Originally Posted by
highlandcattle
...These trees produce alot of sugar sand. Someone needs to thonk of something to do with that....
Sugar sand is good ol potassium nitrate, also known as saltpetre, which was once an ingredient in the making of gunpowder. Maybe some local re-enactment group would be interested in loading their muskets with it?
Or...perhaps more feasibly...collect it, dry it, powder it up a bit more and find some kind of hypoallergenic substance (maybe coconut oil? just not something synthetic like vaseline)and make a DIY facial scrub. It's slightly abrasive so it would make an excellent exfoliant, and it's all-natural and probably pretty shelf-stable (but don't take my word for it, do your research). Get some cute little jars and labels, mark it up like 300% and you're off to the races :-)
So there you go, either blow something up with it or make a skin scrub. You're welcome :-)
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup