Sunday....M-A-R-A-T-H-O-N Boil!

We had the longest and most marathon-type boil today. While I was enrout back from Skiing, Tim had his sap and had the evaporator fired up at 7am. It is 8:15 pm and we just got done, and we didn't even finish it. We boiled down over 150 gallons of sap, to the finish pan. Currently we have around 8 gallons of "sweet" which we will finish and bottle Monday night.

We have our work cut out for us though...The buckets are soaking and we have 40 gallons in storage for next weekend. Should be another fun weekend ahead!

More later...

Hello from Sugarloaf

Ethan and I collected 40 gallons on Tuesday Morning. We had one minor "man down" when I let a 5 gallon pail of sap spill on the road as I tried to fill the transport tank. Oh well.

Tim reports 55 gallons in storage as of today, and I hope to have the buckets emptied this afternoon and back on the trees for the rest of the week. Sap is really starting to run. Maybe this will be a make up for last year, which wasn't so great for the industry.

More later.

First Boil Complete

full steam ahead!
Tim stokin the fiyah
Fillin her up!
Gotta be level. This was not easy!
Tim brought over his load of sap on Saturday and we decided to try this bad-boy out. Loaded her up with 15 gallons of sap and started the fire. We had full-on boil in under 20 min, and we fine tuned our air venting for the fire. At about 5 PM we had boiled down about 50 or so gallons between the two of us. I think we were averaging about 10-12 GPH evaporation which is pretty darn good for our first try on wood.

some pictures are below for your enjoyment because I know I have so many loyal fans following this, LOL

Taps In!

taps are in! 40 in  total- with another 40 on Red Maples at Tims house. Should keep us busy.

Feb 2009 Update

Welcome back to some of you who have not been following. We have big plans for syrup 2009.

As you probably saw we have the addition of the 2'x6' W.F. Mason wood fired evaporator made by Bill Mason of Porter Maine. Bill is a great guy, and has made evaporators for years.

This year I have added 

15-20 new taps,  so I hope to be close to 40 or 45. This should bring us some good return. In addition to this, Tim is also tapping many more red maples in his yard to add to the mix.

A few pics for you to see: The first one is the bricking proces

s of the maple syrup evaporator. The entire inside is lined with firebrick (similar to a wood stove) to keep the heat in while you are boiling. I think we will need 110 bricks when all is said and done.

Second pic is the addition of a large in-ground sap storage tank. 150 gallons. No more trash cans (I hope!). Anyway, stay tuned for more pics and info as we gets the taps in and start collecting.

Thinking about spring

Well, its been a tough summer. I think about syrup every day and getting down to the last few quarts of syrup we made in 2008 is sad. I feel a weird connection to it.

I had the good fortune of meeting a great Mainer who has been making maple syrup supplies and equipment for many many years. Though used, I was able to pick up a new 2x6 foot wood fired maple syrup evaporator from him which I am very excited about.

With a wood fired evaporator comes splitting and cutting tons of wood. Becca and I have made good use of the pine trees which have fallen on the property and I have been splitting them up.

We are also planning on locating the syrup operation in the shed this year. Tim has been over to discuss the modifications needed to get it up and going. More to come on that part of the project.

I do have one picture of the new evaporator which is above to left. Dont worry, more pictures to come soon enough.

Things are in the works for 2009

Thanks for checking back. If you have been around me since last spring you know I have been thinking about syrup every single day. BIG plans for the 2009 spring sugari'n season. Looks like the sugar shack may may happen, and the purchase of a 2x6 wood fired evaporator is on the horizon.

Stay tuned. I also hope to add a bunch more taps this year. Looking forward to a good season!