January Journal

[red maples]

I had I think 1.25% sugar in late fall on reds and tapped a few more reds way out on the edge of the property the last few warm days and got like a qt of sap(just not warm for long enough) and they were at just about 2% happy with that for reds. so we'll see in another month or so or when the weather is ready to let the trees run!!!

[Dill]

I'm getting there. Nothing like have a good crew of buddies to call on when you need to put up a building. Got the stone down friday afternoon and 2 days of 8 til dark, we put on a good show yesterday hanging off rafters and cutting with chainsaws. I have to upload some pics. Looks like a bunch of snow this week but a decent weekend. I'll have to bribe my neighbor to go up on the roof to put down the roofing this weekend.
I guess its time to make more drops in front of the woodstove. Just got done plowing the driveway, I figure we got more than a foot last night.

[red maples]

gotta about a foot here too tough to peel it up because the bottom is about 1 inch of slush. hate that!!!

[Dan W]

WHERE ARE THE 2010 TAPPING THREADS? After a consult with my advisor, I put all my (160) buckets out yesterday. Speculation is a crazy thing. Anyhoo, collected today and only got about 35 or 40 gallons. The next several days look pretty promising though. Time will tell. Can't wait to start a fire in the new rig!!!

[Gary R]

Dan W, PM me when you get some sap to boil. I'd like to stop in and check your set up out. Thanks!

[danno]

This weather in CNY in quite a tease. Looks like some of the guys south on NY are starting...

Anyway, I could use a few more weeks to get ready. Did finish the RO room today and put a hole in the wall of the sugarhouse and ran the 32' wood conveyor from the wood pile right through the wall - conveyor will dump fire wood into a box that sits about 4' from the arch doors - no more haulin' wood.

[Farmboy]

Started putting the garage door up on my sugar shack. Brough some of my rusty taps to my grandpas to run in the cement mixer with sand in it. Also got a 55 gallon drum so I can use it to replace the back of my half pint. I need to clean the inside of the taps with a small wire brush. I have 70 buckets with lids and taps. I have 30 food grade 5 gallon buckets but they don't have covers. I mite get up to 100 taps this year I just need to find enough trees in my neibors yard.

[Turtlecreek]

Dan W,
Good luck I think I'm going to go with tradition. Even though it's hard to say no to this weather. Let us know how your making out over there.

[Sugarmaker]

Looking forward to seeing a lot of friends at the Northwest PA maple meeting in Edinboro PA this sat starting at 8:00 at the Fire hall. Jim Bortles and I will be trying to make maple sugar (Crumb) good thing we will be in a fire station.

Regards,
Chris C

[ennismaple]

Brough some of my rusty taps to my grandpas to run in the cement mixer with sand in it.

That's a pretty good idea to get rust off taps! I guess putting them in a case tumbler used to polish spent brass for reloading rifle or handgun cartridges would do the same thing, just in smaller quantities.