Hop Kiln Road 2015

[Hop Kiln Road]

Back in the High Life Again

We'll have ourselves a time, And we'll dance 'til the morning sun, And we'll let the good times come in, And we won't stop 'til we're done.

Gotta catch my breath. A lot's been happening around here. The boys got us a new TV for Christmas. Now my Vermont friends are going to find this hard to believe, but it is flat as a pancake and hangs on the wall like a picture! I'm serious. Well maybe more like a window that doesn't open and all the TV shows come from Outer Space! And I speak not of Hollywood, I'm talking U-F-O Deep Worm Hole Space! More channels than stars. Then tonight M got home a wee bit early and I was just finishing up channeling an episode of Brazil Butt Lift on 347 - don't want to give away the plot in case guys have been out early tapping and missed a couple episodes - and she makes me a Steady Winston Churchill, we just call 'em Winnies, and after awhile she turns off the magic waffle and says, "Treat, why don't you dance your little Brazil out back and put the squeeze to your trees before you turn into a Jet Setter."Oh my. Not! I've seen those snow boarder dudes over to Vermont who can't even wear a hat on channel 218 and been extra careful not to doze off down to Super Cuts. But she's right, as usual, why risk some major life event at my age when I can be out back tapping!

[cropseyvillemark]

I look forward to this thread every year. Now I know its time to go sugarin. Thanks Bruce!

[Russell Lampron]

Hey Bruce you getting any sap down there in Bow? I'm not getting much here in Loudon yet but it should be a good week.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Slow start cause its cold and the snow is pretty but deep. I oughta know. Decided to use dad's old army holster to hold my drill. Wasn't a great fit and what with all the other stuff couldn't keep the new belt up so I found a pair of suspenders. After all the gear, put on a sweatshirt over the suspenders and a jacket, gaiters and snowshoes, and headed up the Line Road mainline. Snow was fine and granular, sank in every step and broke more a sweat than trail. Had to stop to catch my breath, twice. Right about when I reach the top of the last lateral, I had to take an urgent call from mother nature about my last cup of coffee! Took awhile to figure it out, big new belt, suspenders and bibs under the sweatshirt, but finally got all reassembled to kick off the season! Shoed over to the first tap...yikes, no drill in the holster! Tramped around for awhile to no avail and finally decide to use a snowshoe to dig a grid search. Now I'm no stranger to this technique, still got my Aiguille du Midi powder straps kicking around somewhere, over the garage I think. Decided to limit my search depth to three feet, I mean how far could it sink? About an hour later, establish the median snow depth in the area about 5 feet, no drill. Had to knock down some of the sidewall so I could shoe out of the cellar hole. Real tired and decided only to visually search my track in. Nada. Concluded high life is very good and time for a new drill anyway. Took off all my gear and packed it in the back of the truck. Get in and, of course, sitting on the passenger seat is my drill. If I can get my fork to my mouth going back at it hard first thing tomorrow!

[Parker]

Ha ha ha livin the dream!

[Russell Lampron]

I hate it when that happens. I lost my tubing cutters the 2nd day of tapping. I know where I used them last and I know where I tried to use them again but no luck finding them. So trudge back out to the 4 wheeler, take off the snowshoes and go back to the sugar house for another pair. Fortunately I wasn't too far from the 4 wheeler and was able to get back to tapping without losing much time.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Forecast is moving quicker than me but not one to easily panic. M found my powderstraps hanging in the wine cellar since I couldn't do the stairs. Not sure how they got in there. M says all the excitement is causing me to lose my concentration so I am taking zero chances from now on; know how to manage my adrenaline flows. Tied one powderstrap to the drill handle and the other to the tubing tool for extra insurance. Also applied sunscreen. Totally alpine out there. Went at it 110% but couldn't get my drill bit to steam. Must be having a drill management issue too. Found one big dead limb busted a mainline fitting. What are the odds of that? Mainline came up with wet leaves. Think that means the ground is warmer than the air above the snowpack. Just spent to long overhauling sugarhouse production flow I guess, but confident I'll have 500 ready for the Wednesday start but haven't figured how to hang the buckets.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Still having adrenaline problems. Broke a .225 bit off in a tree while tapping out the 3/16ths. I was winded on shoes in deep snow and on some slope, but it was the sap rushing down that spaghetti line when nothing else was dripping that started the convulsion. It got so bad I had to sit down on the edge of a wind sculptured tree well and practice my breathing exercises. Still don't feel right. Got to tap that tree with the Guv today. Didn't want to take the time, still got Wheeler Brook to tap and I may have to tunnel, but M said I have to go. Made me shave, floss and wash my best jacket.

