Mar 2-6
Saturday March 2, 2013
So the blogger is tired, busy and behind. The top picture above is the sap wagon in the barn to keep it a little bit warmer until we can empty it. Saturday was a big day. Marc and Trevor spent most of the day moving #1 and #2 stone into some of the bottomless pits along the paths in the woods. This was a slow and tedious process. The hitch broke on the H so a good bit of the day was spent welding that back together. There was pretty almost white out like snow at times. We did not gather today as it was so cold and not much in buckets. Bob and Chuck started a fire mid afternoon and burned until around 9 pm. The sap seemed to move through the evaporator rather quickly. Cody discovered how to cook ribs in the coals and Brad & Kelsey made cornbread with the campfire irons that we covered with syrup (that was a big hit). Kelsey made a run to the house for more buckets for syrup! The fire felt exceptionally good at the end of this cold week. Bob was glad to see the tanks finally empty as the next cold snap is coming.
Total Sap: 1435 gallons
Total Syrup: 30 gallons
The 6th of March was a chilly day but warm enough for sap to run. We collected 330 gallons of sap in a pleasant walk through the woods (a real treat compared to last Wednesday!) The Oney family, Dan and Chris helped out tonight. Jenny made a great pot of chili which we somewhat inhaled so we could get to church on time. The "on time" part didn't happen but we did get there-bob attended without shoes, but that is another story. Tonight was the first run through the woods with the new stone and it seemed to go well. Tomorrow could be a big day given that the taps were constantly dripping as we collected at 6pm. Finished in the light of day, another thing we always appreciate. Came home from church and had the dog take a direct hit from a black thing with a white stripe very near the back door of the house. Didn't appreciate this so much. Spoke with Denise regarding decontamination, confirmed this will be unpleasant for some time to come! Washed the dog and blogged and calling it a day! (Adam, believe it or not, the wet dog smell earlier, ....that was good).
