Ahh, greenhorns....gotta love em :-)

[Galena]

hey all

I grew up in my present locale, Eastern Ontario, which is no slouch in the world of sugaring. I lived here til I was in my mid-20s then went out to BC for a few years, then came to my senses and returned to the land of liquid gold. (Mostly I couldn't stand seeing boring evergreens and rain all year round).

Anyway my oldest brother is coming to visit this March, right around when I begin tapping. Of course he knows I make maple syrup, he loves my black syrup at the end of the season, and I know for a fact that he visited his share of sugarbushes when in school etc. As recently as last year I refreshed his memory as to how syrup is made, thinking it'd stick.

But...I guess the last 17 years living in BC have softened his brains a little. While discussing what he could do while I'm at work, he kindly offered to help with 'collecting syrup from the trees'.

....okay....great!!!! Save me a ton o' work evaporating gallons of sugar water down and boiling it into syrup!!!

Promises to be an interesting time while he's here ;-0

[Maplehobbyist]

Ahh, the uninitiated...maybe when you tap those evergreens out in BC, turpentine runs out? No boiling required.

I've got to ask: What the heck are you doing in your avatar?

[Galena]

Ahh, the uninitiated...maybe when you tap those evergreens out in BC, turpentine runs out? No boiling required.

I've got to ask: What the heck are you doing in your avatar?

LOL no prob....I'm chopping up kindling! I belong to a competitive photography site and this was an entry in a competition. The pale blurry form to the right is a stick of kindling flying in the direction of the camera. Behind it is me and my woodshed and a stack o' cedar lengths awaiting to be split, while next to me is a pile of kindling already cut and pulled out for the shoot :-)

Yeah, it doesn't work quite so well as a smaller image, I may post the link to the original.

[Maplehobbyist]

I see it now, but originally I thought you were standing outside on one foot putting on a shoe/boot.

[johnallin]

What part of BC? I've got a brother up in Hills/Nakusp area, which is at the north end of Arrow Lake.
He's been there since 1971 and taught at Selkirk College Extension.
But I've also got to ask...how do you get 59 gal of syrup from 12 taps? Wow! I want some of those trees.

[Galena]

@ Tracy...I am standing on one foot, for whatever reason my left foot went flying up in the air. Pretty hard shot to get as I had to make eye contact with the camera as the axhead split through the kindling and buried itself in my chopping block and not my leg :-) here's the pic at its original size, you should be able to see it OK.

http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=1041228

@ John...I have some incredible trees, especially tree #2, who alone produced 32 gallons of sap that year and hosted 3 spiles, as did all of them...that year they were #1, #2, #7 and #9.. (Pix of all my trees in the Gallery here). I believe it was also a pretty long season...started March 11 and pulled the spiles April 5th, not because they were starting to dry, but because I was having trouble keeping up with them!!!

My brother has lived mostly in the Lower Mainland but has been living mostly on Cortes Island and also spends time on SaltSpring. I lived in BC too, Vancouver and more memorably, Terrace.

[ericjeeper]

I agree your picture is very confusing.6343

[Galena]

Sorry some of you find my photo confusing.

However, it came 6th place out of 78 entries on the toughest competitive-photography site around, so quite a few people didn't have any problem seeing what's going on.

[ericjeeper]

In the larger version it is a decent photo, and we can see what you are doing.lol

[Maplehobbyist]

So competitive-photography is a contact sport?

When I viewed the larger image I could see exactly what you were doing: It's a position many who split have assumed to avoid a miss-hit. (Kick the right leg out of the way to avoid the axe bouncing off the wood.) It's a position I've assumed many times, even when I didn't have to make eye contact as I was doing it. Congrats on the high finish.

[Winters Harvest]

I MYSELF WOULD LOVE SOME OF THOSE TREES! Down here it takes 40 gals of sap on the average to make a gallon of syrup.

[Maplehobbyist]

I may be wrong but I think she's listing gallons of sap collected, not gallons of syrup made. If she's not, I'm moving to Ontario.

[Galena]

I MYSELF WOULD LOVE SOME OF THOSE TREES! Down here it takes 40 gals of sap on the average to make a gallon of syrup.

Yep it's gallons of sap collected, not syrup made!!!! :-) I too usually stick with the 40/1 ratio though this year I might try 35/1.

[Winters Harvest]

We all hope for 35/1 or even better, lol.

20x28 Sugarhouse
4x12 King/Smalls Brothers
400 Farmall
Hough payloader
2011 - 25 taps
2012 - 540 taps
2013 - 1000?