[Amber Gold]

Ha...now those are funny stories. Good to hear from you Bruce.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Governor used a bit brace flawlessly. We were at the youth detention center in Manchester where they have a sugarhouse on the old John Stark farm. Has a guzzler but not much was coming in. My lines today advanced from dripping to minor streams. Test fired evaporator and used the hot water to clean up the palace. Some minor plumbing issues. Rigged pump trailer. Put in a couple 3/16s laterals with the Starline taps on the new growth below the sugarhouse. First time the trees have been tapped. They've gone from 6" to 12" in about 10 years, now with huge crowns. Decided to finish tapping over next several days cause I don't think we'll get a run until next week. Might be able to rinse the membranes tomorrow night. Looks like I might slide under the wire.

[Russell Lampron]

You don't think we'll get a run until next week! We're getting one now and the weather looks great for the next 10 days. You're slacking Bruce.

[Amber Gold]

Not getting a run till next week...the words of the untapped.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Boys, dust off the dictionary. Run: when sap flows more than a gallon per tap per day for more than 3 sequential days. Also see, Squirt: Less than a run, and, Peak Flow: three or more day surge of uncontrollable sap flow often resulting in operator fatigue and damage to local infrastructure. Sap pumps all fired up. Membranes loaded. Evaporator idling. 400+ gal from 500+ taps over two days, but no run, yet. Oh, and be sure and test your sugar!

[Amber Gold]

Thanks for clarifying. I never knew there was a difference. You almost got enough to boil before things slow down.

[Hop Kiln Road]

About .75 gpt from the first squirt. Huge sugar range from 1.6 to 2.6 and exactly correlated to the length of orchard fertilization, which may not mean anything. Had a busted RO fitting right off the bat but finally rinsed the membranes and reduced the remainder to 80 gallons of 8%. Sweeten tomorrow if it gets above freezing. Looks like a late, erratic start.

[Hop Kiln Road]

I got a hen that lays 6 or 7 eggs every day so I thought I better upgrade her facility. I mean, that is better egg production than even that Kim Kadashian chick and check out her pad! Not sure what planet she's on but Channel 286 for you folks who got Deep Space TV. Now M insisted I get a building permit since a citizen can't own an unlicensed hammer these days. I walk into the Town Hall with my hammer hanging on my belt, open carry, and tell the nice young deputy chief inspector I want to build a new chicken coop and he chuckles and says I need a set of stamped plans. Fortunately I had brought along all my doodles, didn't think to bring any stamps, so I whip 'em out and his amusement wanes when I tell him about my Kadashian hen and he keeps glancing at my hammer, fidgeting and reciting codes, and pontificating the social benefits of chicken zone setbacks, which, I guess, keep chickens from inciting neighbors, like that Putin guy. Well by the time I got the gosh darn permit, I had cashed up 6 inspections for footing depth, reinforced 3000 lb concrete, electric, plumbing, a 72 lb snow load and a 91 MPH wind speed! Cripes, okay, so a 91 MPH breeze might ruffle some feathers, but a thousand eggs just to get the chickens out from under the evaporator?

[Russell Lampron]

The crap you've got to go through to build something these days is something else ain't it. You got a permit for that swing press (hammer) Bruce?

