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