Saturday March 20, 2021

Sunny and relatively still day today. We have had a typical March week in Ohio of rain, wind and a few snow showers Thursday afternoon. It was cool last night dropping down to 32 but not freezing. The trees ran a little today in the warm sun. Gerri had the privilige of taking the bucket check walk today to find a couple with 4 inches and many with none. Most with a bug or two though! 

Adam came up with the idea to grab the sap and boil in what we have while pulling the taps at the same time. We decided that we are all tired and gathering up tubing and lids, no matter how much help, was asking a little much of everyone. We settled for emptying the buckets and putting them along with the lids at the edge of the path. These can be grabbed another day. The forecast moving forward is warm. Unanimous vote to cut our losses and start the inevitable shut down/clean up process. 

The gang was large and made light work this evening. Ma Sue Parks her grandkids X 4 in tow this evening and Phillip Shumway brought his band of now experienced workers rounded out by Dale driving, Nancy, Gerri , Brad, Kelsey and Evan. Aunt Susan made a trek out to visit tonight. The walk was spectacular tonight. Still relatively dry despite the recent rain, no undergrowth yet and no wind to contend with this evening either. We talked that we have been relatively lucky this year and have not had to work in the dark much. Phillip and Gerri laughed that they rarely show up on time during the week to do the South Path so that was a special treat for them. 

Gerri ran to town to get Pizza and Salad. She was gone a long, long time. Did not go to Italy to get it, but might have been able to in the time frame this took. Sorry to all who missed it! 

This writer is not sure what happened  (guessing the syrup boiled a little too far), but the only thing more distressing than Adam and Brad fighting is when they are  excessively in cahoots, laughing  and discussing how "Bob does not need to know what just happened here". Bob was visiting with his Aunt Susan on the other side of the steam. He eventually came over to inquire but lips remained tight. 

The Parks kids checked out the sheep. Knox was NOT a fan HaHa. 

The day was spent hauling sheep manure and rearranging the critters. They loved the sun! This was the first venture out for the little lambs ...wish we had a video of that romp!

Sap Today: 140 gallons

Sap To Date: 

Syrup Off Today:

Syrup Off To Date: 99.5 plus.....

 Tuesday March 16th, 2021

Collecting sap "one tablespoon at a time"........quote of the day from Melissa! So true! Many buckets had little more than a TBSP..but the bigger picture is we added them together to make an impressive 150 gallons. 

Runner up quote of the day from Brad "glad we saved this sap...i bet we can make a whole pint of syrup from this that may or may not taste good..time well spent!"

Bob drove today in Dale's absence and he made an effort to tamp down the paths a bit to work on the ruts. Melissa , Collin, Evan, Kelsey, Gerri , Adam and Katie got the sap tonight.The woods is so unbelievably dry. The walk was easier than most tonight with lighter loads and crunchy leaves beneath your feet. 

Brad made a trip to the roof and declared the chimney a terminal problem that will need addressed as soon as the season is over or as soon it falls down..whichever is first. 

We had leftovers and subs for dinner during a quick boil in tonight.(The evaporator pan was full of water so they drained that and it quickly filled with our new sap. Bob's theory was to boil the sap a bit to cut down on the bacteria and see what happens later in the week. 

We were thankful for a beautiful walk tonight and the time change giving us some extra daylight this evening. We teased Evan about great names for the new ram lamb. He was not amused with most of our suggestions (Amos, Lester, Liam, and Charlie were some of our great suggestions 😁)

Total Sap Today: 150 gallons

Total Sap To Date: 4,657 gallons

Total Syrup Off Today; not even a pint, zero

Total Syrup Off To Date: 99.5 gallons

 Sunday March 14, 2021 

Happy "pi" day. Bob's first words today. Forgot the time change. And the inlaws coming for breakfast, but remembered pi day. 

So returning to Saturday March 13, we sadly started at the funeral home for the passing of neighbor/farmer Leroy Burkin. We did enjoy meeting with his kids and grandkids again though. Came home anticipating a flood of sap and people. It was cool last eve and the sun is warm today so we fully expected a good run.

Grocery errands and some food prep for the blackstone started the day. Amy made fan favorite bierocks for lunch today..they were great! Most of the afternoon was spent cleaning at the farm,....yet another barn..long story. Maybe detail that later. 

Bob and Gerri ran to check buckets at 3 pm and were a little shocked...little to no sap. Likely less than the 150 gallons we collected Thursday morning! It felt breezy and cool, even inside the woods. Cody, the guest maple producer for the weekend, decided to forego collecting since there would be so little to boil.