[Hop Kiln Road]

Pans sweetened and made a little syrup. Trees are now more eager than us and pushing ice down the lines and out the spouts. Going to let loose and start gushing Monday. Forecast looks good for 30 days, if it holds. Yup, heck with the permit, can't never find a hammer when you need it neither. A lot of guys keep a couple hammers stashed about cause they're a hassle to pack around all the time. For awhile I kept it on the bedroom closet shelf. But then M noticed all the cleat mud and found it and said I couldn't keep it there. She said lock it in a cabinet then I would always know where it was but the key was such a hassle so I still carry it around.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm one of those guys that has several stashed in key locations. I have one in my basement toolbox, one in my maple toolbox and one in my dump truck. I also have others that in specific spots but can be found when needed if I look hard enough. You might say that I'm a hammer hoarder.

[Greyfox]

When hammers are outlawed,..... only Russ will have hammers. Better make sure they all have proper, unaltered serial numbers. DHS may be watching the Trader....:evil:

[Hop Kiln Road]

32* most of the day with blowing light snow. Pumped .5gpt of 2.5%. Tomorrow looks better.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Another .5 gpt this PM. Sugar climbed to 2.6% Might get 1 gpt tomorrow?

[Hop Kiln Road]

Another .5gpt today but sugar dropped to 2.4%. Partial day flows because of the weather. Course last year Red Roof added that fancy Visitors Center to his complex. Heard Maple Weekend he had to doddledbug up the tourists from his leased overflow parking down to the track. So after I finished the Chicken Spa I decide to put in a "RO Control and Command Center." Well, bite off more than I can chew again. Ended up with valves everywhere and now duck pipes all over the place! Don't know how the big guys do it. Started worrying I was courting disaster cause it looks an awful lot like a Chernobyl beehive and those drones ended up bulldozing everything for miles. But then for Valentines Day, M & I were knocking Humpty Dumptys off the kitchen counter and it hit me. Back around the holidays M thought I needed a thymus cleanse. I was probably a tad overdue but I don't like the medicine. So there we were shooting egg white with Curacao, Jagermeister, Chartreuse by christmas treeing Red, Yellow, Green, Go! Well from the bottom up, but Red, Yellow, Green? Wash, Rinse, Go! Hey, color code the control room valves. No wash water in the flue pan meltdowns for me. Nix the evacuation siren!

[Hop Kiln Road]

Probably have to chase around town to find the missing buckets. May not get above 32 until the weekend. Got the feed tank sitting above the RO room so the line shouldn't freeze. But I decided to leave 80 gal of 10% in case I needed it Saturday; jury's out on that one. Only other vulnerable points are the permeate tank valves. Thawed out the canner and evaporator last night. Had a real episode with the filter press. Geez, here I am over challenged at 110% just to glue together a couple of RO valves while making monthly payments on my building permit tab and now Red Roof is operating his entire stump to jug system in a heated chair with joysticks. A guy just can't catch a break! I'm seriously considering buying that used 707 cockpit off Ebay and bolting it to the side of the sugar house. Hang up is getting the building permit and waiting for the right time to bring M onboard.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Yup, permeate valves, hit that one on the nose. I know, mix the metaphors. Thawed the evaporator again. Couple more warm ups and I'll have 20% in the flue pan just like the big boys. Now out of furnace wood in the basement just when the cold weather sets in. Dang. Frozen snow too deep in the yard to get to the tractor to the cellar wood chute. Double dang. Not sure how I'm going to sneak it by M to the cellar stairs cuz she spotted some bark on the kitchen floor tonight. Okay, but domestic bliss aside, I sure ain't about to be seduced by this fracking cheap oil talk.

[Hop Kiln Road]

3/10/15: You don't think we'll get a run until next week! We're getting one now and the weather looks great for the next 10 days. You're slacking Bruce.

3/11/15: Not getting a run till next week...the words of the untapped.

3/19/15: You know, my kids would never listen to me as teenagers. Watched me hawkeye, but listen, no. Then they got to be adults and I started getting those 9PM phones calls, when I had been asleep for 30 minutes. "Dad, how do you know if you are really in love?" And from the Caribbean, "Dad, I think I have too much cash," two of my favorites!

