the Sugar House at Morningstar Farm 2013

[morningstarfarm]

well, the magical drill made its appearance last night under my pillow when i went to bed...I must be getting a bit obsessive again...the boys thought it was pretty funny.

With that happening again I guess it is time to kick this off for the season again...

have been scrambling every waking moment for months now. both sugarbushes are roughed in with all the wire and pipe up. one is down to cutting in drops...did 650 over the last couple days...about 500 left to do on that one...the other has most of the pipe hung, and my 12 yo son (my twisty buddy) is raring to go back out and twist tie lines up..half the lats are run and about 250 drops cut in. have about 1300 left to go on that one. talked to the maple guys about a new RO..have decided on the h2o innovations 600 gph...hoping to get it in the next 2 weeks.
my Wife had a new sign made for the sugarhouse..if I can figure out how to do photos I will post some..put in the first of 6 sap ladders tonight..I cant wait to see it work..am Hoping to open the doors and poke holes around feb 1...so much running through my mind to bring up to speed...will probably post more later...

Bless, Chris

[morningstarfarm]

what difference a few days can make..financing came through finally...got to go on a little shopping trip...2 new lapierre double releasers and a new reverse slope releaser...a new h2o innovations 600gph ro being delivered next week (hopefully) got the rest of the other supplies we needed to hopefully be ready to tap 2/1...
the whole place has a different feeling with all that blingy plastic sitting in the sugarhouse...now if I can only get everything put together and installed...oh and the drill is still making its "magical" appearances daily..was in the bathroom this morning...kids..lol

[morningstarfarm]

Plumbed in the pipe to the reverse slope releaser today...had to put a nail into one of my maples...22deg out...tree ran....was amazed...and I have to admit...my palms were a bit twitchy...soon...
O

[morningstarfarm]

Looking at the 10 day forecast...if the stars align and everything gets done...we will be tapping weds...I swear the drill is dancing on the counter...

[morningstarfarm]

Ok so this is soo not fair..lforecast looked great this morning..land now they are talking possibly a foot of snow fri?...am still all set to tap thurs...just in case they hold true And we don't get snow...and it's 40...wouldn't suprise me...

[morningstarfarm]

well, once again mother nature has felt the need to put her .02 in...was all set to start tapping in tomorrow...forecast was for low 40's and sun...got the kids at my sons school all hyped up...then wham!!...temps tonight around 0...highs tomorrow around 15...then there is the storm coming...forecast is for around 30" (at this moment)...I do blame all this on my wife...she just had to go and complain that i hadnt used the new snowshoes she bought me for christmas...oh well...it'll give me a couple more nights to finish up odds and ends...right now am hoping t start tapping sat afternoon or at worst case sun mrning...next week looks pretty good...good luck to all you who venture out...

[morningstarfarm]

Just one word needed to describe last night...****...was planning to tap in tomorrow but I didn't even make it into the sugar house until 3 ...still have a bunch of cleanup for tomorrow ...couldn't wait to try my snowshoes...either my butt is too big or the snow is too fluffy...I sank like a stone lol...

[Homestead Maple]

I don't know what you got for snow amounts there but we are at around 6". Not much of a storm here. Next week looks like it will be somewhat warm to start but it will be cold again after Tuesday. I would say that you won't see much for a run of sap for awhile. Is this your first year with 3,600 taps?

[morningstarfarm]

Hard to say exactly how much...was very windy...but I think it was around 28"...and yes this is our first year this big..and for us it looks good for at least the next week...its much warmer down here...

[morningstarfarm]

Putting all my gear together tonight...think I am going to pull the trigger tomorrow morning...at least for part of them...need to set the releaser and vac pump up at my smaller bush first...then if I am lucky I will tap in a couple hundred...that bush has right around 900 taps ...I'm hoping to get it all in and up tues...as always tomorrow mornings weather may change everything lol...good luck everyone...

[morningstarfarm]

Went out this morning to pull the trigger...then I got to my sugarbush and it was totally buried...took me several hours to get dug out enough to get to the tanks...then my burner guy bailed on me....told me he wouldn't be able to start my burners for a couple weeks...double ugh...now I am scrambling to find someone to get them going....until I see steam I can't bring myself to tap all in...anyone have any connections that might bail me out? Would love to be tapping tomorrow..

