the firebox.  Should have done two , but only had one on hand. This is a picture of a warped fire grate (started out straight). Took a little heat to bend that !!

Noticed some flowers trying to emerge in the woods. 













It was quiet boiling today so there was enough time to read the walls!

Total Sap Today: ZERO
Total Sap To Date: 5,115 + 188
Total Syrup Today: 8.5 gallons
Total Syrup To Date: 113 gallons

Wednesday March 20, 2019

Spring! Rather cloudy afternoon but thankful the drizzle did not settle in until we were almost done gathering sap tonight. When the weather changes.... it changes fast. Kelsey commented how soupy the north lane was tonight. We spied a few ants. The sap was nice, but perhaps not as pristine as a few days ago.

Kelsey said that everyone literally showed up to gather tonight one by one. She and Melissa got off to a start by themselves and eventually, and in no specific order, Brad, Muff, Gerri, and Adam arrived.We made one big trip around the paths and dumped only once, but almost full with 285 gallons on the tank. Evan arrived in time to help unload. 


Bob once again got a fire going as early as he could. The guys unanimously voted to let the fire die out last night with around 200 gallons yet to boil. So the gathering crew had plenty of time to do their thing without worrying about running out of sap in the camp.

Muff and Kelsey assembled dinner of sloppy joes and macaroni salad, veggies and cookies. We laughed that we are going through more drinks with the warmer weather!

Tonight we discussed squirrel damage and why they are attracted to bleach,  the raccoon population in the woods and Brad made a list of things the girls could do tomorrow! 

Boiling did not go well tonight. It is humid and the wood we had was a little damp. All that was boiled in tonight was the leftover from last night. Frustrated and tired, everybody headed home by 10 pm. And this was an early night. 


Quote of the day by Bob: the ever-ready bunny needs a battery recharge. 

Total Sap Today: 260 + 25 gallons
Total Sap To Date: 5,115 + 188
Total Syrup Today: 4 gallons
Total Syrup To Date:104.5 gallons

Picture from Monday night: Spirited conversation: thought Cody would enjoy seeing who was in charge, nobody. 

Tuesday March 19, 2019

Everything we thought it would be tonight. 495 gallons + 30 to be exact!

The woods was still and quiet tonight, quite a change from the last few weeks.

Thanks to all who helped tonight again...Evan, Kelsey , Bret and Melissa got a jump start on the gathering joined by Bryan, Nancy, Chris, Phil, Aiden, Kiley and eventually Gerri. Dale provided chauffeur service again tonight.  Bob was out on an errand so Adam got the boiler going while the crew made 3 trips/dumps tonight. 




Kiley's inquiring mind wanted to know what the dog was dragging around.....a deer leg bone that has been laying in the woods all season. 






Word has it that we will need to pull the soft maple taps tomorrow if we gather. They are done according to those who tasted and smelled! These trees are normally the first to run and they are typically very short in duration. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Signs you might have spent too much time in the sugar camp in the last week.........

Bob asked if today was monday or tuesday?!

You have no clean clothes, the only ones you know where they are for sure are carharts/boots .

While cleaning up the food we realized that Melissa's crock pot is at Gerri's, the base is in the camp and the lid is at the farm house. Guys cleaned up by themselves last night. 

You are still laughing at Katie's stuck upside down behind the dryer story..even if you heard it before...can still make you cry. 

If you overhear Brad explaining to Adam why it goes a little faster when you make a fire under the evaporator and not beside it. 


_____________________________________________________

We had reubens, veggies and miscellaneous left overs for dinner tonight. Discussed raising bees and berries and hay tonight...diversification plans. 


Phil helped to put up a new light in the camp....Brad said we need this because Bret and Gerri cannot read the thermometer...the problem is the interpretation not the visual....anyway the new light is lovely, we can land a plane with it when we r done using it in the camp. 

Less than peppy 7th inning players.

Left about 180 gallons of sap not boiled tonight due to fatigue. 

Total sap Today: 495 + 30 gallons
Total sap To Date: 4,855 + 163 gallons
Total syrup Today: 7.5 gallons
Total syrup Today: 100.5 gallons

Monday March 18, 2018


Awoke to a white powder coating on the ground this am! Sunny spring looking afternoon. The trees must like this weather as well as they gifted us 390 + 18 gallons today! So in retrospect it was a great call to process the 270 gallons from yesterday last evening!!

The source of tonight's blog is the rumor chain with no accuracy promised. At press time people who might know what happened are asleep or in the shower and the 3 in the camp sound like they no longer care (Brad, Bob, Adam). 

Word has it....... Erin, Tinleigh, Brad, Kelsey, Muff, Adam, Maddie, Katie, Bret, Phil S., Aiden and Kylie gathered tonight. Dale drove...and did report back through the grape vine..... how impressed he was that Morgan rode the wagon and repeatedly lifted full 5 gallon buckets and that he was thankful that was not his job tonight! Brad expressed appreciation that Melissa sent food. 


As of  10 pm there were 9 inches in the upper tank. On the good side, it is 28 degrees out. On the bad side... it will not stay 28 degrees until tomorrow evening. 

Total Sap Today: 390 + 18 gallons
Total Sap To Date: 4,360 + 133 gallons
Total Syrup Off Today: 7 gallons
Total Syrup Off To Date: 93 gallons

March 17, 2019

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Well today was, as Gomer Pyle used to say..a .suprise, suprise, suprise!!

The master plan was to rest, take a nap and prepare for the week ahead, which weather wise, looks like it could be a fantastic week for making syrup. They are calling for cool nights, and warmer temps during the day with some sun at intervals. Given the fact that everyone has work or school during the day, sap runs on weeknights are always a bit trickier. It takes about an hour to boil in 100 gallons of sap ...depending of course on humidity, air flow, sugar content of the sap etc..., and an additional half hour to get it up to temp and to cool it down again at the end, so you have to plan ahead a bit if you want to get all the sap boiled in each day and get some shut eye. Processing all the sap each day becomes even more imperative as the weather warms. Bob checked buckets mid afternoon and was surprised to find what he thought would be 270 gallons...he figured we had better deal with that today in case tomorrow finds a larger run. 

Saved again by neighbors and friends we had a nice size crew to work with today....Morgan drove...and did a wonderful job! Katie, Adam, Kelsey, Evan, Muff, Nancy, Gerri, Bret and Melissa rounded out the crew. Bob guessed the sap exactly correctly ...we had 270 gallons and Adam and Katie brought about 11.  

It was pretty and sunny earlier today, but clouds came in this afternoon and the temperature dropped considerably. There was a gentle, big flake snow while we gathered tonight that was very pretty but cold! 

Today was bring your dog to work day,... Bailey, Lola, Piper, Teddy and Calvin all enjoyed a run in the woods. 

Calvin gets the award for staying the cleanest!


Before....

After....please note the color of my feet and my expressions are sporting slightly more attitude....

Half of the crew had to get to a 4-H meeting so we made bologna and hot dogs lickity split and left Adam , Katie and Kelsey to man the fort. Still standing after 4-H..... all is well. 

Highlights of the evening included Melissa's cookies and Adam went on break without going through the proper chain of command. 

Thanks to all for your help...again. 


Total Sap Tonight: 270 gallons + 11 gallons
Total Sap To Date:3,970 + 115 gallons
Total Syrup Off Tonight: 5.5 gallons
Total Syurp Off To Date: 86 gallons