And then, it was over...

The sugaring season is over for my parents. The trees stopped have stopped producing, even though it has seemed like weather for good runs, and the buckets have been taken down.

The final take for this season was over 5 gallons (or, more impressively, 40 pints) from 17 taps. There was a wide variance of colors, as this picture shows, but it all tastes great.

Between now and next season, we hope to figure out how to keep more heat in the evaporator, and less in the stack. We're using a simple barrel stove setup, as shown in a previous post. After the first boiling session, which seems rather inefficient, my dad installed a damper and a baffle which helped quite a bit. However, the stove pipe goes through two clay thimbles as it exits the shack, and the outer one still gets way too hot to touch.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

back to sugaring

We had a good break for a few days here . The weather says cold nights and warm days for awhile so we will most likely boil again tomorrow Sunday . We did a count and found 16 gallons on the shelf and people have taken some so we are half way to our goal of 30 gallons . We are still having trouble getting the evaporator working good . The book says it should talk off 40 to 45 gallons of sap per hour but we are doing around half of that. with the snow down we can now get to better wood (hemlock slabs ) so that might help. Going to get a little sawing done before we gather in the afternoon. Jim

Mid-March Sugaring in Cornish

No sap for a couple of days here . we went around and saved some sap but mostly dumped buckets on the ground . Moths and yellow sap. We have kept no record this year but have around 14 gallons, some lighter and some dark . The dark still has a good flavor and the lighter stuff is not fancy . Silas is firing up as we speak to get rid of what sap we have and so we can start fresh next time . We also not sure how many taps but we think around 150 . here are a few pics of our crew .
Jim

Boiling in Corinth, VT

We have had a good stretch of weather and boiled for a the last four days. Our pan is too small for 80 taps but that's what we have. It's nice to have tubing. Not much trouble gathering. Here is a picture of the evaporator. As you can see we have a lot of company for the boiling. Not much conversation though. I have a 120 gallon tank that stores sap to trickle in. It's fairly efficient for a 40" x 60" inch pan.
Gabe

March Madness

My dad is expecting some strong runs over the next week. Unfortunately, I'll be in Dallas all week and won't be able to pitch in.

I participated in a different Northeast Ohio spring activity this morning - fly fishing for steelhead in the Chagrin river. I didn't catch a thing, but it was a great way to spend a couple hours.

It seems to me that spending hours upon hours boiling down slightly sweet tree sap and standing in a river when it 25 degrees out are both a bit more "mad" than watching a lot of basketball games on TV.

March Madness

My dad is expecting some strong runs over the next week. Unfortunately, I'll be in Dallas all week and won't be able to pitch in.

I participated in a different Northeast Ohio spring activity this morning - fly fishing for steelhead in the Chagrin river. I didn't catch a thing, but it was a great way to spend a couple hours.

It seems to me that spending hours upon hours boiling down slightly sweet tree sap and standing in a river when it 25 degrees our are both a bit more "mad" than watching a lot of basketball games.

Days of Sugaring Past

Not sugaring this year (unless I visit a friend or two) but I thought I would post a couple of pictures from sugaring in Cornish, NH in 2005 and 2006. With the Fitch family we tapped 50 trees or so and built a barrel boiler with stainless steel pan. We made it real easy to boil when you wanted to and to go to bed when you wanted to do that. Here is Graham checking out the gear and a second photo of sleigh rides in 2006. I think we tried collecting sap with the Fitch's horses at least once, but mostly we walked and used a truck.

Jim Fitch is going all out this year. Hopefully he will post his experiences! The weather here in Cumberland, MD suggests a short and sweet sugaring season, but my only evidence is the temperature (now staying above freezing at night pretty regularly) and the good flow coming down the few sugar maples in my woods. Graham likes to go lick the bottom of the trees. By the time the sap gets down there it has evaporated some and is usually pretty sweet. He calls them "licking trees."

Sugaring in Homeworth, OH

My dad has been tapping the old maple trees on his property in Homeworth, Ohio for a few years. Up until this year, he and my mom have been boiling down the sap over high BTU propane burners. This year, I was able to convince my dad to set up a wood burning rig.

He went all out, converting an old grain shed to a sugar shack, putting in trap doors in the ceiling to let steam out, and installing lighting. He's been playing around with the firebox design to try to keep all of the heat from going up the stack. I think he's enjoying it more than when he was using propane.

More pictures can be found here.