Hop Kiln Road 2019

[Russell Lampron]

Didn't boil this weekend, made sugar on snow instead, so have a super clean system, good gradient and a TON of beautiful sap. Red Roof, I'm at 58 gal plus a concentrate spill. (Investigation concluded operator fired up the RO with a drain valve open.) My grade dipped at first this season then went way up. The dip was plugging the filter press quickly too but then cleaned up. Still heavy frost in the ground and ice in some tanks. Oh, and the syrup tasting was a hit again. Still had some Salisbury Sugarworks Very Dark from 2(?) years ago. Still had its takers.

Did you have any of my syrup left for the taste test? I thought I was going to lose my grade this morning when I graded the syrup that I made yesterday. Hanna said "73" phew that was close, almost went down to Golden.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Sunday was a gpt of 2.6 but just a tinge cloudy from the 50F. Going to grade this morning after I collect but I could see it dropped some coming off. Frost is going to start coming out of the ground here this weekend but for now everything is frozen real tight. Yeah I used all the Red Roof Golden as samples at the various teachers' workshops the Farm Bureau puts on to promote the Tucker Mountain Challenge. Gotta get some more but dealing a fatigue factor so save me some Russ.

[Russell Lampron]

Sunday was a gpt of 2.6 but just a tinge cloudy from the 50F. Going to grade this morning after I collect but I could see it dropped some coming off. Frost is going to start coming out of the ground here this weekend but for now everything is frozen real tight. Yeah I used all the Red Roof Golden as samples at the various teachers' workshops the Farm Bureau puts on to promote the Tucker Mountain Challenge. Gotta get some more but dealing a fatigue factor so save me some Russ.

Let me know how much you want and I'll jug some up for you. I've decided to only jug up Golden on an order only basis. It doesn't sell when I put it on the shelves in the sugar house. When people come in looking for Dark they'll buy Amber but not Golden no matter how good I tell them it tastes.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Think I can hit my 15 year average on saps flows sometime next week and perhaps sooner on syrup with the high sugar this year. Grades are staying steady in the upper 60's. But so far real finicky flows and no real runs. Hauled some syrup up to the house yesterday, end of March in the low 40's, and didn't make a tractor track.

[Russell Lampron]

The ice on my haul road is still holding strong. By late March we're usually having to pick our way through ice ruts and water holes. There's plenty of mud down by the sugar house though.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Sap flows increasing with sugar dropping to 2.5%. Grade dropped to 60% with the boil showing signs of mid season, had to reverse a couple of times. Frost is holding firm. Speaking of mid season, this Salisbury Very Dark business of lying in the rafters counting the stars in the universe sounds like a blooming midlife crisis! Hope we don't have to organize an intervention right in the middle of peak flow.

[Russell Lampron]

Hey Bruce, I graded the syrup that I made the other night and it tested 74% on my Hanna tester. It looks like Golden with the temporary kit. I was wondering if you would like to test it with your Hanna to see if both of our testers agree.

I agree that there's something strange going on in Salisbury. I wouldn't be dreaming in the rafters when there's concentrate to boil here in Loudon.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Grade dropped to 57% and the sap flow was only .8 gpt and it was perfect weather above ground! With things warming up a bit I took the time to use a Jim Fadden trick. Crawl inside your evaporator with a pressure washer, often, he used to advise. Now Traders its late in the season so lets use some common sense here and have an exit strategy. Jim was smaller than me and his evaporator quite a bit roomier than mine. So make sure your steam hood has doors on either side in case you can't back out. After that lackluster Maple Weekend the last thing the industry needs is a rescue like that soccer team in Thailand.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Got my 82 yo neighbor to help tilt the tanks and pump them dry. One still had too much ice to move. Everything still above 2.5%. Raw boiled 30 gal and the other 30 gal today to keep the bacteria in check although the sap looks really good, just warm. Grade on the little bit that came out of the boil went back up to 60. Thanks, Jim. Power washed the floors with extra permeate. Quick and easy and impresses the tourists. Never make much syrup in April, but even with another stretch of freezes coming up it looks like a slow grind at best up to average crop.

[Hop Kiln Road]

23F this morning. Definitely in the Goldilocks period. Cold and windy and was only flowing slowly yesterday and a little murky but should have enough this morning to restart. Everything clean and ready to go. Crowbar in the ground test only penetrates 7" and now snow overnight? Haven't seen the root sap let go.