Hop Kiln Road 2020

[Hop Kiln Road]

Well jeepers, with the weather and all I should have gotten a big jump on the season. But nope, got caught up in the dangerous www.emergency.virus. Went down to Concord to get my pre Valentine's day shear like I always do before the maple season starts. When I got home I sneezed and my ears were cold, and I was feeling light headed. Figured no big deal since I had gone off caffeine awhile back and sometimes cold air makes me sneeze. Well oh no, M says I might have stepped in some global epidemic puddle getting out of my truck downtown and the CDC folks - I'd never heard of 'em before but sounds like their office must be next to the FDA - said the cure was a mandatory 14 days sequestered below deck. Like by myself! If it weren't for having to chuck wood in the furnace when M banged on the kitchen floor, I might have lost track of the weather and never tapped! Thank goodness she was ok and able to leave me food at the top of the cellar stairs. Big relief to get out in the woods tapping and forget about the rest of the world.

[Russell Lampron]

Bruce I'm sorry to hear that you were ill. You haven't missed much. What at first looked like it was going to be a flashback to 2012 is now looking more like a normal season. I tapped last weekend and haven't gotten much more than 3 releaser dumps worth of sap. Of course you're down in the tropics so you could have gotten a little more than me from those well fed sugar maples though.

[buckeye gold]

I'm not in your neighborhood, but maybe I can cheer you up. I have maybe 2-3 boils left and about to finish my best year ever down here in Southern Ohio. My season started out the same way, decent runs but very spotty and would go days with nothing. Then all of a sudden the dam burst and I was flooded. I boiled 24 of the next 28 days. I was almost ready to pray for it to stop. Maybe that will come your way.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm not in your neighborhood, but maybe I can cheer you up. I have maybe 2-3 boils left and about to finish my best year ever down here in Southern Ohio. My season started out the same way, decent runs but very spotty and would go days with nothing. Then all of a sudden the dam burst and I was flooded. I boiled 24 of the next 28 days. I was almost ready to pray for it to stop. Maybe that will come your way.

It's only late February here and March is our sugaring month. Back in January we had a couple of thaws when there hadn't much of a January freeze. February started out warm too which was much like 2012 when the season started early and was over by the third week of March. Then the cold and snow hit us and there hasn't been much for sugaring weather since. I'm optimistic that the season is going to be a good one with near record flows.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Okay, okay, yes I may have false flagged my Vermont friends, hailing from wherever the satellites still don't line up, with a wee bit of alarm, vestiges of being able to catch CNN I guess. With no fever it's just a 3 day quarantine and you can spend it in a motel, just no cracker barrel time. And besides feeding the furnace I also finished rigging out my new shurflo. The 3/16 lines on the Wordsworth Brook orchard work well except they empty at a point only a 1% grade above, and a long way from, the road tank so the drain line never empties and will freeze overnight backing up the next day's production. So I figure elevate the drain line to 2% and have the shurflo pump the sap up 8 feet to the drain line which should now drain when the sap stops. And since it's way off in the woods and solar powered, I got a Mt Maples' automatic gizmo box to run it. Bet ole retired Red Roof is just in stitches.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Got over 1,000 gal by Tuesday morning. But no freeze so its tapering off. First run will be in the 2 to 3 gpt range. Everything is operational after I finally got the solar panel talking to its controller.

[Hop Kiln Road]

1700 gal of 2.3% for the first run. Syrup was 61% on the Hanna. Smooth start up considering the run was front loaded! I did finish my orchard inventory updates: 1,200 sugar maples with 900 >10" and 710 taps. Incidentally, 300 trees are on a conservation easement where I tap 10" trees and the group is trying to enforce some antiquated UNH rules calling for 21073a 12" minimum tapping diameter but the rules also allow 7/16 taps in 2 1/2" holes. Go figure. My thinning and fertilizing programs are yielding good results in growth and sugar production. The picture is a 6" cull that was released 13 years ago at 1.5" when it was ~30 years old! So it grew 4.5" in 13 years. It's brethren which were not culled, will be 10" in less than 5 years. Anyway, even with the .225 spouts, I'm thinking of going to a 12" minimum and one tap per tree regardless of diameter, to cut back on the sap volumes as the sugar content rises. Otherwise I'll have to sell sap or get a bigger evaporator, neither of which appear cost effective.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Last fall I decided to thin two new maple sections adjoining Wordsworth Brook. But after I dug out my hardhat, the husky and starting looking around for the chokers, M figured out what I was up to and nixed the idea. Well I was pretty bent but got back in my armchair. A couple days later she said she'd found me a "Minder" and if I agreed to follow instructions and not get into political discussions, the project could proceed. She said this is the man people call when trees are too big to be cut down by a machine! Yellow pages I guess. Sure enough, the next day over to Wordsworth Brook, this "Minder" dude arrives. Well Tall Trees and Tough Men indeed: this "Minder" brought 14 chainsaws, all of 'em bigger than what was under mom's deux chevaux yellow hood. Yup, and I know the cracker barrels over toward Weston feel I abuse hyperbole but, yup, 14 honkers, and I got $20 that says he could pin an excavator in the 1st round. Got pictures.

