Feb 28

Brad again drove the H successfully through the woods with Dale, Dan, Curtis, George, (Nathan and Nicholas too) and Muff helping to gather. Susan Bishop joined in for the north path and Kelsey came near the end. Chuck supervised the fire box a little more successfully tonight (no chimney fires). He and Brad entertained themselves (they really did appear to be having a good time!) with the ax in a pitiful display of splitting wood. The only good thing that can be said for their technique was nobody split a toe open! Bob commented that they have not yet opened the main trailer of wood and have survived thus far just on the totes of scrap wood.

The gang found 303 gallons this evening that seemed to boil in quickly compared to yesterday's larger run. Gerri arrived late from work in time to see a large cloud front moving in from the west which should bring interesting weather tomorrow. Ted and Nancy brought cookies later in the evening for Bob & Chuck. It pays to stay up late! Two days until Jack is home to deal with the late shift! It's too bad he and Marsha have to clean up this big mess all by themselves this year.

Each time we fill a 5-gallon pail with finished syrup at the woods, we fill a clear glass sample jar and label. This provides a way to track the color and flavor and date of production of each bucket and helps with quality control. Each batch that is put into jugs and bottles can be tracked that way. It is interesting to watch the color change throughout the season, but our eyes are really old or the color hasn't changed much from day one. Unusual. 

Total Sap: 3,432 gallons
Total Syrup: 80.5 gallons