Wednesday February 26, 2020


Brad said it was a lonely day...just him, 250 gallons of sap from yesterday and the leftovers from the week before. He boiled all the sap in and claims to have eaten his way through all the leftovers. 

It was a very pretty day today on this Ash Wednesday. There was a gentle snow all day that picked up a little in the evening along with the wind. 

Many local schools are delayed or closed for tomorrow morning already by 9:30 pm tonight. 

It was a quiet day. Brad reports he only took the following picture:

Before you waste too much of your life trying to figure out what it is...I had to ask for an explanation.....Brad replied "this is a portrait of the bottom of my boot with a nail in it, no skin broken, tetanus up to date, all good".

The quality of the sap has been excellent. We calculated that it is taking approximately 45.8 gallons of sap to make each gallon of syrup.


Total Sap Today: none collected!
Total Sap To Date:3,598 gallons
Total Syrup Today: 8 gallons
Total Syrup To Date:  75.5 gallons

Tuesday February 25, 2020


The blog was a little light last night as the sap  was a little heavy.  We really did not expect that much sap yesterday. 500 gallons was held over until today for boiling. Brad got started a little early today to address that, but not early enough! 

A temperature differential was expected today with rain changing to snow in the middle of the night, that started to happen already about 4 pm. Big fluffy wet snowflakes fell all evening,..... none of it sticking, but enough to leave you more than damp. 


It was hard to get a picture to share, but Katie's clothes were so wet that when she stood by the evaporator she literally "let off a little steam". As you can see there are assorted layers of wet outerwear hanging to dry in the background. 















Evan, Katie, Adam, Melissa, Curtis, Brad , Bob, Michael and Muff gathered tonight. They returned to the camp appearing wet and tired. There was a respectable run of 270 gallons. The sap is clear and sweet...the sample bottles remain very light in color with little change since we began (the syrup will darken in color and change in flavor as the season progresses). 

The most intelligent conversation of the evening seemed to focus around the difference between Fat Tuesday and Super Tuesday..if there is a difference. So if you were absent tonight, you did not miss much intellectual stimulation. We celebrated super fat Tuesday with Paczki's thanks to Adam and Monster cookies thanks to Melissa. Adam and Katie grilled leftovers out back tonight. 

Most of the action tonight focused on issues with the firepit. Bob was pouring syrup off in the corner and noted a roar in the chimney  behind him. There were orange flames out the stack a couple of feet. He blocked the air intake at the base of the chimney and pulled open the fire box doors to let some heat out for a bit. 

There were some large "clinkers" in the grate that Bob thought might be large enough to be blocking the air flow. So those were removed and "wheelbarreled" outside. Bob is seen here blocking the air flow with a glove. 

 

 The flu pans had to be cleaned out in the middle of the boil tonight, this happened about 9:15pm and really slowed things down..Brad was back from school to help. 

Kelsey arrived later from work and enjoyed the leftover dinner. She pointed out that we have had a rough year ...we perhaps should be keeping track of a daily "burn" count...burns today...burns to date. Bob's left hand got a little singed tonight in the above clinker removal escapade. Adam had a major blow out in his good heat resistant gloves and did a little hand shaking maneuver. (The gang teased him that he would have to ask for a clothing allowance as he also ripped his shirt tonight on firewood.)  Back to the burns...Kelsey had the winner thus far picking up a hot pan off of the blackstone last week  and Bob is sporting a blistered thumb...can't recall when or how that occurred. Brad has burns on both wrists from the steam. Despite working with a fire this hot...nobody can recall past issues with this..we are on a role this year! 

Sap Today: 270 plus 20 gallons
Sap To Date: 3,598 gallons
Syrup Off Today: 10 gallons as of 9:40 pm
Syrup Off To Date: 67.5 gallons



Heading home to my warm bed!

Monday February 24, 2020

Brad, Bob, Kelsey, Melissa, Michael, Bret, Curtis, Tinleigh, Adam, Katie, Dave and Cheryl rounded up 805 gallons tonight in a surprise big run. The rain settled in as they got finished. 