His groupies came to the house for the evening....Dave G. , Justin and Christa (she is real!! not imaginary...our apologies Justin.....we really like her tooo!!...not that you care the way we have treated you.), Scott and Shana with Quin and Case along, Evan, Kelsey, Vivian, and Brad. Cody gave a quick tour of the woods that they had come to see in the first place!  They enjoyed dinner thanks to Lee's Chicken and help from the Cleveland family. Thanks Melissa! The blackstone veggies got thrown in and on the stove. Smores did not happen. A great deal of spirited conversation regarding grain bins, how to weigh manure, replacing poles on buildings, how much Brad enjoys helping Dave drive dilapidated farm equipment for miles cross country instead of  "trailoring it" and Dave explaining how much he enjoyed tearing down a barn one piece at a time when he thought he had been invited to run a bulldozer and about a thousand other things. Everyone had a good time and some actual good information may have been exchanged. Justin has been appointed chairman of the farm advisory board. 

Sunday came early (time change day also!) as the two from Kansas were anxious to get back on the road home. We had breakfast with Dale, Karen, Dorothy, Muff, Bob and Gerri and Brad. (Kelsey and Evan went to Evan's beloved Brown County for a quick visit with family and to pick up a ram lamb. This adventure went well but they did not return until approximately 6 pm and they looked whipped!)

Cody and Amy got on the road by 1015 and headed west. Gerri went to a meeting at church and Bob spent the afternoon working on farm yield reports. We decided to gather what little was out there as the trees did not run again today !!

Vivian and her mother Sherry and brother Colton joined Don, Gerri, Nancy, Brad, Mark, Susan and Adam to gather.  Dale sacrificed watching the end of the OSU game to drive Walle.  Bob eventually rolled in and started a fire which couldn't be done too early anyway. Most buckets were empty or just had a very small amount in them. The sap is clear. Ants are prevalent. The woods is very dry. Today the wind was brisk and cold on the north side of the woods! Your face felt almost windburned at the end of the north path. Adam and Bob discussed that the woods is very dry and the wind likely combine to shut down the flow. The buds are beginning to pop on the Maple trees, this changes the sugar content and taste of the sap so we may be done. (We have read on other blogs that the southern part of Ohio had a similar abrupt stop to the season as well.) 

 Colton..next time, might be easier to not try following the guy with the longest legs around!

We emptied out about 150 gallons of sap into the camp and Brad filled the tank with water and brought that back  to chase in the evaporator. The syrup came off really dark tonight. A rather sudden change. We ate the leftover brownies and mac and cheese from last night. Don brought some wine and a dessert to share. We horned in on the Bishop family Sunday night family call and enjoyed talking with Drew and Kat! Kelsey and Evan came home and stopped in for brief visit. Cody called and he and Amy just crossed the Missouri River so they are making good time homebound. Gerri left early to wash the dogs. Not a very easy or gratifying task, but well tolerated. It was a good call to NOT have done this last night as the aroma of wet dog pretty much has filled the house! 

The game is now wait and see what mother nature has in store next! 

Total Sap Today: 150 gallons

Total Sap To Date: 4,507 

Total Syrup Today: 7 gallons

Total Syrup To Date: 99.5 gallons.......so close😲

Thursday, March 11th, 2021

Nancy snapped this photo of the sunset before leaving Tuesday night. What a gorgeous sky!

The workers are a bit tired this week so you are getting a 3-day update today. Thank you, Karen for the encouragement to write this. 

The blog author has been rising at 4:30 AM and going to bed at 11:30 PM, so a new author is in today. (This may not bode well for our readers.)

Complaints were aired this week, Bob has recommended that anyone who wishes to file an official complaint about anything, they should submit them in writing on single-ply and drop them in the red booth. 

Tuesday, March 9th

Alright, back to business. Tuesday began with Evan and Kelsey checking the woods around 1:30pm both of them were off of work so they took a leasurely stroll through the woods. They quickly notified Bob and Brad that there was a considerable amount of sap in the woods and we would definitely be collecting. Bob issued a text to the crew to gather at 5:15pm. 

Brad fashioned a new motion sensored light on the side of the sap building, utilizing a whole created by a woodpecker. The jury is still out on whether this light is indeed effective.

Brad, Evan, Dale, and Kelsey headed into the woods around 4:30 to collect the Center Loop which produced a little over 160 gallons of sap. Once their pre-workout was complete, the four headed back up to the camp and waited to join the remaining gatherers. The main crew included Nancy, Muff, Gerri, Bret, Melissa, Vivian, Michael, Bryan H., Phillip, Kiley, Aiden, Isabella, Susan B, Adam, and 4 dogs. Together they collected 662 gallons, Bob noted the crew seemed relatively tired when they returned to camp. 

