Sap Boil #2 of 2017

This weekend was a vast improvement on the bone chilling cold first sap boil of 2017. This boil yielded just about 3 gallons syrup from ~ 130 gallons of sap. A lot of the storage containers had their walls lined with ice which, when melted and tested with a hygrometer, showed a zero on the Brix scale which means it had no sugar in it. SP pitched the ice out into the woods and was ready to fill the bins back up come Sunday, and when SP and Lukey collected today, we had sixty gallons already. There will be a 3rd boil of 2017!
It was a fun weekend had by all, enjoying the warmer temperatures and sunshine we so deserve at this time of year.
Happy Maple Syrup Sunday everyone!

Maine Facial = Macial

Our peaceful kingdom where both humans, canines, and chickens coexist. 

Baby is our little helper

neighbors came over to visit and admire the mapron

poser

The best news is that we have half the "starter wood" left, and more sap in storage!

Single Digit first sap boil

Saturday marked our first sap boil of the season and the temperature did not get above 9 degrees F. It was frigid to say the least!

Balaclavas were mandatory! The cold temperatures presented us with a bigger challenge. All the storage, which is more than we ever have had, was predominantly frozen, so we again had to use the Yankee ingenuity we have come to know and love. The sap had been freezing in the buckets, so some of the storage was garbage bags full of frozen sap, in the shape of a bucket!

We will remedy the situation over by the boiler after we set a few things up.

 In the mean time, we had a little fun. Now you see him....

Now you don't!  We need to work on improving the sound track - enough NPR already!

Who needs an XBox when you can play real life Mine Craft!?

Getting the bellows going. Thank heavens for large garbage day and re-purposing.

Time to warm up with some sap tea. Haven't heard of sap tea? Take a mug, put in a tea bag, and fill it with boiling hot sap straight off the evaporator!

The sap that wasn't frozen started freezing in the buckets!

Ingenious way to melt the frozen sap chunks.

We processed ~ 120 gallons of sap and yielded ~ 2.5 gallons of syrup.

Preparing for the first boil

With everything still frozen into the snow banks, preparing for a sap boil took a lot of SP's spare time. I have to say that he also put to use his mass stores of Yankee ingenuity!

And of course, no sooner did he get the toboggan's underneath the boiler, then a chicken decided to take a ride in his truck.

Just a few feet closer and we are ready to level it.

Need to cover it up in case of any critters or precipitation.

And make sure the wood is ready. Too bad we didn't cover that.

And we are ready to go.

Spiffy new paint job

It's amazing what a little paint can do!