What a great wife

[butch361]

This is my third year making syrup. I started out with five taps and a barrel stove. Then the next year I made a 2x4 evaporator and 20 taps. Now my wife has told me to order another 30 drop lines. At this rate I will have to find more trees and a bigger evaporator. She is hooked as much as I am.

[stoweski]

My 'sap hauler' just puts up with me. I keep adding taps each year and she keeps emptying buckets. As long as I'm there to haul the 5 gallon buckets when they get full she'll keep emptying.

She likes the exercise.

[adk1]

havent quite gotten my wife on line with everything yet. That is part of the problem.

[Haynes Forest Products]

YEA my first and second wife's would rather go to Vegas. So I went east and taped and they went away. Now my 3rd is good at all of it:)

[adk1]

Haynes, tell me you have internet in the saphouse cause that is where you should be right now right! ha...Well, my wife is all for me doing it, besides it costing too much. haha But I dont expect alot of assistance from her

[Russell Lampron]

My wife was the one that talked me into buying a brand new evaporator instead of a used one when I bought mine. She also helps with the gathering and canning.

[sfsshadow]

my new wife likes sugaring,almost as much as me.she has helped me add almost 1000 new taps,right by my side on snowshoes. she is also great help for tapping because her legs are so long!

[GramaCindy]

and I am on the "other hand" I am the "wife" and hopefully "he" will help me on the weekends that he can be here.

[adk1]

Grama, get that 2x4 cranking. Cant wait to hear you progress!

[Dan W]

The warden here gives me all the moral support there is but, I am really a one man show. Tapping, gathering, boiling, bottling, and selling is all on me. She is good at eating my syrup on the pancakes and waffles that I make too. I never hear anything negative about the any of my hobbies. Couldn't ask for a better one though. She's the best!!!

[captnsteve]

My wife calls it my midlife crisis i keep telling her its cheaper than a harley

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

does she have a sister? I think we have a new acronym SML4SFSM8 (Single Male Looking 4 Single Female Sugaring Mate) hahaha
I have a good wife she supports me and My Addiction, very understanding.
She is my PM always following me to make sure I do things right
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e234/poultneyfiredog18/1-13-11sugaring020.jpg

[SugarShay]

and I am on the "other hand" I am the "wife" and hopefully "he" will help me on the weekends that he can be here.

Cindy, same here! But dh is awesome! He tried to get me to buy a bigger evaporator, he made the arrangements to build me a sugar shack, he spent his vacation last week bricking my arch, putting in stove pipe and setting it all up for me. He's even offered to help when it times to fire her up and start boiling.

Now tapping or sap collecting, he's not into, but I've got a few other collectors and one who lives for sugaring. :) He's been in that shack almost daily, helping dh, setting up some shelves, made me a sign for the door. He'll be my partner in crime when it finally comes time. :lol:

[peckfarm]

My wife is 9 months+6 days pregnant and helped me tie up 200 ft of mainline yesterday. I might also mention that she makes the best sugar house coffee cake I have ever tasted. I thank the Creator who made her for me. And I thank Leader for the Vortex.

[adk1]

Hey, best of luck to you on your deliveries!

[3rdgen.maple]

Okay Okay you guys and gals are making me sick. She who must be obeyed wants nothing to do with my syrup production. The only comment I get every year when I say time to tap some trees is, you mean time to go hide all spring lol. She has been down to the sugarhouse which is maybe 75 yards from the house maybe once in 10 years and that was to say she was going to the store. Now she just calls on the cell phone. The good part is she has no idea I bought a new evaporator a couple years ago and no idea how much money I have spent over the years. She just plain old doensnt give a hoot about it. I said to her the other night I might need you to watch the evaporator for an hour while I go collect and she said yeah right not happening. Still havent decided if it is a good thing or not. Other than the maple she is good to me though and I would like to think she feels the same about me as well.

[Bruce L]

I feel lucky also,my wife retired from her full time job last fall,she is out with me every day we go out to lay out the tubing,even she is eyeing where to make improvements to shorten lateral lines,tells me she will work at it while I am in boiling,it is certainly a true partnership when your other half not only supports you in all your ventures,but is willing to tackle it herself.

[highlandcattle]

My husband does all the heavy work around here, as he's a lifelong farmer and it must be his way, fine with me. I am the gofor(go get me this, go get me that)I make the phone calls, send for equipment, and parts,pay the bills(ouch)and do all the sales. It's tough if you have to do this on your own. Our trees are right here,just sitting around, so might as well use 'em.. Good luck to everyone this year.