[Russell Lampron]

Yep time to eat crow! The forecast and the weather changed as soon as I hit the "Post Quick Reply" button. This friggin cold weather is all my fault.

Now when is the sap gonna run o wise one?

[Amber Gold]

Ditto what Russ said, and yes, the cold is all his fault.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Well gentlemen, wisdom is not a priori nor am I in the clutches of the prognostication business. I only give 2nd opinions. You are in love when you stop eating and pay no attention to the weather. You have too much cash when you ask your spouse if there is anything she wants and she says cold nights and warm days.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Walked the lines and all the drops are solid ice so the trees are pushing. Boiled the concentrate saved during the week. Feed tank had 2" of ice. Couple of visitors. Had to sand to get them in the door. Neither the filter press nor the canner are working right. Had plumbed to pump permeate to my feed tank and flue pan for washing but haven't process enough sap to get things dirty enough to try it out, and can't keep the ice out of anything anyway. Still hunkering down and waiting for the weather to change.

[MapleSaint]

I hear you Bruce. I boiled one night then everything I have is frozen solid. Don't know when it will dethaw so I'm just hanging inside watch hing the wind blow. Hopefully we have a better week starting Tuesday. Hang in there

[Hop Kiln Road]

With all the cold and frigging wind, spent yesterday working on the taxes. Mind boggling. That got me so neurotic that I went down to the sugarhouse and drained the RO, figuring things could get worse, oh, like a three day power outage power just as things start to drip. However, with the bright sun the temp in the chicken spa hit 80* for the first time. M made me a Winnie and a boiled dinner with the last of the cabbage from the new cold room.

[Russell Lampron]

Did you have corned beef with that boiled dinner or ham?

[Hop Kiln Road]

Russ - Corn beef. So if my filter press isn't producing sparkling glass quality syrup but the pressure doesn't go over 15 lbs, then I should be looking to see that a filter paper isn't sealing an exit hole on a frame? When I tear it apart the DE is dirty. Or could it be the syrup is coming out of the press too hot? The syrup looks more partially filtered than cloudy. Or might a an air leak in the suction line pay a role? Might have to filter again by Thursday. Thanks, Bruce

[Russell Lampron]

M is a good woman. Corn Beef is the best with boiled dinner. Is there a lot of air in the syrup when it comes out of the press? If there is an air leak on the intake hose side the syrup will come out all foamy and full of air. A blocked hole would make it build too much pressure. Do you have all of the plates facing the right direction? I haven't done this so I don't know the result of a backwards plate. The syrup being too hot is definitely not the problem. I bring it to a boil or very close to it before I run it through the press so that it goes through easier. My press will build enough pressure to blow syrup out between the paper and plate and hit the ceiling. Maybe I need to make a field trip.

[Kaison's]

Hi guys,
I wanted to chime in on this topic.When I first started using my press I wasn't using enough DE.The pressure would build up more if I don't use the right amount.Pound the earth right to it, more is better in this case.When you take the plates apart the (cakes)should be full.

M is a good woman. Corn Beef is the best with boiled dinner. Is there a lot of air in the syrup when it comes out of the press? If there is an air leak on the intake hose side the syrup will come out all foamy and full of air. A blocked hole would make it build too much pressure. Do you have all of the plates facing the right direction? I haven't done this so I don't know the result of a backwards plate. The syrup being too hot is definitely not the problem. I bring it to a boil or very close to it before I run it through the press so that it goes through easier. My press will build enough pressure to blow syrup out between the paper and plate and hit the ceiling. Maybe I need to make a field trip.

[Russell Lampron]

Hi guys,
I wanted to chime in on this topic.When I first started using my press I wasn't using enough DE.The pressure would build up more if I don't use the right amount.Pound the earth right to it, more is better in this case.When you take the plates apart the (cakes)should be full.

The one thing I forgot. My press holds 7 cups of filter aid and that is what I use regardless of how much syrup I'm putting through it.