Brad said Melissa had the quote of the day today.... "why a rain jacket?" He quipped that she lives under a rock without weather or news reports.

Total Sap Today: 805 + 35  gallons
Total Sap To Date: 3,308 gallons
Total Syrup Today: 11.5 gallons
Total Syrup To Date: 57.5 gallons

When mom gets home from work and finds out you brought me out here in the rain and mud...after my nice long bath last night, less than 24 hours ago, that got mud all over the bathroom..and took us an hour....you are gonna be in big, big trouble my friend. 

Sunday February 23, 2020

Blessed with another bright sunny day that felt cooler than the thermometer reading of 48. Felt a rather stiff breeze (17 mph) again today. That seemed to be a player again in keeping the sap flow on the low side.

This was a busy day but we admit that we saw the craziness coming.

Adam has the maples in the yard by the church tapped. As we arrived at church...Bob saw buckets with a lot of sap...as much as 75% full. Admittedly, these run heavy as they get full sun and typically donate well, but Bob was a little worried we might have another huge run. Poor Adam was interrogated upon arrival to his pew. They indeed were emptied last eve. We had a fun lunch with our church family complete with Jambalaya per Stu Smith..amazing stuff! Dishwashers only die on busy days and today was the day but many hands make light work and off we went to the next adventure..

Brad and Bob went to the farm first...Bob was bottling syrup while Brad got a few things around at the camp. (Reportedly a lot of talking to Bryan H also occurred!)

An enormous number of folks showed up to help today (almost 30!!) so I apologize if I missed somebody but Gary came with guests and the Phillips family helped out today. Katie, after a few days off, agreed to drive Walle today and the crew was rounded out with Brad, Kelsey, Evan , Curtis, Erin, Tinleigh, Adelynn, 
Adam, Dave and Cheryl, Bret and Molly and Muff and Michael and Nancy and Bryan (LOL I just keep thinking of more people!). Everybody who left the camp did return. Gerri, Bob and Adam stayed in the camp to start a fire and work on some organization of snacks and dinner.

We had a great discussion and comparison about the quality of muck boots! We should purchase stock as we have a quite a collection!












We had a busy weekend and slacked after yesterdays food fest ....so today we had chicken wings, jello and various other leftovers from the week prior...and smores again of course. We have discovered flat marshmallows.....we decided if Cody makes us some by hand (as he did for Christmas), we want them perfectly shaped for smores.

Nancy caught this funny moment when Brad had our all of the 4 legged's attention while he enjoyed his wings and hot dog!

Dorothy showed up (thankfully with Jello for supper) and Dale came for a visit to catch up on the happenings. The camp was a crowded and noisy today with everyone's spirits a bit higher with the hint of spring in the air.

Lola is very possessive of the blue rocker bench...it does not matter who is sitting on it..she is your dog at that moment. They are gonna need a lint roller. 

Thanks for all of the help!



 Total Sap Today: 530 gallons + 26 gallons
Total Sap To Date: 2,468 gallons
Total Syrup Today: 9 gallons
Total Syrup To Date: 46 gallons

Saturday February 22, 2020

The sun graced us with it's presence today!! Pretty but not quite as warm as it looked. There was a stiff breeze out of the south that kept it feeling chilly. 

The trees felt it too....even the middle of the woods had ice in puddles as well as buckets. There seemed to be a little more run on the north side of the woods where the wind was perhaps not as much a factor.

Note the hole in the ice where the sap has been dripping.


The great run of 1050 gallons last Tuesday left us with quite a project in terms of getting that all boiled down...and still working on that today. We had perhaps 250 gallons left in the upper tank so we started a fire early today. The full sun and temps in the upper 40's led us to think we would have a big sap run today...so getting started early seemed wise. Turned out to be a good thing anyway as it was still well after 9 when we shut the evaporator down. 

Finished gathering BEFORE dark tonight!