[red maples]

Sorry your oil guy bailed... you can try my furnace guy but its their busy season. Chris Talas Heating, 603-642-9392 He's out of seabrook. he knows his $^%^ he might be able to help you. Hope he doesn't charge too much!!! but he might since its last minute.

[Homestead Maple]

Putting all my gear together tonight...think I am going to pull the trigger tomorrow morning...at least for part of them...need to set the releaser and vac pump up at my smaller bush first...then if I am lucky I will tap in a couple hundred...that bush has right around 900 taps ...I'm hoping to get it all in and up tues...as always tomorrow mornings weather may change everything lol...good luck everyone...
Your weather does look good for awhile this week. At 3,600 taps you have to be one of the larger operations around that area. Hope you get your burners up and running real soon.

[morningstarfarm]

found another burner guy...is doing it as a side job friday night...doesnt think it will take much more than an hour...what a relief that was to hear...especially since i pulled the trigger this morning and tapped in 125 taps...wanted to do more but these were at my sons school and I had to deal with 7 classes of elementary and middle schoolers...each kid got their own sap sack..70 taps and they collect them each day for me...not a bad deal lol...also tapped in their mini vacuum system with about 55 taps on it...the kids got a real kick out of the bender releaser...the teachers had to drag the kids away from it..am hitting it hard tomorrow all day on my other sugar bush...hoping to get all 900 of those tapped in tomorrow and thurs...the snow has settled a bunch in the heat..was 30" yesterday and now about half that in the woods...then will get system tight on friday afternoon hopefully...planning the cleaning boil on saturday and the sweetening of the pans on sun/mon depending on the sap run gods...

hope everyone is getting their start and tapping...
good luck all...
chris

[Homestead Maple]

I would say you should have some sap to work with by then. Not much happening up her yet. It hasn't gotten much above freezing, trees haven't thawed much.

[morningstarfarm]

spent the afternoon tapping in..am up to 350 in in that bush..got the intermediate lines nd one side line done then shut off all the other side lines and fired up the vac...holding 23-24 at the releaser..sweet...couple small leaks to deal with but the pump is handling it nicely...plan to hit her hard tomorrow one side line at a time and will charge them as I finish them...ended up with 200 gals today...hoping to have enough to sweeten the pans saturday...after a cleaning boil tomorrow night..wanted to do it tonight but the wife threatened to kill me in my sleep...go figure..anyways no maple stuff tonight have to appease the warden.good luck all...

[red maples]

Glad to hear your getting there!!! slow going in the woods huh!!!

[morningstarfarm]

Got to one of my sugar bushes to continue tapping this morning...fired the vac up before I headed in...was shocked to see her pulling 30" at the releaser...of course all the lines were still frozen but it's nice to know my $50 pump will do that...tapped in another 275 today...this is taking way longer than I had planned...the snow is making it much tougher...ended the day with about 500 gals in the tank...hoping we get a decent run tomorrow and have enough for our first boil Sunday. The burner grey is supposed to be here in a bit to get her fired up and we are planning to do the cleaning boil after...hopefully everything comes together...hope everyone else is going strong...


Chris

[Starting Small]

Where did you find a $50 pump? Was it used? Thanks!
_Dave

[morningstarfarm]

it's a welch duoseal 1397 pump that i found on craigs list...17 cfm and will pull 30"

[red maples]

Trust me this guy can find anything for cheap!!! he's amazing at it. I am too lazy to look around like he does!!!

[morningstarfarm]

Hey Hey Het...I resemble that remark lol

[morningstarfarm]

well, the burner guy showed up this morning and we got her running...still a bit of tweaking on the fire quality but....holy cow does this thing make steam!!!!... the cupola may not handle it all...even with the blower fans going it was a struggle!! But it is sure a load off my mind...now it's just up to mother nature when we have our first boil..

In the sugarbush we put in another 200 today and just have about 150 to do tomorrow to finish this bush up! had a little run today while we were tapping in and I was suprised to see we were holding 28" at the releaser all day!! total today was 350 gals...that brings us up to 700 gals in the tank..need another 300 minimum or so to boil...hopefully tomorrow or tues will do it...

