Sap Season

This year I decided to boil sap again.  My decision was based on the availability of two things - time and firewood.  Now that I am retired I have more time to do things I enjoy, and  unlike last year, we still had a fair supply of dry firewood on hand.

I built this evaporator with ten concrete blocks, and lined it with galvanized steel flashing.  I had a laugh when I stopped at Superior Block to get the blocks.  The salesman told me that he had dozens of customers stop in to buy blocks for the same purpose.  Apparently the thaw gave a lot of us sap fever.

For a chimney, I laid one of the end blocks on its side and jammed a stovepipe elbow into it and  tied it in place with a length of haywire, in accordance with all applicable state and local codes.

Once the evaporator was ready, it was time to tap some maple trees.  Using a 7/16" bit, you drill a hole about two inches deep into a  big sugar maple.  

Next you tap in the spile.

A length of plastic tubing directs the sap into an old ice cream pail.  I'm not a big fan of plastic but these are durable and can be reused for many years.

I am grateful to the people who owned the farm before us, who left these big maples standing behind the house.  Widely spaced old maples with large crowns produce the most sap.  I could tap dozens of trees with multiple spiles in each, but past experience has taught me that the sap from six trees is about all I can handle.  If I had a commercial evaporator and an limitless supply of firewood I could boil up much much more, but then it would become a job, no longer a pleasant hobby.

I will admit that there is a greedy and acquisitive streak in me that tempts me to expand, but to what end?  It pays to consider what the word more really signifies. It is not synonymous with better, it simply denotes a larger quantity.  The unbridled pursuit of more is futile and destructive.  We all know that, but strangely we find it hard to put into practice. 

Fortunately sap is heavy, and hauling it for any distance on your back teaches you the virtues of restraint and moderation.

A six gallon plastic carboy filled with sap weighs over 50 pounds. Forty gallons of sap will boil down to about one gallon of syrup.  It takes a lot of sap and a lot of firewood to make maple syrup.

This is the hard part.  I have to sit in the warm sunshine with a cup of coffee in hand and make sure the sap keeps boiling.  Note the piece of flashing sitting on the end of the stovepipe to control the draft.  I don't want all the heat to escape up the chimney.

I ordered a stainless steel serving tray from Amazon for around 25 bucks.  It is about 22x12x6 inches and holds around three gallons of sap.

I have to add sap as it boils down and wood to the fire as it burns down.  This compares with  other demanding pursuits such as watching the grass grow or watching cement harden.  Not everyone is gifted with the requisite skills and temperament to handle it. 

Yes, life is tough.

Boiling continues into the evening.

After boiling down about 12 gallons of sap to the right consistency (which I judge by the appearance of the bubbles on the surface)  I pour it through a cloth strainer into a pot and finish it on a hotplate.  This year I got a thermometer and measured the boiling temperature.  Once the liquid reaches 219 degrees - 7 degrees above the boiling temperature for plain water - it is syrup.

12 gallons sap = 3 pints of syrup.

Actually, when it comes to maple syrup, more is better.

Spring Thaw!

After a series of storms and unseasonable cold, it seemed like this day would never come.  But there is was - winter's back was broken.

The warmer air pouring in over the cold snowpack turned to fog.

Bare ground began to show around the edges of the driveway.  When you live in an area with the heavy snowfalls that we have, the appearance of  even small patches of bare ground is something we appreciate.  The sun can begin its work on these.

In the meantime, there's plenty to do.

You can build snowmen....

Dig tunnels....

Build highways....

Throw snow in the air....

Our pileated woodpecker enjoyed the thaw also.

This called for a celebration with freshly baked pullaa.  It tasted as good as it looks.

The Highwater Mark of Winter 2019

This is likely the deepest the snow would get this winter.  The forecast for the next few days is highs in the 40's and RAIN.  That should lower the snow level considerably.

Our driveway.

That hump on the left is our woodpile,completely buried.

Looking from the top of the snowbank down at the hayshed door.

This post is 42 inches long.  I set a number of these in a line to mark my path from the house to the hayshed.  This is the only one still showing.  All the others are buried.  

The average depth of snow is around 4 feet.

Wind driven snow.

Looking down at the pond.

The farmhouse.

The sauna.

Sam is running out room to push snow.

I had to cut back the banks with my snogo many times this winter.

Sam's driveway keeps getting smaller.  With a plow truck you push back the snow as far as you can at the beginning of winter.  Each time you plow your snowbanks get closer.  The trick is to run out of winter before you run out of room to push your snow.  This winter a lot of people ran out of room first.

Snow "pebbles" thrown from the snogo.

Wind carved snow reminds me of the sandstone slabs at Wolf Point.

The continent of ? with its neighboring islands.

Home, sweet home.

Yeah, I might as well admit it.  I really like my John Deere tractor.  There is something really cool about driving a powerful machine that enables you to move great piles of snow or dirt.  I guess we never outgrow Tonka toys.