The boiling was a bit slow today. There was a lot of socializing going on for starters. And a lot of cooking. (The fire served as a cookout today as much as a sap boil. The guys had bologna and bratwurst mid afternoon to tide them over until tacos at 630 which held them until brisket was done an hour later followed by pork loin by 830. Like a five course meal. ) Finally, Adam was not there to keep the fire going and admittedly Bob is spoiled. He had some issues multitasking. And missed Katie asking him oodles of questions. 

 They check the specific gravity of the sap before taking it off of the fire each time....this is WAY too far, example of Bob's troubles keeping up!

Bob seared the pork loin outside and then "baked" it in the bottom of the fire pit. We marinated it in maple syrup...more on that to come! 












Cody's college friends, Dave and Justin, now Rine extended family, wander in like stray cats every now and then. Today was the day. Their enthusiasm kept us laughing today. Dave decided to drive today...that actually went pretty well. Brad clearly enjoyed bossing him around a bit. 

Dave using the tongs as both an eating utensil and a pointer while lecturing Brad..on something.

Quote of the day (by Bob) "keep the flames 4 inches above your bratwurst to avoid the dog taking it". Apparently the dog (piper) had herself a little snack straight from the grill. 


The Michael Shumway family X 5 came to help as well as Brad, Molly, Emily, Kevin, Jenny, Curt, Evan, Kelsey,  Dan C. and Nancy.

Dave and Cheryl came to visit for a bit this evening and enjoy the warm fire. Erin and Tinleigh came in time for dinner. Aunt Susan spent most of the afternoon and early evening with us but admitted it was sill a bit cool for her. 

Curt toasted marshmallows and smores were enjoyed! There was a loud card game, some sampling of brownies and "failed " strawberry pie. 

Tinleigh busied herself with drawing. We enjoyed a game of Otrio, Tinleigh won the first round fair and square. Bob seems to have enough "blank canvas wood" for her to make beautiful pictures for awhile. Spent some of her downtime tonight trying on buddy Brad's boots. 










Total Sap Today: 260 + 10  gallons
Total Sap To Date: 1,912 gallons
Total Syrup Today: 9 gallons
Total Syrup To Date: 37 gallons

Wednesday February 19, 2020


Gerri arrived last at the camp tonight...as usual..and stood outside for a moment to take in the smell of the boiling sap and the gales of laughter coming from inside. These people were clearly enjoying themselves!

The weather took a dip for the cooler side today and although there was perhaps a small run we had no plans to collect today...especially since there was no room to put it... anywhere!

Brad has his priorities straight and headed from his morning classes to the grocery to get everything he thought he would need to get through the afternoon alone. A picture of his survival cart:

He started a fire in the evaporator at 1230 and said it took him until almost 3pm to start taking syrup off. There is usually a lead time of at least an hour from fire start to having syrup ready to take off but today the air is damp and boiling is a bit slower than typical.

The tanks are as full as we have seen them..especially both of them. Here is a picture taken last night.





Dinner included Brad's hot dogs, some pizza , a salad and various side dishes enjoyed by Jenny, Kevin, Kelsey,Evan, Brad, Adam, Katie (and Teddy) and Gerri. 

During said dinner Brad says a choice word and runs into the storage barn as fast as we've seen him move in some time....Adam flatly said after him.."Hey Brad...top tank is full might want to shut the pump off." The sap waterfall , photographed by Brad's sister , had already began. Brad expressed some dismay that Kelsey took his picture and watched him as tools were getting wet .....instead of helping him. Since nobody could stop laughing and Brad was "sapping wet" his complaints didn't dampen the mood for too many seconds. He spent the next 2 hours attempting to dry his flannel shirt by the fire box without igniting it. 

Bob took the night off last night and returned with fresh enthusiasm. Or got tired of hearing about what happened last night and decided to address it. He planned a super fun activity for the evening. He ran off copies of the aerial photo of the woods and passed them out. He asked everyone to draw a picture of the paths and label them. His summation of this project is that it is clear to him how differently everyone visualizes "where they are in the woods" and how to get from one place to another efficiently. Which always matters to Bob, and matters to nobody else unless it is getting dark.