[red maples]

good to hear that things are coming together!!! must be a relief!!! just need to some more good weather. kinda hurry up and wait mode right now

[morningstarfarm]

Lol if you are bored waiting let me know...I still have about 2000 to tap in still...

[red maples]

no never bored!!! I learned to NOT say that around my Dad when I was a kid if you said it you ended up in the wood pile splitting and stacking!!! :(

Still lots to do.

[Amber Gold]

Chris, keep at it and good luck. I'll be down soon.

[morningstarfarm]

Just got in from cleaning the pans...what a job...I don't think the guy had cleaned them in years...the niter must have been 1/16" thick...after cleaning most of the pans I realized I had forgotten to shut down the vac at my sugarbush...ran over and shut her down?.was still pulling 28"...man I love this pump...had just about 650 gals in the tank...looking like the first boil will be thurs night...still have to plumb the head tank and redo the arch face..don't like the way she is burning...planning to get those done tomorrow night and fire her up thurs night...then time to get going on my other sugarbush to get as many taps in this weekend as possible..have just over 1250 in now...realistically hoping to get to 2000 for this year..may not be time to get the rest done this year...next year will plan to tap a little earlier...took way longer to tap in than I had expected...oh well live and learn...but there is only sop much you can do alone...

[Homestead Maple]

To get 3,600 taps done by yourself with no help is quite a chore if you only have time after work or the weekends. Looks like you have a good set up to handle all that sap when it comes though. The rest of the week looks like the temps will be kind to you and let you get some taps in.

[red maples]

What are you doing on Friday??? I am taking a run up to sunnyside tomorrow first thing if you need anything I need jugs and I have a full calender of sugarhouse tours in march and I low on 1/2 pints and pint containers.
then I have some stuff to do in the afternoon.

I have a few errunds to run friday morning (if I can't get to them on thursday). and if I have enough sap to boil I may do it friday morning but I will help you tap on Friday if you would like!!! I may save my sap for saturday if I don't have enough. I will definitely lend my drill and hammer for a least a few hours on friday. It all really comes down to how much sap I get in the next few days. although not expecting alot. I just have to get home by 3:30 to get the kids.

Let me know.

[morningstarfarm]

Actually have the day off Friday...not exactly sure what I am going to be doing yet...have another releaser to set before tapping..and have to get the vacuum pump set up on the back bush for the reverse slope releaser...if no vacuum then I can't tap...also need to finish up the last few things to boil Friday night...will let you know..thanks

[morningstarfarm]

Woohoo!!!....everything came together today for us to fire up and make some steam for real..ended up with 1200 gals to boil...fired up the Ro at 8:00 and then filled the pans....oh my god the pans hold 175 gals...had another 250 gallons to boil after filling...fired the burners at 9:15 and shut down at 10:30...no draw off though...am figuring I will need another 750 gals to complete sweetening...was an interesting night..was my first time. Boiling a raised flu set up..took about 10 mins to get the floats set...then we walked in circles for an hour and a half...no firing..no wood...still have my eyebrows....didn't have to touch anything...was wierd...but enjoyable...when we shut down in 15 mins it was cool enough to wak away from...
The Ro worked flawlessly...we ended up with about 6-7% to boil...but I didn't push her hard...still in the learning curve...
All in all a good night and start to the season...now back into the woods tomorrow to try to get my other bush up and dripping...

[Homestead Maple]

I'm happy for you that things went smoothly for your first boil. You have the right idea to not push things to fast before you get used to running full bore. That will come by the end of next week for you probably, according the weather forecast that I watched this morning. Your area has some good temps coming.

[red maples]

boy I hope the weather forecast stays good for sap.....
I am also happy everything is finally coming together for you too!!! I know you put a S* TON of work in this year getting things in place!!! Good for you!!! your dream of "flipping the switch" has finally arrived!!!