[Hop Kiln Road]

A good woman? Russ, you don't know the half of it! When she was ten she had to pilot her dad's D2 while he was collecting sap up to Bath. Not allowed to say the year. Got a picture somewhere. She could only reach the steering clutches so he would put it in first then he and his buddy would try to keep up. She now says, "Treat, why would a girl want to break her nails in March?" Got a call from the town this PM wanting to inspect the chicken spa. I declined. Think the cupola light might be giving me away.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Ophs, still dreaming of storming the castle only to be collecting ice here and there. M might have to put me back in my box just as we finally got robins spring cleaning the mountain ash berries out of the expanding tree wells. And Carroll has winged it back arrived from the mecca of rejuvenation, the oasis of the aged, the fountain of expectations, only to be faced with the harsh indignity of crampons and axe or ice chains on the tractor if he wants to steamily regale onlookers with tales of yesteryear while starting with 10%.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Sap tried too breakout but still too cold and weak to even lift an ice block off the bottom of a field tank. Only pumped a .33 gpt squirt by 6PM. So far the 3/16 with the .225 starlines are doing the best. Okay, filter press is now operating to sparkle spec. After several hours of angst, over several days including pillow pondering, traced the problem to a protocol failure. M debriefed me over a quick Winnie. She quickly grasped the situation. "Treat, concentration, that is what maple is all about."

[AndrewsofBow]

Not much a few blocks away on White Rock Hill Rd either. Collected about 30 gals today, which was last collected late last week, on about 50 taps. Hoping things will improve so I can really get some use out of my new HM arch.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Had two vans of new foreign students from the local U visit. They had never tasted maple syrup. What a melting pot. The third world couldn't believe we make something useful out of nothing, literally witnessing alchemy. The old eastern bloc was totally flabbergasted by American technology while Asia was embarrassed. But most interesting was the Mideast, no interest in genesis or production whatsoever, until they tasted. Then it was a group flinch, all their eyes lit up, even the diminutive starting talking all at once and the guys made swiping motions.

[Hop Kiln Road]

If everybody had our ocean
Across the USA
Then everbody'd be sappin
The Hampshire way
You'd see 'em wearin gaiters
And snowshoes too
Bushy bushy blonde hairdos
Sappin USA.

You'd catch 'em sappin Acworth
Or the Merrimack sign
Northumberland at the trestle
To Andover's Route 11 line
All over Loudon Ridge
And down Coos way

Everybody's gone sappin'
Sappin' USA.

We'll all be planning that route
We're gonna take real soon
We're washing down our tanks
We can wait for the monsoon
We'll all be gone for April
We're on the pumps to stay
Tell the teacher we're sappin
Sappin USA.

Carrharts and Swamies
Along Monadnock way
Plainfield at the Sunset
Bucket blanket Grafton
And at Alton Bay

All over New Hampshire
Everybody's gone sappin
Sappin USA.

[Russell Lampron]

Thanks Bruce,

Now I'm going to have that song in my head all day.

[red maples]

thats pretty good right there. I will have steal that one!!!

[optionguru]

I always love reading your posts. Thanks

[Run Forest Run!]

I always love reading your posts. Thanks

Me too, Treat's a treat. I'm hoping that one day he'll autograph my propane tanks. :lol:

[Hop Kiln Road]

A tiring couple of days. The impression I get every year from Maple Weekend is how the maple industry flies under the American consumer radar. Also noticed that Market Basket had a special on Canadian syrup (Springtree) to celebrate the our event: 12.5 oz for US$4.99

[Hop Kiln Road]

Put out a dozen 4 gal buckets 3 PM Monday and they were overflowing by 10AM Tuesday. Overall sugar still 2.6% and grade still almost golden. Washed the feed tank and filtered the evaporator last night but grade stayed the same today. Carroll is coming to boil tomorrow.