Ranger seems to be enjoying his trips to the woods, Nancy is becoming a professional at the dog wash station now as a result!

Dinner included pancakes on the blackstone and Bellevue Meats hot italian sausage links over the fire. There were several critics assisting with dinner, Kelsey has been reprimanded for "patting" the pancakes after flipping them. Michael saved the sausage from burning by turning them every few minutes. Regardless of the feedback everyone was quiet once they began eating!

Bob, Adam, Brad, Michael, and Evan closed up the camp at 11:00 PM. According to Bob the report back on how much sap was left sparked a colorful response, we will let you use your imagination. 

Total Sap Today: 662

Total Sap To Date:3,757

Total Syrup Today: 13 gallons

Total Syrup To Date: 83.3 gallons

Wednesday, March 10th

Wednesday was a quiet evening in the woods, although there was 1-2 inches of sap in the buckets the team opted to leave it. Surprisingly enough, Bob beat everyone to the sugar camp. Adam soon joined him to man his post by the fire, followed by Brad. Evan and Kelsey arrived to the camp to visit and set out syrup to fill orders. Evan and Bob ended up bottling up syrup for orders and Kelsey disappeared. The men boiled in over 330 gallons of sap and pulled off 7 gallons of syrup.

Total Syrup Today: 7 gallons

Total Syrup To Date: 90.5

This is a photo of the last picture taken on Tuesday night and the first picture taken on Wednesday night. 

Thursday, March 11th

Wednesday rolled into Thursday as Cody and Amy came home from the great state of Kansas at 3:00 AM. They quite literally hit the ground running on Thursday morning. Gerri, Cody, and Amy headed into the woods to check buckets. It was a sunny warm morning and a few buckets had 4-5 inches of sap in them now! They decided they should be picked up so they do not sour in the heat. Anyone in the area might know that it did not get that warm in Seneca county today however it was windy. Brad arrived as they were finishing and issued them all a warning about the high winds. Cody and Amy boiled in the sap throughout the day and enjoyed a day spent in the woods. 

We hope you enjoyed this update as much as we enjoyed taking over for Gerri. Now we will go back to the regular scheduled programming. 

Total Sap Today: 150 gallons

Total Sap To Date: 3,907 gallons

Total Syrup Today: 2 gallons

Total Syrup To Date: 92.5 gallons

-Bob's Blog Takeover March 11, 2021, over and out....

Ut oh........

 Monday March 8, 2021

Today was one of those days that renews your faith that spring is coming. There was little breeze and lots of warm sun. Enough to make our trees cry big sappy tears. Buckets were 1/4 to a half full on average making for a nice run of 685 gallons. Evan dumped buckets and Walle tonight so the white board was properly utilized. Honestly not sure about this other than the punch line..the circled number. 

We were thankful for our faithful sap elves who warriored through the 9-5 to show up for a little cardio in the woods. We had quite a crew tonight and appreciated everyone!

Dale drove Walle and workers seemed to float in about the rate of sap. One drip arrived at a time. No offense.....just tired and feeling punchy.  Hope we did not miss anybody....one of those nights where the head count outbound and inbound was not very clear. Volunteers tonight included , but may not be limited to 3 dogs, Bryan N. , Bryan H. , Brad, Vivian, Evan,  Susan,Adam, Dean, Muff, Kelsey, Megan, Natalie, Melissa, Gerri, Michael, Brad. Katie was stuck with Bob in the camp working on dinner, the fire and dog sitting. 

Walle's tank,  full to the brim, is 325 gallons. Susan is holding a cap we use so that we do not spill much sap back out of the tank. 

Brad and Bryan visiting and teasing others as to why they no longer have "2" buckets. Nancy thought it would be fun to mark a single gathering bucket on day one and see where it ends up by the end of the season! 

Gerri wanted to get a pic of the angle of Walle in some of the deep holes. Ended up with a funnier picture of the angle of Susan and Evan avoiding the branches. 

You can tell the first beautiful day lifts the spirits of all as the laughter and the argueing both seem to be on an upswing. The most fun aspect of the day is listening to the themeless conversation. Brad had some great stories about his new part time job. Bob tried once again to help the ever entertaining Dave G and his neighborhood sap boil. Natalie got a syrup tour. Susan got a lamb tour. Adam got sassy with Bob....who failed to use the proper insulation rope...pointed out earlier by several 20 somethings that were ignored. Subjects ranged from baseball, to what's up with Easter services....how Bob got addicted to Farm Tok, recipes and quilting. Something for everyone. Fried bologna and cole slaw and Aunt Dorothy's jello rounded out our evening. The guys decided that there is something unique in Susan B. 's brownies...(not THAT unique)...but they like them and would like to try them again.  