[morningstarfarm]

You and me both brother...got the second bush started today...well, at least started buttoning it up...plumbed in the vacuum pump and wired in the 220...then ran the pipe to the main releaser. And the sap return pipe...also ran the 300' of wire to power the sap pump to get it back to the sugar house tanks...tomorrow plan to set the main releaser and hopefully the reverse slope in the woods and plumb in the finished side lines to the main and dry lines...if I get that done we can start tapping...actually have help for the day tomorrow so maybe just maybe we might get started tapping...as always this year the snow will dictate lol...had a little run today..temps up to 38 but no sun to kick it into gear...managed about 150 gals....doesn't look like we will even turn on the vac tomorrow with highs around 33...Monday looks good night now with sun and highs of 40...hoping...

[morningstarfarm]

Spent the day puttering around the sugar house today...not much snow but just enough to mess things up...high was 35.. Went over to replumb the vac and pump lines at the sugarbush..did have a very tiny run when I turned on the vac to test it out but so small I shut her back off when I left...hoping tomorrow brings the sun and low 40s forecast...

[morningstarfarm]

What a day!...fairly big sap here...ended up with just under 1000 gals..hoping for another good day tomorrow before snow weds....really???...next boil weds night...the 1000 gals is right at my minimum to run through the Ro...otherwise not enough permeate to clean...


In the back bush I got all the main and side lines plumbed in today, and saddles all cut in on 5 lines...planning to set the rev slope tomorrow morning and get them plumbed in...hoping to see pressure by noon and then start tapping...have about 450 cut in and ready to tap right now...and another 1000 I will pick at as time allows...now just hoping I can nail down my son for some help this week while he is on vacation...he cut in a few saddles for me today...grrr...the first one he did he drilled right through the whole pipe...but then went well after lol..

Hoping everyone else had a pretty good run today as well...

[morningstarfarm]

Not a bad run today but nowhere near yesterday....ended up with about 1500 gals over the last 2 days...storm of some sort tomorrow...last word was that it was going to still be up in the 40's...time will tell...would love to have 2000 gals for tomorrow nights boil..lplanning to fire up the Ro around 6 and the arch by 730 ish...floors are open for anyone that would like to join us...it is byob though..lol...

[Homestead Maple]

With the storm coming in tomorrow I would think you'll get a strong run because of the low barometric pressure.

[morningstarfarm]

well, today was a total let down...started off hot...got up this morning and it was already 38deg...ran over and turned on the vac...first 20 minutes it ran like a faucet...I thought SWEET....went back a few hours later and only about 100 gals to show for it...checked it tonight and only about 200 gals...****...think we need a good freeze to reharge them trees....Boiling tonight...hoping to finish sweetening the pans and draw off...cant wait to actually have something come out of this beast...as I said before, firing up at 730 if anyone needs a steam fix...doors are open and everyone is always welcome..will update totals later tonight....bless all...

[Homestead Maple]

So much for the low pressure with the storm system. If you haven't had a freeze up in the last few nights that would make a difference. I've seen times when my sap would run strong, through two nights of above freezing temps.

[morningstarfarm]

just came in from boiling...have to say that a big evap runs much more smoothly than my old 2x6...

ro'd the 1500 gals we had down to about 600 gals...sugar was right about 7%...Fired her up and lo and behold i didnt have to readjust anything...finished sweetening the pans and then we were able to get a constant drawoff...was a wonderful boiling experience especially since I was expecting to feel like a monkey with a football...ended up making 35 gals...the first 20 were medium and the last 15 looks to be borderline fancy....will know tomorrow when i finish and run it through the filter press...all in all a good night...

[red maples]

Sorry I didn't get down there!!! It took the wife about 1.5 hours to get home from manchester. She the roads got better the further east you got but still not good!!! congrats on the nice syrup!!!

[morningstarfarm]

what a beautiful day...spent most of it in the woods...got the reverse slope releaser set and running...wow that thing is cool when it cycles...then tapped in 140 taps in that bush...feels really good to get those in...everything went well until i charged the sap ladder...and....nothing...lines were..are full..vac pulling 24"...sap stationary about 2' up...****...thinking i may need to cut in a ball valve to let some air in...plenty of vac right in front of the ladder but none after it...I guess something had to give eventually...things had been going much too smoothly...

On the sap front ended up the day with 600 gals...praying we actually get a freeze tonight to recharge the trees.....hoping to boil saturday...after finishing tomorrow night...