The group took this project pretty serious... Brad working off in a corner by himself where he could concentrate, Katie labeled hers carefully, Evan sought some help from technology..........

Below is a composite of the attempts. Melissa will be asked to do one upon return. They cackled for some time about how jagged her concept must seem. Easy to make fun of her as she was absent. Cody and Amy will have to mail their versions in!

We may frame these. Best group activity in awhile. Katie's version was fan favorite as she had new and creative names for the paths! ?
She also won the quote of the day..picking up Bob's map to get started she turned it at several angles  and asked "where is the camp?" Bob replied, "your in it!!"

The Woods According to Katie

Dave stopped in for a visit and is trying to understand our activity.

Bob actually suggested that we could set up the gps tracker and drive through the woods to get the
true path....he was reminded by all present...been there, done that driving in the dark through the woods yesterday and NOT gonna try it again!

Gerri asked at 930 how many inches left in the tank...this is the usual end of the night question wanting to know how many inches are in the upper tank yet to gravity feed into the evaporator..Adam answered "which tank?" Bad answer. It does not look like they will get all of the sap boiled in tonight.

WE HAVE A LATE ENTRY INTO THE DRAWING CONTEST!!!!..CODY SENDS HIS RENDITION (CHUCK WOULD BE PROUD OF THIS)

He missed the instructions about only using markers...but we appreciate the detailed efforts!



Sap Today : 22 gallons (Adam brought)
Sap To Date:1,552 gallons
Syrup off Today: 20 gallons
Syrup off To Date: 28.5 gallons plus

Tuesday February 18, 2020

Last night was a bit late. The guys came home (with tired dogs in tow)...at 1130pm. Every morning starts with excited dogs greeting you..this morning started with snoring dogs..the dogs and their humans were wiped out.







Quote of the day (by Melissa) "well this was a fun day!!" 


It was. One thousand fifty gallons of fun. 

In many, many years of collecting sap, we will remember this one fondly. 

This was a somewhat gray overcast day that felt cooler than the thermometers 43 degrees.

Bob and Evan made plans for the evening and Brad had school tonight so that cut into our work crew rather deeply. Therefore...the plan was to gather up the sap and let it sit until tomorrow. 

We were blessed once again to have great help from our friends and neighbors..Kevin, Jenny, Curtis, Bret, Melissa, Katie, Adam, Nancy, Kelsey and eventually Gerri helped gather our little run. We filled Walle three times!!

Brad helped with the first half or so...hard to keep track...but he had to get to school. We had a little accident with Walle last year.....and by we , we mean Kelsey...no front headlights...generally not an issue....tonight this was a problem...we replaced them with Curtis holding a flash light while riding on the back. It worked. 


When we drain the sap out of Walle, we have one pump that has several hoses/valves so we can run the sap to two different tanks/scenarios. 

Kelsey is watching the level up top, filled the top tank to within an inch of the top, bottom within 2 inches.




Had to face-time Brad to figure out the order of the valves, switches and timing. Poor Adam made one more trip to the woods to double check all this stuff at 9 pm.

Dark settles in quick in the woods.  The last pass was made with Melissa walking with a lantern down into the woods....for a bit along the wrong path :).....with Gerri driving Walle following her. This ended with Adam taking over the driving to make a tight turn and eventually find the full buckets we left behind. Bret was counting buckets exactly and frustrated as he could not find trees as described to him,    and was informed by Melissa and Kelsey that the number they shot him was only an estimate. Too dark to see eyes rolling. 

It took an embarassing amount of time for the group to figure out how much sap we had tonight..a banker, an ag salesman, someone who works with investments and has a degree in accounting and our newest MBA debated a long time til the banker summarized "a really lot". 

Thank you to Jack and Marsha and your dining room table for hosting us for chili and apples afterwords. Appreciated the warmth!

There was enthusiastic discussion about guest editors and contributing photographers...but these people all missed the publishing deadline ...so perhaps more pics tomorrow!




Sap Today: 1,050 gallons
Sap To date: 1,530 gallons
Syrup Today: 0
Syrup To Date: 8.5 gallons