Bob and Evan grabbed a few buckets on the short north path to put in the evaporator as it apparently was burnt down fairly low last eve. Week nights the goal is to get that fire hot asap to make bedtime a little more reasonable. 

This is our neopolitan finishing pan!

Total Sap Today: 685 gallons

Total Sap To Date: 3.095 gallons

Total Syrup Today: 13 gallons

Total Syrup To Date: 57.5 gallons + 13= 70.5 gallons

 Sunday March 7, 2021

Blessed with another gorgeous sunny day. Nobody stripped too many layers off collecting today though as it still feels mighty brisk out. 

There was a lot of discussion about whether gathering both Saturday and Sunday this weekend might be overkill...turns out it was a brilliant idea! There were 290 gallons in the woods tonight. 

This morning was on-line and consistory meeting via zoom afterwards. 4-H met tonight as well. 

Rita, Eliza and Catherine came for a visit today to see the sheep and take in some country air. (Rita is a coworker of Kelsey's). They spent the afternoon admiring the lambs and taking in the syrup operation. 

We had to laugh....for early in the season.....the sap elves are struggling. We all felt the walk a little more than typical tonight. Bob said it seemed to be a unanimous vote that it was rough. The pace was rather brisk with fewer folks! Piper did not even move Sunday morning with the racket of folks walking in and out. 

Dale chauffeured the trip this afternoon again. Nancy, Gerri, Kelsey, Evan and Melissa grabbed the sap today. Kelsey enjoyed bossing grandpa today! Evan and Dale were lucky guys to the spend this afternoon with the girls. 

The game now is dry leaves on top of slime and mud. There remains snow on the north side of the woods.

Adam and Brad both took PTO today. Bob had to work!! Both of them did show up...eventually. 

The guys left 150 gallons last night so Bob started a fire about 2:30 pm today and walked in the door atypically early before 9 pm!

Total Sap Today: 290 gallons

To Sap To Date: 2,410 gallons

Total Syrup Today: 10 gallons

Total Syrup To Date: 57.5 gallons 

; 

 Saturday March 6, 2021

Another busy Saturday. The morning found everyone making errands to town for supplies and the obligatory bank and grocery runs. The sun once again looked warm but peaked the temperature out at about 38 today. There was no wind to speak of and the trees apparently appreciated that as they ran more than expected. 

Backtracking to Thursday March 4th, the whole gang (except Gerri) worked for 4 hours or so on boiling in what did not get finished on Wednesday night. Kelsey made philly beef sandwiches on the griddle. There was apparently a lengthy and somewhat hilarious video discussion with Dave G. and his neighbors about their newby syrup making....the synopsis of which sounded like judgement calls on taking syrup off depended on the availablity of beverages and how close to bedtime it was getting. 

The view from on high of the front pan!

on Thursday March 4th

Total Syrup Off: 5 gallon

Total To Date: 32.5

Bob seriously considered NOT gathering today (Saturday) and waiting until tomorrow. Some buckets had little sap today and few were half full..so this was a harder call. Good thing we decided to go though...560 gallons found there way back to the camp. Brad wrote the number on the wall today and it says 561 because Brad is Brad. In this very poor picture you can see that we have added a white board to the dump area in the storage barn. The idea is to help us remember how much is dumped each time. This is a really great idea that is not working at all......yet. We will keep trying. 

Kelsey and Evan waiting for Walle to dump. 

Please do not miss enjoying Dave in the above photo in the background. Photographer never noticed that. Shot about 4 pics of this. Made for a good laugh at 11 pm. 

Dale drove again today relating that he felt a little stiff getting out of Walle 2 hours later. Nancy, Adam, Dave G. , Gerri, Kelsey, Evan, Brad and Vivian gathered. It was a nice walk and rather amazing how the water has gone down in the woods since the the middle of the week. 

Directing traffic, Brad has been our gathering leader. This is about as gratifying as herding cats. Brad gets our fun award for today as he requested 3 people follow him,.....he walked 20 yards...looked around...and said woops..i am not where I thought I was. The 3 girls following him took a moment to celebrate this as this almost never happens. We savored the moment. 

3 dumps tonight to our surprise...2 of them even got written on the board!

Adam outworked everyone once again by splitting some wood that did not want to be split. Brad was asked to help Adam and he retorted that he wanted Adam to sleep well so he let him go a bit. 

Brad and Vivian cooked campfire hotdogs outback and we had a rather quiet dinner. 

