2023 Season

[Brian]

Well I got in my first boil of the year, was able to get the pans sweetened and ended up with 3 3/4 barrels I was hoping for 160 but 150 is not bad for the 17 of feb. A year ago today I broke my ankle and with the help of a few friends and my wife we still made a little over 1600 gallons. Good luck to all and make alot of it!!

[Brian]

Cleaned out the tanks in 2 pump stations and plan on shutting them down and drainning the water out of the vac pumps ect and turning the heat off fora week or so. that way I don't need to worrie about them freezing. I think I only have 2000-2500 gallons of sap to run through the ro today. Then back to the Garage and get a few jobs done.Hoping it warms up alittle today.

[Brian]

Things are going good so far other than the sap is not flowing the way I would like. The vacuum is up, every thing is in good shape and boiled 3 times and made about 500 gallons so far. Did I say the snow was deeeeeeep!!! now on snow shoes, I was up in the north woods and had to kneel to fix a chew in the tubbing. the main lines were about 2-4 inches above the snow, I think it will be a day or two before the sap starts to flow over there.

[Brian]

The sap is not running very well, but we should be up to a qt per tap after we boil today and that is what we shoot for. Any thing after that is a bonus. Our location is by mollys pond and is cold spot, the north woods has not even started to run yet. The snow is so deep still that I think the tops are going to pop before the sap runs. That being said if you don't have a bad year once in a while then you don't appreciate the good ones. I am hoping to make it another week.

[Brian]

Well we finished last night at 36 barrels so for us that is not bad about 1420. Now the clean up starts and getting ready to change out a section of tubing that is a least 12-14 years old, time goes so fast. Well that section is about 800 taps so that should not take to long. It well take a bout a week to cut all the dead stuff and brush. I need to build a new pump housethere also because that one is getting old. Thats my plan.

[DrTimPerkins]

Good luck with the retubing and pump shed projects Brian. Always something to do.

[Brian]

Thank you Dr. Tim, Congratulations on your retirement. The clean up is slow the pans are clean,the Ro is tore down and membrains in storage solution and canisters and most of the tanks washed. I hope to start washing pipeline tuesday and hoping to be done by saturday.

[Brian]

Well, one woods left to wash the pipeline, tank and releaser. The rest are done and that one will be saturday. I have the sap truck home and filling the tank up with spring water to pump up the mountain with the tubing washer. It keeps my tubing looking like new. There is no black **** in the lines and no scum in the spring and the main lines are claen as a whistle. It is not fast and you have to have a lot of ball valves at the manifolds. I have not made dark syrup in years, med and fancy are all I make. It will average a gallon of water per tap or so. That woods is about 2500 taps. it will take 5-6 people 7-8 hours to wash that woods. We push the water about 3000 ft to get to the woods to start cleaning. Yes there is an air compressor to float the water up the pipe and this causes a scrubing in the pipes and tubing. Glen Goodrich got the Idea from watching the pipeline get washed at his familys farm so he started building them. Now that he is in Eden with 150,000 taps and 23,000 taps in cabot. They now suck some solution down the lines to clean them because it would take to much time to wash all the lines.

[Brian]

We had some bad weather come through and did some damage for shore, I lost about 8-10 trees,I will have that one woods back together this weekend. I don't know about the other 2 until i get out to them and walk them.