Anyone have any ideas on the ladder please lets hear it...

[Parker]

I would either have a valve at the ladder that you can crack or have a spile loose (or plugged into a tee) that you can open a little to get the flow going. Good luck!

[red maples]

yeah just need an air leak in there. just a little faint hiss of air is all you need. if you have a extra vacuum gauge put one one the opposite end of the ladder this way you can dial it in put someone with a cell phone or walkie talkie at the other end to see what works best at what vacuum loss. you will loose a little vacuum but the sap will move and start jumping up those tubs after your done tapping and have a minute graba chair and a beer and sit and watch it for a feew minutes :) . This is why I don't understand how some people don't put in air leaks. I guess their systems just aren't tight.

Yeah I only ended up with with about 150 gallons yesterday. no freeze last night AGAIN I think thats like 3 days. my best run yet has only been just over 1/2 gallon per tap. not at all happy with this season. Weather .com not favorable night temps forecasted. NOAA weather .gov. Perfect sap weather 27-29 nights 40 days. I hope they are right!!! tapped for over 2 weeks now and very sweet pans and just over 5 gallons of syrup to show for it. I prey it gets better.

[Amber Gold]

Chris, good to hear you're still making progress. I'm busy this weekend getting some more taps in, and working on a new electrical service. I hope to make it down to your place next weekend. Good luck this week.

[morningstarfarm]

ok I feel like a dope...spent an hour out with this **** ladder...put in a ball valve for a little leak..still nothing...walked all the way back down that line to recheck everything and vac guage...23" of vac on that line..hmmm...walked all the way back up the line to where....grrrr...problem solved..ran that line in 2 pieces so the trail crossing is removeable...never connected the two..DOH!!!....connected the lines and before I even got the clamps on here comesd the sap rushing by my ear...

[red maples]

these things happen!!!
Hey you gettin any sap....slow going here and forecast is hit or miss... I am getting 75-90 gallons a day on vac and gravity is getting nothing!!! I haven't had a good solid freeze in 5-6 days just 31* for a few hours not reallt enough to get things going.

[morningstarfarm]

just in from boiling tonight...ended up with about 1000 gals...after the ro boiled 200 gals of 9-10%...ended up making 15 gals of nice medium...few firsts tonight...
first time recirculating the ro to bring the sap up to 9-10%...wow boils differently...
first time finishing off the evap and filtering it...
first time adding too much de and making nice sweet mud...lol..quick wash and new papers and ran it back through...ended up nice...guess that was the next step in the learning curve..lol
first releaser hangup...not a big deal was a curl of plastic from a saddle being drilled....I blame my helper for that one...lol
ran and tapped in another 90 taps this morning...up to almost 400 in on that bush...hoping to get another 100-150 in tomorrow...
not sure I like this reverse slope releaser...works ok but is tempermental starting it up in the morning....not sealing real reliably...but once it seals it works well all day....just another pia to deal with...

hoping we get a good freeze tonight...would be wonderful to be able to boil more than every few days...but it takes 1000 gals to ro and have enough permeate to clean it after...

hoping everyone is making steam...

bless, chris

[red maples]

I have problems with my releaser in the morning too. Not sure how things are set up on the rev slope but the rubber o-rings get cold and rigid in the AM and don't seal right. so just take out some hot taap water and poor it on the parts that aren't sealing and it should heat them up enough to be pliable. and get a good seal.

I promise I will make it over there to see you beast boil. I think thats a good name for her!!!?? Had a long day and a long weekend for that matter, 2 girl scout tours and open hours as well. plus softball clinic with my daughter and some family time out to dinner last night.

I am in the same boat man takes 2-3 days to get enough sap just to boil. with the slightly warmer night only getting 1/3 gallons per tap a day. seems every drop counts when your not getting a lot of sap. good freeze here last night. and maybe good freeze again tonight fingers crossed.

[Amber Gold]

Chris, IMO releasers are problems waiting to happen. They're great when they work, but irritating when they don't. I don't know how close the reverse slope releaser is to an electric source, but I'd consider moving the mechanical releaser there and putting a small dump station tank in the woods with a pump to get it out to your SH. To make sure my releaser is generally trouble free, every morning I shut the vac. off and pull the manifold apart, remove any ice and stuff, put it back together, and drain it. This allows the releaser to fully thaw out before it needs to trip in the morning. Alternatively, you could build a little shed for it to sit in and heat it with a propane heater.

