October Journal

[KenWP]

Let's see 1000 taps at 2 x 5 gallon pails at a time would take me all day to haul back to the house and 3 weeks to boil down so after 3 weeks of flow I would have a years worth of boiling to do. Wonder how I could store that much sap.
I am hopeing for 150 good taps this year if things work out right. If not will just go with a lesser number of good taps now that I know not to tap as early and what trees to tap and not tap around here.

[danno]

Pretty excited, just picked up a 32' wood conveyor/elevator for cheap. I don't mind cutting, bucking and spliting - but I sure hate moving wood by hand. Plan is to converyor the wood from the spliter right into the wood shed and then during season to conveyor from the wood shed to a wood box that will sit next to the arch doors.

[Fred Henderson]

Aghhhhhhhhhhhh more machinery to mantain!!!!!

[HobbitMannor]

Well it took the better part of the day to get all of the lines cleaned. We had a series of leaks once we put the pressure to the lines that had to be fixed so that we could get the water to do its job. Some things were just "band aided" for another day. I am curious about something....we had a few taps that are completely bitten off and missing...I would think that a chipmunk would not bite through to the point of taking the tap...maybe it was the moose or something...

[Farmboy]

Cut up more pallets today. Cutting wood will never end. It was too wet to go get another load or stack what I cut so I came on the trader.

[brookledge]

I was busy this weekend canning syrup. Put up over 90 gallons. It made a big dent in my supply.
Keith

[3rdgen.maple]

3rd Gen. Do not the branch tips need to freeze for sap flow? Being that your close to lake ontario I'd think your a couple of weeks away from sap flow.

Archery hunting every day. Not much maple being done. I think about it EVERY day though!

First time trying it so I have no idea what to expect or when to expect it. Been well below freezing at night here so I will wait and see and keep you guys posted.

[KenWP]

Well finally yesterday the large bottle of syrup I sent to Alberta thru a 3rd person arrived at my Moms place. It left here Sept. 1 but had a weird trip to get there. My Mom and sister thought it was several times as tasty as the syrup I had given them a couple years ago that I bought from one of the big producers around here. Her words were Rich and Fuller flavoured and since she teaches cooking for a living I will have to figure out how to use that for my product.
I have yet to find anybody that dosn't like my syrup but would love to have one of the old timers around here try it out just for fun. I have gone thru piles of cans looking for darker syrup and found one once that said medium and it didn't taste any better then the super light kinds.
3rdgen were are waiting the hear if you got a deer on your hunting trip or not. Lot's of deer around here right now. Fields are full of them every morning and evening.

[vermaple]

I am curious about something....we had a few taps that are completely bitten off and missing...I would think that a chipmunk would not bite through to the point of taking the tap...maybe it was the moose or something...

It's called the nut effect. If drops are left hanging down, squirrels will chew the spouts off and store them. I've lost some through the years. An aquaintance lost about 800 one year -- he found them years later in a hollow tree he cut for firewood.

vermaple

[3rdgen.maple]

Kenw sorry no deer on the trip this time around. Did see a couple small spikes and a doe with a fawn but let them walk. I tend to get a little fussy once I got one in the freezer. Got pictures of three really nice bucks (big high and wide) on a trail camera by one of my stands. Never got the right winds to hunt that stand. Work has slowed down quite alot so I will be going back down this week for a couple days.