maple flats
05-16-2015, 06:37 AM
My grandson Adam has been with me since he was 7 and even at 7 he was a good helper. He has been in college, and has worked all breaks. He now has just 1 semester left plus an internship. He just told me yesterday that he has gotten a job at his College in his chosen field, network administration.
I thought I had the one more semester but while it hit me hard, I know it is best for his future. For his future I am truly glad, for my work I will miss him dearly.
One fond memory from his early days (I think he was 8 or 9) was when we were cutting and chipping brush in my blueberry fields. It was a real hot, muggy day. After a few hours, about mid afternoon, his mother stopped with his little sister to see if he wanted to go to the lake with them to swim, his reply was "can I stay and work with grandpa?". He is also the only reason I still have the blueberries. Back in 2005 I announced I was going to sell the blueberry fields and just concentrate on maple, but he said "Ah, Grandpa, that's the funnest part". With that I had to buy a new piece of equipment to help keep up with the blueberries and still have some good weather time to work maple. At that I bought a Weed Badger, a machine that hooks up to a tractor 3 P.H., connects to the PTO, and has an arm that reaches up the right side to about 2' in front of the rear tire. On this arm there is a hydraulic motor which spins on a vertical axis. I have 2 attachments for it, the first is a vertical tiller that spins and can be run in and out by means of a joy stick control between the blueberry bushes to help keep the rows clean and weed free. It also is strong enough if I encounter a stump from the brush that has plagued me since the mid 80's, that it destroys the roots and eventually, after 2 or 3 years actually yanks the stump out and lays it in the aisle for pick-up. My second attachment is a second hydraulic motor, that spins much faster, and it has a 25" rotary mower on it. This also work good to keep weeds and such down and it can be run down the rows much faster than the tiller can.
I'm still hoping he comes back to help on some of his days off, BUT he also has a girlfriend who may likely influence his free time even more than the "fun" of working with grandpa.
My next grandson coming up is only 6 and while he wants to and sometimes does help grandpa, he will need a couple of years or more before he will be much of a real helper.
In the meantime, I've got to find another helper because I'm getting too old to do it all myself. I have a couple of leads right now, both who are good workers, but one doesn't even have a driver's license (another subject) which crimps things a lot.
I hope to be able to keep up with both the blueberries AND maple. If I can't, while my heart is more with maple, the blueberries are a more sure thing to get a decent crop. I may need to cut back on but not out of maple. Here I was going to add another 200-250 more taps next year, about 160-210 at my sugarhouse, now that I have another vacuum pump, and another 30-40 at my bigger lease. I was also thinking I might try some 3/16 at my smaller bush on my steeper sections with good drop. I'll need to think this out more now.
I thought I had the one more semester but while it hit me hard, I know it is best for his future. For his future I am truly glad, for my work I will miss him dearly.
One fond memory from his early days (I think he was 8 or 9) was when we were cutting and chipping brush in my blueberry fields. It was a real hot, muggy day. After a few hours, about mid afternoon, his mother stopped with his little sister to see if he wanted to go to the lake with them to swim, his reply was "can I stay and work with grandpa?". He is also the only reason I still have the blueberries. Back in 2005 I announced I was going to sell the blueberry fields and just concentrate on maple, but he said "Ah, Grandpa, that's the funnest part". With that I had to buy a new piece of equipment to help keep up with the blueberries and still have some good weather time to work maple. At that I bought a Weed Badger, a machine that hooks up to a tractor 3 P.H., connects to the PTO, and has an arm that reaches up the right side to about 2' in front of the rear tire. On this arm there is a hydraulic motor which spins on a vertical axis. I have 2 attachments for it, the first is a vertical tiller that spins and can be run in and out by means of a joy stick control between the blueberry bushes to help keep the rows clean and weed free. It also is strong enough if I encounter a stump from the brush that has plagued me since the mid 80's, that it destroys the roots and eventually, after 2 or 3 years actually yanks the stump out and lays it in the aisle for pick-up. My second attachment is a second hydraulic motor, that spins much faster, and it has a 25" rotary mower on it. This also work good to keep weeds and such down and it can be run down the rows much faster than the tiller can.
I'm still hoping he comes back to help on some of his days off, BUT he also has a girlfriend who may likely influence his free time even more than the "fun" of working with grandpa.
My next grandson coming up is only 6 and while he wants to and sometimes does help grandpa, he will need a couple of years or more before he will be much of a real helper.
In the meantime, I've got to find another helper because I'm getting too old to do it all myself. I have a couple of leads right now, both who are good workers, but one doesn't even have a driver's license (another subject) which crimps things a lot.
I hope to be able to keep up with both the blueberries AND maple. If I can't, while my heart is more with maple, the blueberries are a more sure thing to get a decent crop. I may need to cut back on but not out of maple. Here I was going to add another 200-250 more taps next year, about 160-210 at my sugarhouse, now that I have another vacuum pump, and another 30-40 at my bigger lease. I was also thinking I might try some 3/16 at my smaller bush on my steeper sections with good drop. I'll need to think this out more now.