How many taps do you have in now?

[morningstarfarm]

not a bad little run today...finally...ended up with just about 1000 gals...will ro and run it tomorrow...would love to see another 250-500 gals if we are lucky tomorrow..

josh, the low point is way too far to pump out...cant aford to run 600' of copper...the rev slope releaser was the lesser of the two evils there...it works well just the slide on the manifold doesnt like to seal at startup..I much prefer the lapierre designs with the pistons..have never had one fail to seal on start up..only problem so far was a curl of plastic holding a flap open from sealing..

we are at about 1600 taps right now..have another 150 ready to cut drops in and tap...will hopefully get to them sat morning..with me cutting in drops and mike tapping behind me it shouldnt take long at all...still waiting for that elusive BIGSAP day here..has been close but no joy so far..
it has been perfect day temps but no freezing at night all week...then we get a freeze and the sun goes into hiding..grrr...now SNOW??? GEEZ..

[red maples]

man I am in the same boat as you!!! just not getting the GREAT runs like they are in BARRINGTON!!! :) like you said day temps aren't bad 2 hours of sun in the morning then clouds!! but the night temps...31* for a few hours and most have been 33-35* just doesn't cut it for big sap days. Pulling 24-26 inches at the releaser the trees just aren't giving up the sap!!!

[morningstarfarm]

I know this has been an interesting and frustrating year so far...the weather just hasn't clicked to give us good runs..have been averaging about 500 gals a day on 1400 taps...and I am pulling 28" at the releaser and 26-27 in the woods...sugar level has been around 2%...I'm praying the forecast is actually right for next week...have only made a little over 65 gals so far...was hoping to be at 500 for the year...that is looking like it may be a longshot right now...

[red maples]

you said it brother!!! Same here I am only at 4.5 gallons of sap per tap on the year. Not good at all I expected to be double that. Need a GOOD push in the next 2 weeks to get up to what I need for maple weekend and beyond. Hoping for BIG SAP this weekend!!! and more night freezes for grades to lighten up and for sugar to jump up as well!!! strange year for us AGAIN!!! I think I am gonna start tapping Mid january and so I can hit every possible warm spell there is. I think the days of waiting to tap are over.

This is from the Maple news. There is a big maple farm in northern tip of VT next to canada that taps 58K taps started tapping Jan 1st and had in 35K taps by the time the sap started running and they had 21 barrels made made by January 15th. with the new technologies and check valves and running high vac. the sap will keep running until april. lower sugar but still running!!!

I need some type of RO for next year then!!! got to get on the ball maybe try to get to the office on monday for a energy grant to get the ball rolling. maybe hold off on the sugarhouse expansion and just get an RO. Get electricity to the sugarhouse and build a little room for the RO. Some more processing equipment Draw off tank, Canner and filter press and a real releaser put in another 100 taps try to get up to 450-500 for next year and add on to the sugarhouse later. and tap in January. Sounds like a plan!!!

[morningstarfarm]

well, the loong weekend is finally over and the last horse loaded and gone...the event was a total success...had a few over 100 attend and probably half came through the sugar house...made a few bucks and a bunch of new friends...

On the maple front..yesterday was our first pretty good run with a little over 900 gals...was expecting today to be a tsunami but alas it was just a decent run...lows last night were around 15 here and it didn't really warm up until early afternoon...but then it ran pretty good...I promised the warden I wouldnt boil while her event was going...sometimes you just have to make concessions to keep the peace..lol...

Planning to fire up the ro tomorrow after fixing my releaser point first thing...was amazed a reinforced 6x6 sunk in the ground 3' was pulled completely out of the ground with the thaws...****...nothing else to anchor to so I have to be creative...planning to plunk down a piece of farm equipment and une it as an anchor to winch the post back in place...I don't know...but I think tight lines just may run a bit better without a 4' sag in it...