[Hop Kiln Road]

High was only 37* with wind and didn't hit 32* until close to 10AM. so another .5gpt still 2.6% but the grade dropped from the upper to the lower ranges of Amber rich. In fact, put both in glass and label them Amber rich taste, which is what they are, no consumer will believe they are the same.

[Russell Lampron]

Hey Bruce, My syrup has all been amber too. Mine dropped from the upper boarder to the middle. Not making dark yet but getting close. Judging by what my buckets and gravity are doing the gravity guys are getting some sap too which is good for a change. In the last 48 hrs I've gotten 2 gpt. which is rare for my woods.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Been filling hot Growlers with upside Amber Rich Taste and talking on the telephone. See for my birthday M got me a modern telephone. I'm beginning to figure out what is going on. Back around Christmas M didn't think I could hear what she was saying and took me down to this nice lady who would say one word and I'd hear another, but they were all trick words that could go either way but I ended up with these "instruments" in my ears. So be it. Okay, you guys over in Vermont hold on to your hats, unless it's still snowboard season in which case just brace those air fins against whatever's handy, now if I hear the telephone ring, I just say hello out loud and the caller is right in my hearing aids. Even down at the sugarhouse or out in the woods! Couple issues so far, like M asked me to get some more potatoes from the cold cellar the other day and I said, "sure thing" and I got a phone call from the Beach Boys before I even got down the backstairs! Gotta be awful careful cause I got no idea when I'm on the telephone and when I'm not.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Good flow here! Got it under control thanks to the RO correspondence course I took last fall. But I got to admit, I still get a little jittery in the RO Command and Control Center. Still good snow cover and ground frost. Looks like peak flow next week. Got to get back to the canner. Yesterday's production was the lightest of the season.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm a seasoned veteran with the RO and still look things over and double check everything when I start switching valves and turning knobs. When you're squeezing out 16% you don't want to pump it down the drain.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Cut a deal with the bunny. Happy Easter!

11559

[Russell Lampron]

Cut a deal with the bunny. Happy Easter!

11559

Sweet!

Happy Easter Bruce!

[TRAILGUY]

That is funny because I when from amber to very dark, sap was a little cloudy.

Good flow here! Got it under control thanks to the RO correspondence course I took last fall. But I got to admit, I still get a little jittery in the RO Command and Control Center. Still good snow cover and ground frost. Looks like peak flow next week. Got to get back to the canner. Yesterday's production was the lightest of the season.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Part of the new RO C&C is 600 gal of permeate storage (w/ overflow drains!) with the hard plumbed ability to rinse the feed tank and both evaporator pans with permeate. This allows much better protocol for bacteria control in the system. My SS feed tank of 10% re-circulated concentrate at 35° smells sour when empty unless it is rinsed. Got a couple ideas about the field tanks too. I've thought about a BubbleMaster 1.0™ but have some concerns about caramelization and I haven't had a chance to discuss the matter with its inventor. Think I might hard plumb the flue pan to the filter press first. Stored Friday's sap until Sunday afternoon to cook with family on a clean syrup pan and the grade held on the low end of Amber. I was surprised. Only amber so far and still partial snow pack and hard frost in the ground so even marginal temps will probably produce sap.

[Hop Kiln Road]

32° this AM on top of hill. Yesterday was an okay flow with the 3/16th tank 2X the other lines and out produced the buckets. Sap is still clear. Grade remained Amber Rich Taste by a shade with the taste getting "richer" I guess - can't believe the industry won't follow the path of the vineyards. Forecast doesn't look great but ground frost and snowpack do. Brooks aren't high and no crows; really hasn't been a much of a runoff yet.