210882108921090

[Russell Lampron]

You can never have too many chainsaws!

[buckeye gold]

I noticed....a whole truck load of Stihls and he has a Husky in his hand

[raptorfan85]

I noticed....a whole truck load of Stihls and he has a Husky in his hand

He knows what saw to grab when work needs to get done!

[Hop Kiln Road]

Last spring I decided not only to swap spouts every year but to swap out tees every third year. Out of 750, one .225 spout was constricted with wood chips but all 250 tees were clean as a whistle. Also replaced an old 1/2" mainline section with 3/16 setup. Since I was going to replace the 1/2", I didn't flush it last spring and when I took it down in November the mold build up was impressive. I had always wondered if flushing the lines was worth the effort and now I know. That leaves one orchard left to convert to 3/16. The former operator had abandoned it in 2009, saying the trees had stopped producing. I took it over in 2013 and could not believe the over tapping and cluster tapping. In 7 years of better care the bark is looking better and the sap production has risen from 50% of the average for my all trees to 70%, even though its average tree diameter is higher. Not only do the trees not produce as much sap per tap on a daily basis but they don't run as many days each season as the other orchards.

It took awhile to thaw the trees yesterday even with the warm temps. Looks like this the run started late in the afternoon and ran all night.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Got 1,000 gal Monday overnight. Some pretty good flows. Had to fix one cranky 2" valve and the chewed through most of it and the grade stayed at 60% and favor was excellent. Going to pump Tuesday's flow this morning. Won't be as much. Windy today and no freeze until Thursday night.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Well, wrong, it didn't slow down. 1100 gal of 2.3% and it was still flowing at 4PM. Cranked down the RO so the 2nd pass was coming off at 11.5%. Couple minor glitches. Grade stayed steady at 60%+ and very clean thru the filter press. Slight freeze over night so it ain't going to stop.

[Parker]

Give it hell Bruce!

[Hop Kiln Road]

Got everything cleaned up last night. Had to fill a 15 gal drum to do it. The RO, concentrate and feed tanks, finisher are all clean. Simmer the evaporator down low and drained the syrup pan. Last bit came off at 55% but it was more than 24 hours from the first crunch. Going to pump yesterday's sap this morning. Got plenty of wood, RO soap and defoamer so away we go.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm going to do a good cleaning here tomorrow too. It's amazing how fast things get dirty.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Still coming in gtp/day and one of the tanks didn't get hooked up after pumping! Grade is staying steady and the weather is beautiful. Still haven't got my head around the shurflo controller. Did clean out the screen and here's a pic. I've never had a problem with my 3/16 tees plugging in 4 seasons. It appears because the tap hole residue from the drill bit for the .225 spouts is too small plug a tee?21147

[Hop Kiln Road]

Processed 900 gal yesterday and left 200 in the coldest orchard tank. Grade dropped briefly to 51% then climbed back to 54% as the fresh sap got into the system. Filter press has still been amazingly clean. Soaked the syrup pan overnight. Looks like one more good freeze next weekend if the evaporator doesn't ferment first.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm a little worried about the extended forecast too Bruce. It looks like we might make it to Maple Weekend and then it will be done. In the meantime the sap keeps running although it was a bit cloudy yesterday. So far this season most of my boils have been in the 1100 gallon range, almost double what they were last year.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Processed 700 gal yesterday and left 60 gal of 5.5% to simmer for the school kids today. Sap was slightly cloudy but grade held at 54%, to my surprise. Orchard tanks are empty and still look pretty clean. Only need .8 gpt to hit my annual sap average and still plenty of wood.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Kids loved the new observation balcony. Froze last night so there should be a squirt today. Going to be an above average crop and slightly darker than last year. Sugar is still averaging above 2% and grade above 50%.

21221

[Hop Kiln Road]

Going to pump Thursday and Friday results this morning, should be about gpt, and run it through in front of any adventurous guests. Probably be a dark robust. Get the system cleaned out before the new run. Weather now looks pretty good for the next week. Can't hear any peepers yet but pretty sure I can hear first discordant sounds of panic. what an interesting season.

[Russell Lampron]

Yes it's an interesting season for sure. I found my woods tank overflowing yesterday morning. I had emptied it Thursday evening. The trees liked the rain.

At this time I'm going ahead with maple weekend plans but with all of the public event and school closings I don't know what to expect.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Collected 650 gal Saturday morning of sap from Thurs and Fri. Puts the season above average. The evaporator had idled 4 or 5 hours on Wed with all the school kids, so the first 5 gal was 33% but then went up to 40%. Give me a little dark inventory. Only 29F this morning but some sharp freezes are coming. A couple visitors put most folks are busy hoarding TP.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Think the trees are recharged but too cold to run. Wed is supposed to be sunny and 50F. But if I get a poor flow or the sap is so-so, I think I'll pull the taps.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Pumped 600 gal of 1.9% and the sap was only a tinge cloudy. Tested 38% but the flavor dropped well into Grade B. I'm going to pump this morning and unless the boil tells otherwise, pull the taps and start the clean up. Looks like the volume will be 15%+ over my seasonal averages.

