That sounds like a good idea too, in these troubling times.
That sounds like a good idea too, in these troubling times.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.
I'm selling self serve to my friends that call ahead. They leave a check and take the goodies. No contact necessary. I'm beginning to miss folks though.
Sales remain strong, Far more orders than typical, I think way more people are eating a good breakfast which includes real Maple Syrup. Not only from old faithful customers only either, lots of new customers too.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.
Cancelling maple weekend was definitely a blow. Porch sales have been steady, but I haven't compared to last year yet, but I think I'll sit down and do that. I have a wholesale order that I normally revisit every 6 months or so. I just filled that order again after about 2 weeks, so things really exploded there. That got my attention. It's a farm store that sells a lot of local meats, eggs, vegetables, etc. I agree people have time to eat better, bake, etc. right now. The NYT just had a maple pie recipe a couple days ago. Not as good the French-Canadian versions we see on this site. I think seeing maple in recipes motivates people to use it. It works on me!
Woodville Maples
www.woodvillemaples.com
www.facebook.com/woodvillemaples
Around 300 taps on tubing, 25+ on buckets if I put them out
Mix of natural and mechanical vac, S3 Controller from Mountain Maple
2x6 W.F. Mason with Phaneuf pans
Deer Run 250 RO
Ford F350
6+ hives of bees (if they make it through the winters)
Keeping the day job until I can start living the dream.
Here in Canada our money now is plastic bills,might not do well in oven,so we carry cash and cheques out to the attached greenhouse with a pair of pinchers or something and let it sit in the hot sun for a week or so.Originally Posted by Tmeeeh
7th generation maple producer in sugarhouse built in 1892
2x World Champion Maple Syrup Producer
1250 taps on cv adapters
Leader Vortex 3x14 with Max Flue and Revolution Syrup Pan,Enhanced Steam Away
www.leggettmaplesyrup.com
Several years ago I listened to a presentation that made the point that scratch cooking was such a small percentage of the population that market researchers couldn't even measure it.
Sad actually!
Sent from my LM-Q710.FG using Tapatalk
2013 15 Homemade Taps, Milk Jugs, Turkey Fryer, 3 Gallons Syrup
2014 Finishing my college degree, looked longingly at the Maples all spring
2015 26 1/2 Real taps, Milk Jugs, Homemade 20x25 pan on propane, 5+ Gallons Syrup
2016 50 Taps, Milk Jugs, Homemade 25x48 pan on propane block arch, 8 1/2 Gallons Syrup
2020 80 Taps, Milk Jugs, 25x48 pan on propane block arch w/preheater, 10 gallons syrup
I'd bet with Covid 19 the percentage climbed. I know my wife used to bake fairly often, now she bakes almost daily, so much so that she bought 100# of flour and just ordered 50# more. And one son of ours just started making his own pizza from scratch. He has perfected it so it is easily mistaken for the local most liked pizza shop pizzas.
My wife also has some of her friends cooking with maple too. I have one customer who buys an average of 26 HG of syrup every year and they use it, don't sell it.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.
That's why I can't get flour. You're hoarding it!
I just crunched the numbers. Porch pickup is good, but I'm still down from last year. Missing maple weekend is a big hole to fill. It's a little over 10% of my annual sales. My other big chunk of sales comes from farmers markets. I'm on the fence on what I want to do about those. They will open. Our state has deemed them essential, but I know I'm not really essential and I'm not sure how much I want to put everyone at risk being there. This is just a hobby for me. I'll re-evaluate as we get to May and June. Hopefully, we can put this in our rearview this summer.
Woodville Maples
www.woodvillemaples.com
www.facebook.com/woodvillemaples
Around 300 taps on tubing, 25+ on buckets if I put them out
Mix of natural and mechanical vac, S3 Controller from Mountain Maple
2x6 W.F. Mason with Phaneuf pans
Deer Run 250 RO
Ford F350
6+ hives of bees (if they make it through the winters)
Keeping the day job until I can start living the dream.
I know lots of producers who do well at farmer's markets, I did one just a single year and decided I could do better with my time.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.
I have seen a considerable increase in online orders and "curbside pickups" in the last several months. Have also added a couple wholesale outlets through local ag. producers "aggregating sales" with some unique local food offerings.
All my wholesale outlets have been doing well and the one that had to shut down in March opened back up and has been doing ok. Only doing one local Farmer's Market this season and it has been a little below average but overall good. We decided to not do any markets in Boston this season as they are facing serious restrictions.
It's hard to say what the next several months will bring but I plan to keep "pivoting" as necessary to keep sales going well. The whole Covid situation has definitely forced some changes, with the big one being website and social media development. It's a work in progress...
About 750 taps on High Vac.
2.5 x 8 Intens-O-Fire
Airtech 3 hp LR Pump
Springtech Elite 500 RO
14 x 24 Timber Frame SugarHouse
16 x 22 Sap Shed w/ 1500 gal. + 700 gal. tanks
www.littlehogbackfarm.com
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