Hoping to fire up and boil the 1500 gals we have right now...Praying for med or a little light...will let you guys know...
Brad, jump on that grant brother!!! you want to be able to sit and gaze at all that stainless all fall..not be running in circles like I was to make it work..

and, Thanks for the help with making sugar..you were a lifesaver...

[red maples]

no problem on the sugar....Glad everything went well. been boiling like crazy with no freeze up expected until thursday sap will slow up so I should be able to get therer on wednesday!!! still alot of sap for tomorrow. I just saw you called but I have to make some dinner then back in the sugar house to get some things cleaned up I have just a mess of crap out there I need to get cleaned up!!

[morningstarfarm]

Bummer weather...way too warm for the next couple days...praying for the freeze up thurs night...next week looks to be promising for maple weekend...

Boiled last night ended up boiling 1600 gals and made 40 gals of dark...lots of niter in it though...will finish and filter it tomorrow nit..had to get barrels today for it...finding that in my beast 10% is too hard to run...I much prefer to boil at 8%
The higher concentrate would boil too fast to keep up with...had a couple 5-7 gal draws...it would come up to temp then spike up 4-6 brix before I could draw it all off...lesson learned...although it was nice to burn for less than 2 hours and make 40 gals...

Thinking I may clean the pans tomorrow afternoon but she holds 150 gals ...too much to just finish out and resweeten..will have to play it by ear...will probably just filter it and put it all back in after washing the pans...get rid of as much niter as possible...come to think of it it would be nice to have another grade beside dark even if it is B...

Good luck all with the warm spell...

[morningstarfarm]

Well, the weather decided to cooperate today finally...ended up with just under 1000 gals and boiled tonight..ended up making 22 gals of what appears to be nice tasting dark...will know for sure when we finish it tomorrow...

Looking ahead at the coming week ... Have to say it looks promising...think if it may be worth draining the flu pan and cleaning it out hoping for a little lighter syrup...not looking forward to the work though..that thing holds over 100 gals...but it may be worth it...any thoughts?

[red maples]

You were a few degrees warmer than me yesterday. boy that makes a difference I only ended up with about 125 gallons things didn't thaw until maybe 11amish then froze up early and it only hit about 36/37* for a few hours then started to drop back down. oh well. Hit 17 last night and its not supposed to even get above freezing until noon time. SO not expecting a huge run today but hey you never know.

I stopped in the USDA office yesterday and talked to Bill... I missed the App. deadline by a week to get it in for this year. So I will have to do what you did and get a waver to get it before next year. I am getting one reguardless anyway. after the season is over I am gonna go out and see Chris to look at the H2O's 100 and 200. but I have to wait and see what they approve for me to get. Also the 10 year contract thing only applies for the evaporator. For the RO and steam away combo he said they will monitor the efficiency for 2 years then say you wanna upgrade in year 5 to a bigger RO you can he said you just can't apply for more funding for 10 years. But they did have a weird spread sheet that that put the taps through and I said 385 taps as of right now and they said I will should only make 43.5 gallons of syrup. Yeah in my worst year (last year) I made that much. If I finished out my evap today I would have made 37 gallons. The season doesnt' seem to be close to over yet!!! I told him that those numbers are off and they need to up date that info because of new technologies with High vac, check valve spouts.

So anway niter yes I find that the niter can make a big difference especially if the niter thats in there is getting dark brown to black and the niter continues to cook and develop weird smells, and darker syrup but once you filter it out of the syrup the smells are gone. and things can def. lighten up a bit. It always seems to boil better when it clean too. when I get alot of niter I find it tends to foam up a little more often too. then when I filter it out. and clean out as much as I can it seems foam up right in the beginning then it settles down and its OK.

[morningstarfarm]

Well, has been a busy few days in the sugar house...drained the flu pan and finished it out yesterday...that thing had 20 gals of b in it!...then finished, filtered and bottled about 50 gals...then cleaned the pan out real good...planning to resweeten tomorrow morning....had 1000 gals today to get it done...hoping that is enough...

Looking like snow tomorrow...like we need more of that right now...but then the temps look pretty good right through the weekend...man would I love to have just one tsunami day this season!..

Beyond that into final prep for maple weekend...hoping we all have a good one this year!

Well, back at it...good luck all...

