May journal

[jimsudz]

Still cleaning and canning. Made a 2nd batch of cream and been making lots of nuts. Every one loves my nuts. Went to wyoming county maple producers meeting this evening and my syrup came in first place. Closing on 2.5 acre sugar bush on the 15th. Getting excited to do some thinning and set up the 3/16.

[wnybassman]

Started bucking up a couple large black locusts that were dropped this time last year during the start of my shack project. Have to get a couple more on the ground soon.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

woods all done and sugar house partially cleaned up. going to clean arch up fix a couple things, getting closer to making a decision on selling the complete 2x6 going bigger.

[maple flats]

I've been a bad boy. I've been installing a vinyl panel fence closing in the back yard, my wife has been watching 2 of our grand daughters days and it seems the 2 yr. old can run faster than grandma can). I still need to finish the last of what is in my front pan which will only take maybe 2 hrs in the pan (it is much deeper than usual operating depth) with water in the back pan. Once that is in my draw off tank it will set a few days. In the meantime I've got my last batch in my canner (but I think that will be Dark, and I suspect the batch going into the draw tank will be Very Dark.
Then I've got to open another barrel of Amber to pack more half gal and qts.
My help gets out of college later this week, then taps get pulled, along with a few changes. I'm adding more gauges so each line main will have 2, one just after a valve to isolate the line and one at the far end. Right now, some have the far end gauge but none have the near gauge. Right after that is done we start fertilizing my blueberries. If I have a dry spring that takes about 3 days, if a wet spring and the tractor has to stay at the end of the rows while the fertilizing is done from buckets while walking, it adds about a day and a half.
My sales since the season began have been a record pace, while my production was only at about 65%. I certainly will need to buy more Amber and likely dark too before I even get thru the summer, let alone my fall and Christmas sales.

[sapmaple]

Taking the wife on a 10 day vacation in the Caribbean Happy wife Happy life!!

[sjdoyon]

Boiled yesterday and made about 170 gallons. Syrup is getting darker, still has a good maple taste. Temps were down to 30 last night. Next two days should tell us how long we go into next week.

[wnybassman]

Started splitting wood last night after I hauled home my new log splitter. Been thinking about it for years and I finally did it! Was given a bunch of pine (maybe 8 to 10 face cord worth) that I got started on. My pile bucked up black locust will be next. Hoping to have next years wood all set by July 4th.

[maple flats]

That's a good start, but after July 4, start the following year's wood. I usually have 2 season's ahead or almost 2. You won't believe what the satisfaction of 2 yrs. ahead does for your peace of mind. I started shooting for 2 the summer after I ran out one year, after thinking I had enough going into a season. Cutting last minute wood in season really sucks on 2 fronts. You are too busy handling sap, and even dead standing wood is not really dry enough. However I don't suggest 3 seasons unless you have indoor storage. Mine is stacked outside, in an open field, but by a 3rd season the wood degrades a little, even if up on rails or pallets. It still burns good but gets messy to handle. However, if you have a good well ventilated wood shed the wood remains cleaner longer. My method is to cut and split, then stack it in the field. Then it gets moved as needed to under the long overhang on my sugarhouse roof. Then into the sugarhouse wood rack. If it is good and dry in the field when I refill the wood rack in the sugarhouse some goes directly to there, if it has rained or has a wet snow on it, the overhang works better.

[wnybassman]

That's a good start, but after July 4, start the following year's wood. I usually have 2 season's ahead or almost 2. You won't believe what the satisfaction of 2 yrs. ahead does for your peace of mind. I started shooting for 2 the summer after I ran out one year, after thinking I had enough going into a season. Cutting last minute wood in season really sucks on 2 fronts. You are too busy handling sap, and even dead standing wood is not really dry enough. However I don't suggest 3 seasons unless you have indoor storage. Mine is stacked outside, in an open field, but by a 3rd season the wood degrades a little, even if up on rails or pallets. It still burns good but gets messy to handle. However, if you have a good well ventilated wood shed the wood remains cleaner longer. My method is to cut and split, then stack it in the field. Then it gets moved as needed to under the long overhang on my sugarhouse roof. Then into the sugarhouse wood rack. If it is good and dry in the field when I refill the wood rack in the sugarhouse some goes directly to there, if it has rained or has a wet snow on it, the overhang works better.

Oh, I will keep going. I am having two large black locusts dropped at my house in a couple weeks by someone who knows what they are doing. They angle right over the house with no place to drop them. Having a climber coming to to do them. Those two alone will better a better part of a years wood, which I will process this year. Over time I have a lot of problem trees at the house I will need to take down one by one in order of priority. One of my problems is storage. Nothing is flat here so stacking becomes an issue, and I don't want to get too far from the shack.

[PerryFamily]

Still cleaning here. Pressure washed the flue pan and decided it wasn't clean enough so I filled it with permeate and bang...it's leaking. Has been repaired several times so maybe I disturbed a old repair who knows. Might also be a good time to upgrade.
Syrup sales are pretty good
Lots of wood to split
Sold our 600 Waterloo looking forward to getting our Lapierre 2 post unit
It never ends

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

Wood she'd is full and I would have finished the extra cord today that I'm putting up for insurance but it decided to rain today. Evaporator is cleaned sold and gone. New 2X6 max flu is on order. Wood WILL be finished this week rain or shine!!!


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[maple flats]

I just ordered a Lapierre Flue pan washer. I expect it to allow me to make even better syrup. My flue pan has 10" deep flues and it takes a lot of time and effort to keep them properly cleaned. I'll be moving an extra 1000 gal SS tank I have, to hold my permeate to use for cleaning the flues pan.