Printable View
Rise and shine everyone....October is here, the last month before the white stuff begins to fall and we are all scrambling to get things together before tapping...it ain't long coming now. My wood is 90% done, but lots of other jobs to be done...brick new arch, setup new tank...etc can't believe how short the days are getting..
I have to laugh, because last year at this time I had no sugar house, no pipe in the woods, no nothing. We started putting pipe in the woods this week last year and we poured the slab for the sugar house on Oct 7. All I have left for this year is to run the tubing for 2500 trees and build an 8x16 shed to hold a tank and releaser. This year is looking much easier.
Wow is this Oct. or July!!! 77F this morning and very humid!!! monsoon coming in a few hours.
Good luck weathering your monsoon. We had ours last week. 8"of rain in the course of 5 days. Enough side road culverts were washed out that schools were cancelled Friday.
Peak color is at hand and the woods is suffused with that magical aroma only fall can bring.
For whatever reason, my ambition is losing the battle with the workload forthcoming. Could be that as 60 approachs, the thought of less work and responsibility is becoming appealing. Somehow the "sandwich" of 2 kids in college and aging parents doesn't allow for much wiggle room.
Anyway the woodshed needs about 10 more cord to be full, there's plenty of mainline that needs attention after a particularly stormy summer, and those 200 Black Angus sure get an appetite this time of year.
I probably shouldn't get on my soap box, but here goes anyway.
#1. Be careful what you wish for. #2.Take some time to smell the roses everyday.
Rock on fellow Sugar Makers!!
I just submitted some pictures and plans to have some hoods built. Cool temps and fall colors have brought the Maple Bug back! Good luck with all the fall projects and stay safe!
Jim
I wish I had cut down a couple of the oak trees that are over my sugar house. Nothing like a heavy acorn crop, a metal roof and high winds. Sounded like a running gun battle out there last night.
those things acorns hurt too. I was in the woods on monday hanging a little mainline and it was a little breezy and rainy (quite nice for working inthe woods) and they kept pelting me in the head. Shoulda put on my hard hat:rolleyes: a few colors here getting more and more every day I am guessing once we get this little chilly snap on Sunday we should be in the low 40's at night so we should peak next weekend.
Addition is complete, RO is is and I have about 20 cord of seasoned wood under cover. This month I have to plum the RO, set up my big feed tank and start to build a sap ladder for 50-75 taps. I also have to pick up my steam hood and suspend that. I should be in the best shape ever to start a season this year (seems like I say that every year).
Dill, As I was cleaning out the shack I found 2 plugs you can use on that D&G. Let me know what the best way would be to get them to you. I will be at the NYS conference in Verona (January).
Chris
the past few weeks i,ve been building a 10x14 sugarhouse.i have the walls up and the roof pretty well done.i,am sawing my own lumber for it.i,ve also been building a fuel drum arch.i have that pretty well along.
this weekend is busy (youngest nieces wedding) but after that i,ll be full bore on everything maple.
delbert
Mains are all up, tight, and flowing great, same for the lats in the main bush.
Got another 50 taps off the buckets, 20 on the East end, 30 on the west end of the woodlot. Just ran a couple lines of 5/16 in each area to a good pick-up spot. Still need to grade those out, but the hard stuff is done.
Managed to find and/or reach about 15 more taps while stringing up the new stuff, plus another 5 in the main. Trees that just made 10” this year or were too far in to drag my sorry arse back there to fetch a bucket. Tubing is a beautiful thing!
Still leaves me about 40 buckets, but those I can pull the tractor up next to. Don’t mind that in the least, but humping buckets out of the bush is for the birds…or young-uns, if you got ‘em. :lol:
Picking up a new Leader 2X8 next month. Still no shack (next year’s project), but I’m going to pour a slab for the camper to sit on, I’ll throw up a couple of walls and a quick roof over it to get us through next season.