[GramaCindy]

Cindy, same here! But dh is awesome! He tried to get me to buy a bigger evaporator, he made the arrangements to build me a sugar shack, he spent his vacation last week bricking my arch, putting in stove pipe and setting it all up for me. He's even offered to help when it times to fire her up and start boiling.

Now tapping or sap collecting, he's not into, but I've got a few other collectors and one who lives for sugaring. :) He's been in that shack almost daily, helping dh, setting up some shelves, made me a sign for the door. He'll be my partner in crime when it finally comes time. :lol:

How cool is that SugarShay! My hubby is also getting all excited for the process, plans are in the works for the sugar shack that he will build this spring and summer. My evaporator delivery for today is postponed due to weather, and he is all bummed out, even though he is 180 miles away!!! We should keep in contact and compare notes!:)

[GramaCindy]

Hey, best of luck to you on your deliveries!

Postponed until tomorrow due to snow and blowing snow, guy is coming from several hours away. Just so it gets here safely, that's all the matters. Today, tomorrow, it's all good!:D

[Tweegs]

Heh,
My wife is all about it.
She’s out there to watch the boil, bottle, clean up, and sell.
Lines, tapping, gathering, wood cutting/splitting/stacking, and running the evap is all me.
She handles the business end, I get all of the grunt work.
She has creative license over the sugar house design, I get to pound nails.
Actually, it all works quite well, we each have our own thing to do.

Aye!
And when the evap, she be runnin’ full tilt, the lass bringeth me food and drink.

Yaarrrggg! A good wife she be! :lol:

[Dill]

The wife made me a deal when we got married. I could any type of farming I wanted as long as we didn't milk cows. We both grew up dairying and that was a non-negoationable item.
Right now we have a 3 1/2 yr old and 2 month old. So she doesn't actively participate in the farm stuff. But does the more important job of watching them so I can work. Not to mention not asking what all the equipment in the yard costs. She also does most of the syrup selling and moves some beef at work.
I figure soon enough she'll be on the tractor.
Oh and she makes most of the money in household as well.

[Jim Brown]

I love this thread!! We all at one time or another complain about our spouses. I for one am no different.But all that said she has stood beside me for 35+ years -thick and thin.Helped raise three wonder kids(two of which are partners in the business-see avatar) has not complained when I took on this endevor and helps with ALL parts of the operation from production to keeping the books. I for one am blessed !

Jim

[twofer]

My wife is also pregnant (8 months) and is very supportive of this new endeavor. She is usually watching our two year old so she can't help much but she did make up 150 drop lines for me and was happy to do so because she wanted to help!

[NJG]

Great thread!! A few years ago we bought some land "up north" with the idea of sitting on it and eventually building a cabin. Within a few short months I spent a long time on the phone with a good friend who just found out his dad had cancer. After talking about how short life is, my wife agreed that nobody was getting any younger in our family and there was no sense waiting years to build a cabin for everyone to enjoy.

We have spent the last four years building, with the whole family jumping in. It's been long, brutal summers with little else but cabin projects taking up every weekend. Three years ago I decided that it would be a blast to start making some syrup and she was not at all excited about it, much to my honest surprise. "Just 10 taps, nothing serious", I said. When it came right down to brass tacks, she said that it had nothing to do with syrup. She just knew that someday we would be taking vacation time to empty sap buckets and watch it boil. I missed the we part at the time.

Last year I convicned her that having family up to make syrup was one of the reasons that we built the cabin and she agreed to spend her birthday hauling and boiling what little sap we had. At the end of the weekend, she decided that as long as we are going to spend time making syrup we may as well have at least 50 taps!

[lakeview maple]

How I got so blessed Ill never know,she puts up with all my hobbies picks up pipe line parts and main lines when I have to work,shes always there for support and still never complains,I thank the good Lord above and put in another 50 taps ,God bless and pray for a high sugar count

[mogihillfarm]

My wife gave me an odd look when I told her I was going to start making syrup. She asked what I knew about making syrup and I told her nothing, but I am a fast learner. I started with beginner kit, a turkey fryer and a buffet pan. I keep getting newer and more equipment every year. She always comes to the sugar shack in the evening to see whats going on. I suspect she is taking inventory to see if a made any unauthorized purchases. She brings dinner down if it looks like I am going be boiling for a while. We have some great conversations. The shack has become a relaxing place to hang out with the Mrs. and talk. I still can't get her up at dawn to bring me coffee. I have a great wife.

