"Sap Suckers Sugar Shack 2011"

[Backyard Sapper66]

Done collecting for the day, total tally for the last 2 days is a whopping 5-1/2 gallons. Snow was very, very mushy in the woods today. Thanks to my wonderful wife for checking the buckets and emptying them so they wouldn't overflow. Trees in the back woods didn't flow that much, some not at all. I know they are maples as I marked them during the summer. Tomorrow I will tap another 10 or so trees to get ready for the next run. Got the "bug" real bad now, gonna have to borrow more buckets from my friend (if he still has them available) so I can have a total of 40 taps. Have the trees, spiles and hooks just not enough buckets.
We will boil the little bit of sap we have so we can get a teaspoon full for our tastebuds.
Hope everybody had a good run!!!
Doug

[jwalker]

Hello!
Good to see that there's other folks from Alexandria on this site. I live at the Walker Farm. Just about to head out and start working on lines. AAAhh the warm weather came quick! Glad it's short lived, for now... Where in Alexandria are you?


Jason

[Backyard Sapper66]

Jason,
I live on Mt. Cardigan Rd about a mile before the orchard. I am new (3yrs in) to the maple syrup game but I have the bug bad!!! Not much of an operation, just a family loving syrup and working hard to get it. Maybe I will swing by if I'm down that way today. Got a few errands to run in Bristol and have to go to the dump.
Nice to have a fellow "sapper" close by!!!!
Doug

[jwalker]

Yeah Doug The "Bug" can bite bad. My wife thinks I'm crazy! I tell her there is worse things that i could be addicted to. She was helping me make drops last night. She said so is this considered date night? She lasted about ten minutes then lost interest. Your welcome to stop by. I am going to be in and out. Plan on heading to the woods. The sugar house is actually in Bristol. It's right on the Bristol Alexandria town line.

[Backyard Sapper66]

Jason,
My wife also thinks I am crazy!! She helps out too. Yesterday she collected the sap while I was at work. Lucky to have a woman like that. Our youngest is into it also, likes to see how much is in the buckets before they get emptied. We bought some snowshoes this year to make the trek through the woods easier. Yesterday was a real bugger with the soft snow but the snowshoes worked good. Well I gotta get my carcass in gear and get something done. Daylight is wasting!!!
Have a good day!!!!
Doug

[Backyard Sapper66]

No sap running today up here on the mountain. Wind is still whipping pretty good. Went out to check and see if the buckets were still attached to the hooks, luckily they were but I had to fetch a few covers that had fallen off and re-install them. Got some inside work done today. Finished up the trailer to tow behind the snowmobile. Made a hitch to bolt onto the machine too. Now I can go and get the buckets using the snowmobile and trailer with a transport container instead of lugging it out in 5 gallon pails on snowshoes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of work but someone told me once "work smarter, not harder" so I figured I would try and heed his advice.
Hope everybody that collected sap had enough to boil and was able to get a start on their maple fix!!!
Nite all....
Doug

[Backyard Sapper66]

The wind was still going at it pretty good this morning so my poor maples held onto their sap for another day. Worked on the temporary "sugar shack" some more today. Decided to take the coleman stove out of retirement and use it to finish off the sap into syrup. I was going to boil what little sap I had but mother nature decided to cool it off for me and boy oh boy did she do a good job, one frozen chunk of ice at the bottom of the storage container. Oh well it will thaw out and will be turned into syrup soon enough. Looking at the forecast for next week it looks like possibly Thursday and Friday are going to warm up enough to let the trees let go of their sweet addiction.
Maybe Parker can wisper to the sweet godess again so we can all sweeten our pans.
Good luck all!!!
Doug

[Backyard Sapper66]

Stopped by Sunnyside Maples this afternoon and bought some 1/2 pint syrup containers, a sap and a syrup hydrometer and a large testing cup. Pricing seemed pretty good compared to online shops. Buy local, support local. The younger of the Moore family (Ryan was his name) was very informative about tubing, tees, y's, tubing and spouts. All of which I don't have a clue about. In the 15 minuted I was there he was VERY patient with my barage of questions and my obvious lack of knowledge. Looks like the next purchase will be some tubing, t's, y's, spouts and whatever else I would need for a gravity setup. Hope Momma doesn't get too upset when she goes out to collect the buckets and finds a maze of blue lines strung from tree to tree. This darned hobby is VERY addicting!!
Had a nice visit with a fellow "sapper" tonight. Thanks John (aka RypTyd) for letting me stop by and visit. His little helper is so much fun I can only imagine how excited he is going to be when the steam gets rolling.
Have a good night all and stay warm, going to be 6 below tonight!!!
Doug

[jwalker]

Hey Doug if you wanna go the cheaper way on setting up your first tubing setup we just re-did some lines. It has 7/16 spouts and t's on it. You could strip the fittings and re-do or whatever. Come take a look if you'd like and make an offer.

[Backyard Sapper66]

Jason,
I would very much like to do that. I am just starting out so any savings is a good thing (and it will keep my hide from getting tanned by the boss lady!!!). I work in Laconia and don't get out until 5pm usually. Not sure what the best time to stop by would be. My schedule is pretty flexible once I get back over this neck of the woods. Let me know what works for you. Thanks for the offer!!!
Talk to you later.
Doug