That time of year again
That time of year again
I'm a bit late this year with the warm winter, but I'm off sugerin'
Boiled for 7 hours. Made just about 1/2 gallon of sweet maple divinity. I think Chuckwagon's starting to drool already
Hopefully I'll have a few weekends of good sap and make at least a couple gallons of syrup
Dave Zac
Boiled for 7 hours. Made just about 1/2 gallon of sweet maple divinity. I think Chuckwagon's starting to drool already
Hopefully I'll have a few weekends of good sap and make at least a couple gallons of syrup
Dave Zac
- Chuckwagon
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I have indeed had the opportunity to sample Dave's marvelous nectar! I had no idea maple syrup could tickle yer' tonsils like "Dave's Hickory Hill Farm Ambrosia" This stuff could lead to a serious habit!
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill!
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Right now I have 12 taps only and plan to make about 2 gallons. I wish I was in a position to sell some because for some reason it tastes better than the store bought stuff (REAL store bought stuff). But then again, maybe I have better maple trees here
Typical sap runs somewhere between 2 - 2 1/2 % sugar. Then it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. This year, I hear most saps in this area are running around 1% sugar because of the warmer winter. That means upwards of 80 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. I don't have the means to measure the sugar in my sap, but I do know that I made about 1/2 as much in a full day of boiling yesterday as I normally do. I would be surprised if the price of syrup this year doesn't go waaaay up.
If I happen to have some really good runs in the next few weeks I will repost to see if anyone is interested.
BTW~ just finished some sourdough pancakes and syrup with fresh eggs (collected this morning) and homemade bacon. I can tell you life is good.
Dave Zac
Typical sap runs somewhere between 2 - 2 1/2 % sugar. Then it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. This year, I hear most saps in this area are running around 1% sugar because of the warmer winter. That means upwards of 80 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. I don't have the means to measure the sugar in my sap, but I do know that I made about 1/2 as much in a full day of boiling yesterday as I normally do. I would be surprised if the price of syrup this year doesn't go waaaay up.
If I happen to have some really good runs in the next few weeks I will repost to see if anyone is interested.
BTW~ just finished some sourdough pancakes and syrup with fresh eggs (collected this morning) and homemade bacon. I can tell you life is good.
Dave Zac
Hope this helps a bit. Photos from phone camera so hopefully they work well enough.
There are two basic systems for collecting sap. The original and traditional system uses spiles and buckets. Buckets would be dumped into a single vessel usually in a wagon as the farmer drove around his sugarbush. The other uses nylon tubing that connects though a series of lateral tubes and main line tubes. This system is better for hilly farms where it is difficult to drive the tractor through the sugarbush
I use the tubing because my small sugarbush is on a hillside at is a perfect fit for gravity.
This is a tap connected to a small length of tubing.
This picture shows the tap connected to one of many laterals that run through the woods.
Here the lateral winds through several big maples and picks up several more taps.
This picture shows the one lateral as it runs downhill towards the mainline.
Here is a picture of the same several maples showing old tap holes. One has to take care on tap placement because drilling the tree does cause damage that only time corrects.
This is the beginning of my mainline. 3/4" tubing that collects all of the laterals. It is secured to a tree and tied to heavy guage wire that can be tightened to lift and hold. This mainline runs about 300' down to my barn, picking up other laterals as it goes.
Here is how a lateral line connects to the mainline.
And the mainline running downhill to the barn.
Another of my homemade evaporator. Most commercial rigs employ the type of evaporator you have all seen. The sap starts at the head of the table and snakes through a series of fins allowing the water to evaporate as it goes. By the time the sap reaches the bottom it is usually syrup. For my evaporator I simply took a livestock water tank and flipped it over. Cut two holes for lasagna pans and cut out the front, put it on hinges to create a door to load wood into. I fuel it with pine trees that have come down on the farm. Hardwood (typically maple) is too valuable as I heat my house with the hardwood. So as the sap evaporates I just add more sap. Continuing the process until I'm boiled out. I then finish the syrup up at the house. The syrup is boiled to 7 degrees over boiling, filtered and jarred. I can make enough syrup to last us a year and give some away to friends and family. If I wanted more I think I would have to go to a gas fired "commercial" type boiler. Way too much coin for this hombre.