Apparently contemplating how to make SMORES . They were sucessful! Vivian did some waitressing.  Dave provided us with reggae music that nobody liked and only Brad really voiced opposition to his face. Bob talked finances with the guys while he intermittently tried to school Dave in syrup making. Dave interjected occasionally while laughing "that's not how we do it." And Bob replied "I know." The girls discussed dog washes and why it felt SOOO cold in the camp tonight. (The dogs are incredibly dirty, if you pet them, a cloud of dust arises like the cartoon Pigpen from Peanuts!)

Total Sap Today: 560 gallons

Total Sap To Date: 2,120 gallons

Total Syrup Off Today: 15 gallons

Total Syrup Off To Date: 47.5 gallons

Total Sap Today: 590 gallons

Total Sap To Date: 2,120

Total Syrup Off Tonight: 15 gallons

Total Syrup Off To Date: 47.5 gallons

 Wednesday March 3, 2021

Hump day. Lots of sap for a weeknight. Brad checked buckets early (since he is a night shifter this week) and Bob sent out a text stating that there was both a lot of mud and lot of sap. Both were true! We noted the Boyer family camp to be running tonight as well!

Phillip, Kiley, Courtney, Michael, Nancy, Brad, Dean, Bryan H. and Adam gathered with Dale driving. Bob and Katie got the firebox going and cleaned up the Blackstone for dinner. Gerri joined in time to start the north path. 

Walle was dumped three times tonight so that adds to the gathering time as well. Brad put the lid on the tank so the sap would not slosh out on the way back to the camp before we made a full loop. This required Phillip to move some full buckets by hand to another path. Bob called Evan and Kelsey to come up from the barn to help finish as there was quite a nice run tonight. The lights were needed at the tail end despite our best efforts. 

This was a really nice feeling day with warm sun and little wind. There is still some snow on the north side of the woods, but that can be seen to be fading daily. 

Dale and Karen got cheese for us for dinner so we made grilled cheese sandwiches. We also had grilled broccoli which we decided was a "do again", (sorry if you missed that in the first wave). The short order cooks were tired and unorganized. There was a unanimous conversation that we all love the blackstone griddle. We discussed what we might cook on it next. Gerri forgot the griddle foil so we covered the top (after cleaning and seasoning) with new garbage bags. Bob measured and used the chain saw to cut wood to lay on top to keep this covered. During this process he asked Evan what the wide board was propped up against the wall. Evan flatly replied "the cover for the griddle from last year". Bob expressed appreciation. 

Outside of the gift of a gorgeous day...the only other highlight of the evening was Adam announcing rather loudly for everyone to relax...he pumped up sap into the upper tank and saved the day. Indeed the back of the evaporator pan was a bit shallow and the milk bowl was empty. Only Adam noticed. He is our hero. He deserves a promotion...to something that really sounds important. We will have to think about that one!

The final ewe to plunk out lambs did so at 1230 am or thereabouts this morning. Kelsey went to the farm to discover them at 1245 am. Brad was the only person with whom she could share her good news at that hour!  #17 and # 18 are both ram lambs....who will likely be off to market...so they will remain thing #17 and thing #18.  Their mother's name is Buttercup. All Bob could think of last night was "not Sparkles" so he has suggested a permanent name change.

Gerri got the sap count the first and only time she asked from Brad and Adam tonight....620 gallons in 3 trips. 

Quote of the day (actually from Tuesday) belongs to Bryan H. Gerri pointed to buckets in the distance that would be next along the way "so is there an easier way to get there than straight ahead?" AND, he also wins the award for best missed photo op..no idea what he was doing, only caught the tail end of a manly maneuver where he was picking up a log, throwing it off to the side of the path only to have it bounce and roll and back toward him. Brad and Gerri got a glimpse of this...and Bryan heard them laughing over the noise of Walle.  Nobody had a camera out...Dale may have more details. Bryan did entertain us with tales of his extrication of a black bird from his house earlier this eve. To be a fly on that wall! Apparently this is an easier job for him than most as he reports his black birds are intellectually challenged. 

The dogs were even a little tired and willing to take the first bus home tonight. Ranger ran possibly harder and farther than last night! 

Social distancing does not include your dog. If it is possible for a dog to give you the stink eye...we think Teddy perfected it tonight. His demeanor apparently improved at home. 

 

Brad was off to night shift. Bob and Adam are much more realistic in their plans stating that there is no way they are going to boil all of this in tonight. 

Total Sap Today: 620 gallons

Total Sap To Date: 1,560 gallons

Total Syrup Off Today:10 gallons

Total Syrup Off To Date: 27.5 gallons