Our Neighborhood Operation Got a Little Press
Nice story.
Dr. Tim Perkins
UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
https://mapleresearch.org
Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu
Nice story Andy.
Sugaring for 45+ years
New Sugarhouse 14'x32'
New to Me Algier 2'x8' wood fired evaporator
2022 added a used RB25 RO Bucket
250 mostly Sugar Maples, 15% Soft Maples. Currently,(110on 3/16" and 125 on Shurflo 4008 vacuum, 15 gravity), (16,000 before being disabled)
1947 Farmall H and Wagon with gathering tank
2012 Kubota with forks to move wood around
Thanks for the comments! By the way, I forgot to mention: don't miss the Julia Child (actually Good Morning America) video embedded in the article. It is of the sugar farm I worked at as a kid. Video is 1979. My involvement was 1983 and 1984 I believe. It was 1800 buckets, bulldozer (T-340 with 6-way dozer) and sled, and off-grid sugarhouse at the time.
I do a similar thing in my neighborhood and I've been trying to work out what is a fair trade? in the past only one neighbor, now more interesting. Thoughts welcome!
Smoky Lake Corsair 2X6, UFA, Steam hood 20'X32' sugar house,~350 taps on Guzzler Vacuum.
We give each tree owner 4 ounces of syrup per tap. For the most part they haven't asked for anything; they were just excited that someone wanted to tap their trees. But I wanted to give them something and that's what I've settled on. It's pretty high-end for tap rent but I figure if someone has a quarter-acre residential lot with one or two maple trees, those are pretty precious trees compared to trees in the woods. They produce more too.
That said, some folks don't want any syrup at all. Some others want as much as they can get but refuse to take any for free. Which is cool too. Seems to all balance out. But the funny part is we end up buying some syrup because the demand for ours in the neighborhood (and of course we give some to friends and family) is too high to have much left over for ourselves.
I'm in a neighborhood in southern Maine that is made up mostly of 1/4 and 1/3 acre lots. I myself don't have a single maple but over the last 8 or so years I've built up to a total of 120 taps (all red, Norway and silver maples). As a rule I distribute 1/3 of my total output to the tree owners. Its probably overly generous given the massive time, energy and equipment investment but it gives me access I otherwise wouldn't have and everyone I work with is very thankful to get a quart or two anually. I give more to those who have more trees, or those who's trees produce the most sap, highest sugar content, etc. I'm not super disciplined but I do keep a list of who got what year to year to make sure its relatively consistent. Its a great way to bring a neighborhood together, everyone loves the process and looks forward to seeing the buckets hanging in the spring. Good luck!Originally Posted by EriobNY
Meeting you and Emma this weekend reminds me that growing the next generation of traditional sugarmakers is important work.
Emma surely has the “disease”, and thats very encouraging.
12x24 sugarhouse 2x4 drop flue
2020. 211 taps on 3/16”gravity with flojet g80 air driven pumps
2021. 250 taps 4 flojet g80
2022 275 taps on 3/16 gravity to two g80 vacuum stations
2023. 320 taps 5 g80 pumps
2024. Refurbed homemade 2 post 4040 All stainless sap storage and handling
Yes indeed, that's a lot of what I'm loving about it!
Though I often wonder how traditional I am when I fire up the minivan to go collect, and run to get my propane tanks refilled, haha!
2024: 28 taps, 7 gallons. RB5 purchased but not opened :-(
2023: 30 taps, 17 trees, 11 properties, Sugar Maple & Norway. 2x3 flat over propane & kitchen finish. ~11(!) gallons.
2022: 9 taps, 5 trees, 4 properties. 3 hotel pans on 3 Coleman 2-burner stoves burning gasoline; kitchen finish. ~3 gallons.
2021: 2 taps, 1 sugar maple. Propane grill then kitchen finish. ~Pint.
All years: mainly 5/16" drops into free supermarket frosting buckets. Some plastic sap buckets hanging on 5/16 sap-meister.
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