Hello, we are new to the group

[jazzyfizzle]

I wanted to say hello, we are new to the group and glad to be here. We are a family of five living in a maple/beech forest in northern Ohio, and are completely new to sugaring. I have been reading here on the forum, online, and books to become educated about our new venture. I would love to bounce our questions of everyone if you would like.

[Bucket Head]

Welcome aboard! You've been bitten by the sugaring bug. It's a lot of work, but it's a lot more fun. This site is full of great information and great people, so "bounce" away!

Steve

[Haynes Forest Products]

OK to start there is no such thing as a "FOOD GRADE TOILET BRUSH" but hey if your dog can drink out of the toilet and then lick your face its a start. Welcome and enjoy the ride.

[maple flats]

One of the first things you want to put on your to do list is to control the beech. Beech competes with and chokes out maples. Look at the Management section, there are threads on controlling beech. There is also a presentation by Dr Peter Smallage of Cornell about controlling beech in the sugarbush. It can be found in the archives in Forestconnect.org.

[maple flats]

Check out this link
http://breeze.cce.cornell.edu/p35316678/
It is Dr Peter Smallage's (of Cornell) presentation on controlling beech. To access it may direct you to a log in page. Just type your name and enter, no registration needed. I have attended this presentation in person at the Jan Maple Conference in Verona, NY and also whtched it again online. Very well done.
Realize that in areas with ample moisture in the ground and good rainfall beech can rot very quickly. To be safe, I would remove the beech within a year or less of killing it. It is excellent firewood but must be kept dry. If split and stacked with no ground contact it keeps well. Where ever you stack wood to season, just put something under it, such as poles (not beech), or pallets, or anything else to keep it up off the ground and it seasons best in sun and wind best. Dry wood burns hotter and boils sap better.

[maple flats]

Forgot to say, that link takes you to a recorded live presentation from Jan 2010. The title pg comes up at about 20 seconds and the pesentation starts shortly after. Enjoy.

[DrTimPerkins]

I wanted to say hello, we are new to the group and glad to be here. We are a family of five living in a maple/beech forest in northern Ohio, and are completely new to sugaring. I have been reading here on the forum, online, and books to become educated about our new venture. I would love to bounce our questions of everyone if you would like.

Welcome to the Trader. If you haven't already, you may want to check into the Ohio Maple Producer's Association http://www.ohiomapleproducers.com/ They typically have their annual/educational meetings (Ohio Maple Days) in January in various locations around the state.

[Ausable]

I wanted to say hello, we are new to the group and glad to be here. We are a family of five living in a maple/beech forest in northern Ohio, and are completely new to sugaring. I have been reading here on the forum, online, and books to become educated about our new venture. I would love to bounce our questions of everyone if you would like.

Sounds like You and Your Family are in a good area for Sugarin. This is a great site for finding out information about Maple Syrup Making from some of the biggest Producers in the U.S.A. and Canada to small Backyarders like myself who make it for family and Friends. I kinda made syrup for 15 years and after I joined this site I found out how little I really knew and was re-educated by a great bunch of Guys and Gals and am still learning. But - now I turn out a product I can honestly call Maple Syrup thanks to all the information I read and received here. Hey - ask away and don't be bashful about sharing what You know and find out with us. There is a lot of back and forth kidding and that is one of the things that make this site great. So - May Your Sap be Plentiful and Sweet and Your Syrup thick and good -- Mike

[jazzyfizzle]

Thank you so much for the welcomes and advice. LOL I will keep that in mind about the toliet brush. :D

We have not purchased any equipment yet. Could you tell me which spiles and types of bucket you recommend, and why? I know we will be very small scale this first year, but I wonder about buying equipment that would only be useful for one year or so and then outgrowing it. I see from reading the signatures that many people make a big jump after that first year.

Are there any certain affordable boiling pans that you recommend?
We heat with an outdoor wood burner, so we do have a large amount of firewood. We have not decided exactly how we will be boiling off this first year. We would prefer not to spend money on anything yet, (other than spiles/buckets) just to be sure we will still doing this the following year.

Thanks!

[Sugarmaker]

jazzyfizzle,
First welcome to the trader!
We are due east of you just across the Ohio/PA line.
Try to visit some sugar houses soon if you can. Get some ideas of equipment and the scale that you want to start and possibly grow into. Good used Wheeling style buckets, spiles and lids should be available in this area. Expect to pay around $5.00 per set. And if you get some and decide to move to tubing they will retain their value.
You might try Richards in Chardon OH for maple equipment. Plus there are several other dealers in the area too.

Have fun making your first syrup.
Regards,
Chris

[RipTyd]

The plastic spiles with tubing into 5gallon buckets on ground is how I started and they can be reused over and over again and you can pile snow up around them to keep sap cool. Large buffet pans or large stock pots make good starter pans. I dont recomend using propane burners as I did ,a firepit can be made easily with cinder blocks. Look through the picture links in peoples replies and you will see all different kinds of setups just a wealth of information. Best of luck and enjoy!!!! RipTyd

[Haynes Forest Products]

Im with RipTyd First lets be clear YOU will be doing it the next year. I would go with the taps and tubing into a bucket method. Its not all picture perfect and old school BUT its the fastest way to get the job done. Get yourself a roll of tubing and a bag of taps and some Ts under $100.00. Start scrounging all the food grade plastic buckets you can get. find the thread on tubing and buckets and read all you can.
My first year I had everything that held liquid leaned up against a tree and boiled in a SS fish kettle in the gravel driveway. We all stood around watching it boil tossing on wood and sticks. Had more fun than I can explain and learned alot. Coverd it at night with plywood and started all over the next day. Dont try and win the worlds fair with what you make. Dont spend alot on filters or test kits just some Mason jars and clean Cheese cloth and your intuition and your ready.............ENJOY

[jazzyfizzle]

Thank you for all the sage advice, we so appreciate it. I dearly hope we love it enough to be hooked after this coming year. I already want one of those cozy, nostalgic sugar houses. :D

For this first year or so, it is best to just use mason jars for storage? I love the beautiful bottles.. hopefully someday.

[BryanEx]

For this first year or so, it is best to just use mason jars for storage?
Mason jars are inexpensive to buy, easy to fill & store, and have the best seal available but you will likely find the you will be limited to friends, family, people you know, and people who just want the syrup and don't care about the packaging. They tend to be a bust for farm gate sales or farmer's markets because they look too "home made". :)

Here's a great discussion on Mason or canning jars...
http://www.mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=5907