2018

[TooManyIrons...]

Got the gear all ready to go. Still splitting and stacking wood, been working on that off and on when weather conditions are pleasant for me to be working outside. The chimney plenum rotted out on the arch, need to repair that, a one day project.

I am cutting back on production this year. In fact, for some reason a bunch of people I know are cutting back this year. My main reason is that I have a bunch of syrup still in stock from last year's large production run.

Hard to prognosticate with this goofy up and down weather we have been having here, but my guess is a late February run in my area. Who knows...

[SDdave]

Hey look who made it through the winter! Yes it is coming fast isn't it. I'm dealing with a total gut job on my basement. It's amazing how a simple project leads into more and more surprises to me and my bank account. Been so busy with that that I haven't even looked at the supplies. My wife tells me that I'm good on bottles though, but I doubt it.

Syrup season is right around the corner, got to get to painting!

SDdave

[TooManyIrons...]

Hi Dave, good to hear from you.

This morning I woke up to 36F degrees outside, warmed up overnight which is unusual for January. It is 42F as I write this. Just a typical January thaw I think but warm enough to get that itch to want to do a test tap. Forecast ain't right for it, though, thank goodness.

[Keitha333]

Hello Gentlemen! I suppose it is time to start looking at equipment and justifying adding a few more taps! Coming upon one of my favorite times of the year!

[TooManyIrons...]

Hi Keitha333, nice to hear from you. Been pretty quiet winter here last 6-7 weeks, very stable cold temps in the low to mid teens for highs and single digits plus or minus around zero for lows. Very good for the coming maple season I think. Temps now seem to be trending upward. Will have a more normal March run here for a change, something I am looking forward to. Not much snow this winter, I have not even had the snowblower out yet. Very little snow on the ground. Much of the three inches of snow cover went yesterday - a beautiful sunny day that reached 40 degrees. Next week supposed to be consistent highs of mid to upper 20s to low 30s. That will be enough to start getting me fired up. A more typical gradual March warmup like we used to have would really be nice.

Starting my superhot peppers, leek, shallot, onion seeds this weekend, the rest of the veggies get started in March. That is always my conflict, germinating seeds and caring for seedlings while in the middle of the syrup season. Gets to be a lot of work juggling the two some days but it makes the weeks go by fast.

[Keitha333]

I hear you about clearing the schedule. Wrestling is wrapping up for me at the end of the month and then weekends become more free. A question for you Too ManyIrons and your peppers. Have you ever tried putting a few in a small jar of syrup? My brother did this with Jalapeños and then used it as a glaze on BBQ pork chops. Needless to say I will be doing this!

[TooManyIrons...]

I hear you about clearing the schedule. Wrestling is wrapping up for me at the end of the month and then weekends become more free. A question for you Too ManyIrons and your peppers. Have you ever tried putting a few in a small jar of syrup? My brother did this with Jalapeños and then used it as a glaze on BBQ pork chops. Needless to say I will be doing this!

Have not tried that, will do it this year. Could make good gifts for a few people I know. Sweet and hot is a classic combination...

So your brother put the jalapenos in whole or destemmed/deseeded whole or d/d halves or something?

I get lots of requests for my granulated maple sugar from family and friends who get into smoking meats and sausage making. They use it in their rubs but they also like that they can sprinkle it on their meats during the smoking process without making a sticky mess of things. Maple flavored smoked pork of any cut or casing sure is some good stuff. Maple flavored spicy venison brats ain't bad either. Darn, now I am hungry.

[Keitha333]

He had a few jars that were kind of experimental. The one we used had three circle slices of Jalapenos with seeds in a pint jar. It had a tiny amount of heat but not over bearing by any means with good flavor. We talked about adding more slices without the seeds for a little more pepper flavor without adding heat. It was still pretty awesome.

[SDdave]

Carpet is installed! Now all my attention will be on maple. By the looks of it, it may be a normal year. Tapping last week in February or first week of March might be in order. I'll have to run a couple more unscientific temperature models to decide.

SDdave

[Lano75]

Hey Guys,

Hello from Buffalo, MN. Put my lines back up on Valentines day and getting things ready. Looking like weather will hold until March for tapping this year. Looking at long range temps I am guessing around March 10th tapping this year.

Lano