[Russell Lampron]

Even though we didn't get much of a freeze up at the house overnight, if we even got one, my mainlines and releaser are frozen this morning. The puddles were icing over just before dark down in the woods last evening and the one by the house didn't. The cold in the woods is helping.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Slow sap but still very clear. 3/16ths leads the volume. Grade matches the bottom of Amber Rich. Snow leaving the lawns and my neighbors are nice folks but obsess over lawns. Bunch of them visit the sugar house all the time, except George. He used to visit all the time. Then I ditched the wheelbarrow uphill on planks for an upscale tractor to thin out the maple orchard, kinda made sense with the wood furnace, and he stopped visiting and traded in his rider mower for this magic carpet unit. My Vermont correspondents will scratch their heads now the snowboards are put away, but this rig is a wheelchair that goes wicked fast and turns and spins real quick and grass flies everywhere, and I mean the sky gets dark! Looks like it doesn't even touch the ground once it gets up to speed. Why first time he used it I scurried the laundry in off the clothesline cause thought it was going to storm. M says it's some hormone affliction with us older guys.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Got this bucket tree down in Concord that just went over 30 gallons of 4% sap. Can't disclose the exact location, might have been planted as an ornamental, but a couple of experts have inspected it and say it is a black maple, acer nigrum. Otherwise, not enough sap to pump yesterday. Cleaned both pans. Snow this morning. Forecast not good. Hard to believe with the ground conditions, but looks uphill to an average season.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Ice in the trees and lines have been plugged with ice for two days and buckets all have a good skim. Think it will be a good flow through the weekend and then trickle for a couple more days. So...pretty good chance to hit average, only shy by 3 gpt and closer on the syrup since the sugar is high this year. Be interesting to see what happens, particularly to the grade with the sap so clear and cold and the field tanks still clean. Four or five seasons back it was too warm to have a freeze/thaw cycle and the trees finally let loose without it, or perhaps the air temps didn't cycle but the ground temps/root systems did?

[Russell Lampron]

Four or five seasons back it was too warm to have a freeze/thaw cycle and the trees finally let loose without it, or perhaps the air temps didn't cycle but the ground temps/root systems did?

At the end of that season I was down at my releaser contemplating whether to shut off the vacuum off or not. The sap was still coming in and the temp was 83*. I could literally see the flowers on the red maples open while I was sitting there on my 4 wheeler!

[Hop Kiln Road]

Flow good, some buckets overflowing, and snow atop tanks but sugar down to 2%. RO tore through the weak sap. Two of my land lords graded and agreed we crossed the Rubicon entering the enchanted domain of the Dark Robust. Got in late from boiling and had a thought. Nudged M. "Hey, we could bolt the TV to the ceiling and watch the stars." She just gave me that look and says, "Treat, really, don't you remember freaking out in the dingy castle? Bratislava? The flashlight in the mirrors? After two bottles of Bull's Blood?" Oh and I had comfortably forgotten. Remember the wine, good stuff unlike the commies made, but for quite awhile thereafter M called me, ah, Moonbeam.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Saturday was another sap bust, had a freeze but too windy for good sap flow. Friday night's sap all came through as the old Dark Amber/new Dark Robust. The flows off the 3/16ths have been most impressive and all those lines had the Starline spouts using a ID/OD connection. Bet the finally numbers will be +40% over the 5/16th but shy of the buckets. Having a little canner issue. Thought I was getting a temperature stratification but it could just be fatigue. Going to meet my goal of over half the production in glass.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Boil last night will be it. Sap looked really good for the date and weather. The color stayed in the old dark amber range but the consensus was the taste slipped and lost a smooth finish.

[Hop Kiln Road]

I grew up in what is now Vermonticut, before the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways reached our house and I left via lucky Exit 7. Ike ordered the system after he and Kay experienced the chaotic traffic in France versus the smooth driving east of the Rhine because, "In case of atomic attack on our key cities, the road network would permit quick evacuation of target cities." Well ain't it just human nature, survival of the fittest and all, cause many of the key folks in the target cities jumped the gun and evacuated before the signal! And as soon as they realized it was all clear, they went back and evacuated more stuff and relatives. Curious coincidence, but shortly thereafter, it was illegal to put milk cans on the trains but had to be truck hauled in stainless bulk down the Defense Highway and it was all over. As soon as I was old enough to leave the nest, went down and checked out a couple of the target cities and saw the vast post atomic fallout. No wonder the key folks had to evacuate.