[Hop Kiln Road]

It's a 180 turnaround. Pumped 500 gal of nice sap and it looked so nice I cleaned the pan while it crunched. Boiled this morning and the grade jumped back above 40% and the flavor improved. No sun on the buds today and a couple of good freezes coming up so it looks like a couple more boils.

[Russell Lampron]

The buds are still tight here too. The sap had cleared after the last freeze but got a little cloudy again today.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Pumped 400 gal of 1.65% yesterday morning. Slightly cloudy. A little foam. But low SSC. Double crunched it and boiled it through. Surprise. 52% and tastes rich. However, can tell I'm reaching the end of the season. Wasn't paying enough attention at the shutdown and had a minor scorch. Had to drain the pan and fortunately the burn came right off with acid bath. Will see this morning if I got a warp. Close call! Fortunately the blower was off. As the feed tank empties the head pressure drops... Going to be a record year in everything but gpt as my SSC has continued to climb annually so I'm getting more syrup while handling and processing less sap.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm getting more syrup while handling and processing less sap.

Just the opposite for me! Processing more sap and getting less syrup. The sap per tap is up but the syrup per tap is down.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Oh boy, two nights of hard freeze, a clean syrup pan and now a couple inches of snow this afternoon! Tomorrow's high 51F. Oughta be a quick flow of good sap and perhaps a bump in the sugar. Took 5gal of quarts to our new town food pantry. Probably end up in somebody's crisis coffee instead of its true 19th century value: making nutritious indigenous foods highly palatable. In that spirit, we made baked beans yesterday and roasted a couple potatoes out of the cold cellar. Interesting times.

[Parker]

Thats awsome Bruce..i jugged 200 3.4 oz bottles for all the shut in yogies at the studio i got to. A little ray of sunshine ,,,share the abundance..

[Hop Kiln Road]

Ideal conditions but only pumped 300 gal first thing yesterday and another 200 gal last night. All 1.9%. The trees are finished. Not a record season but 30% above my average.

[Biz]

Ideal conditions but only pumped 300 gal first thing yesterday and another 200 gal last night. All 1.9%. The trees are finished. Not a record season but 30% above my average.

Congrats on your season Bruce! Hope my pump control systems helped in some part. My sap is still running here in central Mass but sugar content is very low. More sap, less syrup :(

Dave

[Russell Lampron]

I decided to call it a season too. More on that in my Red Roof Maples thread.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Yes, a perfect season here. Pretty sure pulling taps and washing tanks is essential work, solo anyway. Yes Biz, your controllers were a big help and worked flawlessly. The biggest glitches were power related. The unit with the 110v battery charger, the gfi tripped once and the charger tripped twice. Perhaps high moisture, but no idea really. On the solar unit, the charger couldn't keep up on the 2 and 3 day dwindling runs. I'll PM you about a solution.

[Hop Kiln Road]

The Tuft of Flowers
Robert Frost


I went to turn the grass once after one
Who mowed it in the dew before the sun.

The dew was gone that made his blade so keen
Before I came to view the levelled scene.

I looked for him behind an isle of trees;
I listened for his whetstone on the breeze.

But he had gone his way, the grass all mown,
And I must be, as he had been,—alone,

‘As all must be,’ I said within my heart,
‘Whether they work together or apart.’

But as I said it, swift there passed me by
On noiseless wing a ‘wildered butterfly,

Seeking with memories grown dim o’er night
Some resting flower of yesterday’s delight.

And once I marked his flight go round and round,
As where some flower lay withering on the ground.

And then he flew as far as eye could see,
And then on tremulous wing came back to me.

I thought of questions that have no reply,
And would have turned to toss the grass to dry;

But he turned first, and led my eye to look
At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook,

A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared
Beside a reedy brook the scythe had bared.

I left my place to know them by their name,
Finding them butterfly weed when I came.

The mower in the dew had loved them thus,
By leaving them to flourish, not for us,

Nor yet to draw one thought of ours to him.
But from sheer morning gladness at the brim.

The butterfly and I had lit upon,
Nevertheless, a message from the dawn,

That made me hear the wakening birds around,
And hear his long scythe whispering to the ground,

And feel a spirit kindred to my own;
So that henceforth I worked no more alone;

But glad with him, I worked as with his aid,
And weary, sought at noon with him the shade;

And dreaming, as it were, held brotherly speech
With one whose thought I had not hoped to reach.

‘Men work together,’ I told him from the heart,
‘Whether they work together or apart.’

[Parker]

Looking forward to laying down phat hitches with you this summer Bruce...thiining your sugrwoods to make sweeter juice.

[DrTimPerkins]

The Tuft of Flowers
Robert Frost

Thank you. :)

[MapleCamp]

Thanks , man i wish i was back in coos NH, prayers for all

[cropseyvillemark]

Thanks Bruce. Checking in on your thread is always time well spent.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Season 2019 2020

Amber Rich 71.8% 83.5%

Dark Robust 28.2% 16.5%

Run Days 16 16

Season Days 24 30

Production up 27% over 15 year average