[butch361]

My great wife now wants to run the evaporator. She likes that better than being a sap hauler. Next she will being doing it all!! This truely turning into a family affair. So i guess I will gather the sap and put in the taps.

[adk1]

great stories, I am glad that I started his thread. It is truly a family affair and I dont know if I would start it if I didnt think and want my young family to be involved, and also my parents and some friends. I want my kids later on in years to look back and think about all the great times spent together in the woods and the sugarhouse. I hope I can make it work for me for next season. I have been planning and planning and its time to put the plans into action.

[sfsshadow]

my wife read an article somewhere that you can burn off up to 1000 calories an hour on snowshoes.hasnt missed a day of tapping, yet!

[highlandcattle]

I guess as my husband is NOT allowed to use the computer, just look, I will have to toot my own horn. We bought our land(an old foreclosed on farmstead)hired a logger for sustainable logging, sold what we had to to get money to put up this place(had a young friend bring his portable mill here and put up our pole barn and our solar home, yep, we figured out how to have solar and wind all by ourselves(phone guy's here and he's having a ball looking around) First year on an old box stove , huge homemade set up with a friend, half pint, then a used 2'x4', then the biggie... tubing, vacuum and brand new custom 2'x4' wood fired raised flue CDL Classic, all shiny stainless. had to add on the the sap house, another addtion coming this year. Figured all this out by researching, visiting,yapping,and then good old common sense, My husband is an old former dairy farmer and he can do anything with nothing! I do all the selling, keep the records, research, etc. he does all the real work, I hlep as much as I can. You really need to be a team to make anythnig work and we had goals when we got married. More than we ever hoped for! With very little money and mostly on our own, kids aren't interested and don't live around here anyway. This isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I have a nice sturdy all pine interior home log sided, with it's own power source and we're able to take care of ourselves if anything happens,so there need to be more women out there who get envolved with all of this! Circle of friends around here! Good luck to all!

[stoweski]

Wife woke up this morning with sore arms from hauling 5 gallon buckets around the woods yesterday afternoon - while I was relaxing in the sugarshack of course. :)

Hey... she loves it. She also got to drive the tractor! And didn't even get it stuck in the mud!!!

[adk1]

Wife woke up this morning with sore arms from hauling 5 gallon buckets around the woods yesterday afternoon - while I was relaxing in the sugarshack of course. :)

Hey... she loves it. She also got to drive the tractor! And didn't even get it stuck in the mud!!!

hey, great time had by all then!

[maple flats]

Yesterday I was going to get up at 6 am to start boiling, but my wife said, let's get up at 4 and boil all day. That we did, my wife and I boiled from 5am til after midnight. She was boiling alone when I was out collecting, fueling the genny, bringing in more wood and some other things. This started cas my thing but my wonderful wife (in our 44th year of marriage) quickly took part. But, she does not do woods work in the deep snow, that is reserved for me.

[Southtowns27]

I don't have a wife, but rather a fiance. We've been together for 8 years, engaged for 4, known each other for about 16. Everyone keeps asking when the wedding is, but we don't know yet, lol. We have too many projects we want to finish first. Anyway, she's a trooper. She played college rugby, then semi-pro for about 4 years after that, so she's not afraid to get dirty. Half the time she gets my a** moving to get syrupin' underway. She's there 100% of the time, even when we tapped in the 9 degree wind with 6 feet of snow in the woods. She even runs the evap with no input from me..and splits the wood..by hand. She sprained her ankle pretty bad a few weeks ago and is downright pi$$ed that she can't carry sap buckets and can only drive the sno-cat. But she's still there everyday. I got lucky! :)
Here she is with the 'Cat last season:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/Southtowns27/Maple%20syrup/100_0860.jpg

[butch361]

Now that my season is almost done. My great wife has agreed to putting a gravity system next and redoing the homemade arch to make it a 2x6. She also wants the sugarhouse at the house so she can run the evaporator. I do have a busy year now. It is so nice to have her on board with increasing production next year.

[adk1]

sounds great butch 361. my sugarhouse is about 100 feet from my house, so it will work out perfectly

[stoweski]

Southtowns, sure sounds like a snow cat wedding to me!!! Can only imagine seeing tin maple containers tied to tubing lines dangling off the back of that thing. Wedding cake? Nah, vanilla ice cream with hot-fresh maple syrup on top.

There, you're plans are all made! :D

[Southtowns27]

lol! I'll run it by her, see what she thinks :D