[red maples]

you and me both!!! sugar has dropped off alot too but hopefully it will come back at the end of the week.... you never know!!!

[morningstarfarm]

yes the sugar has really dropped off...ro'd 1100 gals today down to 10% and anded up with 150 gals to boil..

[morningstarfarm]

well, finally a little bit of a run today...ended up with about 400 gals...nice and clear again..hoping it will bring us back up to at least dark...hoping we have a pretty good run tomorrow so we have enough to boil on saturday...for our first maple weekend I am amazed at the responces so far...must have had at least 25 calls the last two days from people...wife sent in a little press release to the local county paper...was hoping they would just put it into the announcements section...was shocked when i got the paper and it was the first blurb on the front page!!!...oh my god this may be a busy weekend...or should i say may this be a busy weekend...thinking we dont have enough stuff finished...probably have to bottle some more and make more candy...hey brad you're not busy tomorrow are you?!?!lol...Heard about the union leader article but havent seen it yet..grats bud...well, time to get a bit of shut eye...looks like tomorrow is going to be a loooong day...I wish you all the best this weekend...

[red maples]

sorry dude...no candy for you!!! LOL Too much of my own $%^@ to do for tomorrow. Been a VERY busy week!!! Yes I did see the front page can't miss it.

[red maples]

sorry to hear about your vac pump which one was it???

hey did you really have a bus of Japanese tourist??? thats CRAZY!!!!

[morningstarfarm]

it was the delaval 76...i think i fried the vanes...grrr

WOW what a weekend...Congrats on the sell out...We had about 900-1000 people come through...have to admit I was shocked to turn around on sat morning to a blonde lady with a channel 9 microphone in my face..lol...was pretty cool for all of us to crowd arount the tv sat night to see if we were actually on...then at 730 sunday the phone went nuts...apparently the boston stations picked it up and ran with it sunday...and yes we had the japanese tourists here...stereotypical camera and all...also had people from missouri and puerto rico...for our first maple weekend I was totally amazed!!!! and thank goodness they are not getting rid of it next year...

[MapleLady]

Congrats! You had quite the weekend! It was nice to see the news stories about our NH Maple producers - large and small. This is definitely part of who we are, here in the northeast! :D

[red maples]

thats Awe-some and congrats on the TV news spot. I was getting calls from people from boston on Sunday morning now I know why. Hands down it was the busiest maple weekend I think for most of at least the southern part of the state!!! its pretty amazing you can pull in about $1000 and hour in 1 weekend pretty cool!!! :)

[morningstarfarm]

sigh back in the kitchen cooking again...have had about 60 calls to confirm we would be open saturday...was very pleasantly suprised to find I could make maple nuts with brade B syrup..they sugared up nicely...am now thinking I may try candy with some..if it works it will take alot of stress off....am running very short of med but have plenty of B and will probably make 25 gals tomorrow night...we will be turning the Beast loose to roar if anyone wants to join us...I have to admit that it is a pretty impressive sight...should fire it up around 730 or so..I have 1200 gals to RO after work first...and if we get lucky with a freeze tonight it could be more...oh well back to work...mustard next I guess...Brad, if you need anything at sunnyside let me know...heading up there on fri...I am totally out of jugs and jars and bags and...well pretty much everything lol

[Amber Gold]

Chris, glad to hear everything's working out so well for you. How did you manage to get a spot on WMUR?

Did you end up getting a homesteaders license to make the non-maple stuff? Wondering how the process was to go through.

It looks like we'll get another week or so out of the season, not many freezing nights though.

[backyard sugaring]

Chris, it was nice to meet you on Sunday of Maple Weekend. I hope it all works for you and the new evaporator. It was good to see Mike working on the evaporator and not on my washing machine. Lol We made some maple mustard this week it was incredible. Again thanks Lee

[morningstarfarm]

Well I guess it's time to call it a year...had a blast...learned a lot...made a bunch of new friends...all in all a pretty good year ...I want to thank all if you that helped me through some pretty serious growing pains this year...right now I am trying to get everything cleaned up so I can take a maple break for a while...then start working on the next expansion phase...new lines to run and I need to expand the sugar house...it never ends...thanks again everyone...I hope you all had a great season...