What A Great Day

[Buckeye mapler]

Today I took the kids out in the woods near our house and let them each tap a tree. I tapped a few myself. I think we put in 14 all together, but who's counting. We finished around 2pm. At 6 we went back over just to see what we had. almost two gallons. the kids were excited and I felt relieved to finally get my own sap collected. we are going to freeze it until we collect enough to boil. yeah this year we will use the old turkey fryer trick, but I have already sewn the seeds. How often do you get to plant a seed and have the roots take place almost instantly? They are hooked and interested. Good thing because I think I have exhausted the ears of eveyone I know when it comes to maple syrup! They listen with enthusiasm now and ask questions. I am going to post the pics of them tapping trees tomorrow, it was a great day in the woods.

[newman_maple]

That sounds like a great day!! Nothing can beat the excitement of tapping those trees with the kids. I am glad to see you take the plunge!! it is all over now; you are a life long producer.

My in-laws were over this evening for a B-Day party so they got to see some boiling. The gals didn't seem to excited about it, but all the guys were into it.

If I have a good week, you should stop out this weekend. I will let you know how things go. I am finishing boiling off another 75 gallons now. This will give me over 10 gallons finished so far. I need to get some bottled soon.

[Buckeye mapler]

Maybe if we get to come out this weekend, we can do some bottling too. thats is quite a bit of syrup this early in the season. what was your total tap count?

[newman_maple]

I have 112 taps here and the gentleman bringing me sap has 16. I plan to tap at my brother-in-law's Tuesday if things work out. That will be 12-15 probably. I need a better way to bottle, but I heat on the kitchen stove and filter into a bucket I bottle from. It works and was cheap so i will stick to it for now.

I have to draw off, then clean my pan. I am going to try using vinegar and see how it works out.

[Buckeye mapler]

well whatever works. you made alot of big steps this year, a new canning unit will be next I am sure.