Here are my farm buddies Dusty is a 95 lb Labradoodle
Riley is a 90 lb Chow Husky mix
This is a very fun time of year and a good way to kill what is typically too muddy to do any other farming. I started with 2 taps and boiling on my gas grill. If you have a maple tree (I hear they make Birch syrup in Alaska) you too can add this to your repertoire.
Dave Zac
There are two basic systems for collecting sap. The original and traditional system uses spiles and buckets. Buckets would be dumped into a single vessel usually in a wagon as the farmer drove around his sugarbush. The other uses nylon tubing that connects though a series of lateral tubes and main line tubes. This system is better for hilly farms where it is difficult to drive the tractor through the sugarbush
I use the tubing because my small sugarbush is on a hillside at is a perfect fit for gravity.
This is a tap connected to a small length of tubing.
This picture shows the tap connected to one of many laterals that run through the woods.
Here the lateral winds through several big maples and picks up several more taps.
This picture shows the one lateral as it runs downhill towards the mainline.
Here is a picture of the same several maples showing old tap holes. One has to take care on tap placement because drilling the tree does cause damage that only time corrects.
This is the beginning of my mainline. 3/4" tubing that collects all of the laterals. It is secured to a tree and tied to heavy guage wire that can be tightened to lift and hold. This mainline runs about 300' down to my barn, picking up other laterals as it goes.
Here is how a lateral line connects to the mainline.
And the mainline running downhill to the barn.
Another of my homemade evaporator. Most commercial rigs employ the type of evaporator you have all seen. The sap starts at the head of the table and snakes through a series of fins allowing the water to evaporate as it goes. By the time the sap reaches the bottom it is usually syrup. For my evaporator I simply took a livestock water tank and flipped it over. Cut two holes for lasagna pans and cut out the front, put it on hinges to create a door to load wood into. I fuel it with pine trees that have come down on the farm. Hardwood (typically maple) is too valuable as I heat my house with the hardwood. So as the sap evaporates I just add more sap. Continuing the process until I'm boiled out. I then finish the syrup up at the house. The syrup is boiled to 7 degrees over boiling, filtered and jarred. I can make enough syrup to last us a year and give some away to friends and family. If I wanted more I think I would have to go to a gas fired "commercial" type boiler. Way too much coin for this hombre.
Here are my farm buddies Dusty is a 95 lb Labradoodle
Riley is a 90 lb Chow Husky mix
This is a very fun time of year and a good way to kill what is typically too muddy to do any other farming. I started with 2 taps and boiling on my gas grill. If you have a maple tree (I hear they make Birch syrup in Alaska) you too can add this to your repertoire.
Dave Zac
Thanks Dave for the wonderful pictures. I am very near to Thunder Bay Ontario and we have people who sell birch syrup here in town. Here is their web site
http://www.birchsyrup.ca/Home.html
It really is very good stuff.
http://www.birchsyrup.ca/Home.html
It really is very good stuff.
- Chuckwagon
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Hi Dave,
Thanks for posting the pictures of your process. Here in Minnesota I have seen the bags and tap lines while driving the Interstates. I have often wondered about the procedure. The pictures explain a lot!
My wife's niece gives us a bottle every spring. It tastes great, but never knew how much work it was to get it.
Jim
Thanks for posting the pictures of your process. Here in Minnesota I have seen the bags and tap lines while driving the Interstates. I have often wondered about the procedure. The pictures explain a lot!
My wife's niece gives us a bottle every spring. It tastes great, but never knew how much work it was to get it.
Jim