Production upgrades- Boiling cancelled today due to snow, cold & laziness !

The BBQ boiling method was somewhat slow and laborious, and the evaporated sap started to bung up the burner jets !

Too much work required to cut, split and fetch wood, so, a little internet research and I came up with the BAYOO Classic, three burner, outdoor stove, which arrived on Friday.

The white and green containers are full of sap. About 75 litres !

Pan on left is for pre-boil. Check out colour of boiling sap on right.

Represents most of the 2010 output. There is still one more "boil", but the sap has stopped running and as you can see in the next picture I have cleaned and sterilised four buckets, lids and spiles, ready for storage 'til 2011. Eight taps this year was a good start. I plan on doing about 30 next year !

PHIL'S MAPLE SYRUP AT HARTFIELD

For real: Just check out the picture !  The four pots on the rack are home brewed. For comparison, on the right, a pot that Dawson Pidgeon gave us.

I'm soooo excited. It tastes really good. And there's more to come. Yipee !

From the sublime, to the ridiculous:

Here we have the snow blower, a rack of planks for staining, and the mower tractor with trailer and Mama's seat. Yes, we went for a ride on March 16th. No winter coats !

And on such a beautiful day, a sure sign of the times !

Look really closely and you should see ( or imagine) some rhubarb shoots. This is also a chutney year.

Hoping that your spring is as invigorating as is ours !

Limited success, at last !

This post is dedicated to son-in-law, Christopher Duchesnes, who was instrumnetal in obtaining the sap buckets! Much appreciated ! Bring your chain saw on your next visit, Christopher. We are going to need a mountain of logs to fuel the fire for next years production !

The second syrup making attempt has  been moderately successful !  I wanted to send you all a sample, but I couldn't find enough thimbles and the postage and insurance would have been prohibitive !  Hopefully in the next week or so I will be able to produce enough for you all to have a taste !

Vicky was concerned that the "unmitigated disaster" related to the walk-in tub installation. I am happy to report that it, the tub, is fully functional and awaiting its first occupant. The full scale trial run was successful, the hydrotherapy jets are most efficient, and there was no flooding when the door opened at the end. For all our ecologically minded readers please note that the "grey water" can now be diverted for other uses !


Multi-tasking. In the background sap boiling on the BBQ- not a satisfactory method, but the best, in the present circumstances, and staining some planks for use in completing the bathroom project !

This is an "old picture", pre-final installation. The paneling on the left is finished and the controls have been added. I just didn't get around to taking a finished picture.

Hope you are all having a great spring, and special wishes to the Grandchildren for a fun-filled and enjoyable spring break.

Sharing the experience !

5 p.m.- Getting ready to boil !

Not long after I removed the grills, to get the pan closer to the heat !

A nice clean storage container for the sap!

That "blob" of solid gold is maple rock ! You can see the indentations from the pick-axe ! I thought that it looked more poetic, taken on the floral table mat !

AN UNMITIGATED DISASTER !!

SUGARING OFF TIME. MY FIRST ATTEMPT !

The first two sap buckets, installed on Sunday, March 7th. Leo helped me place the other six later !

Installation is relatively simple, and the sap started running immediately !  Well, not actually running... dripping. By Monday afternoon there was about 5" in each of these buckets, but on checking the other six, in the maple tree run south of the garden, I discovered they were full ! Thanks to Gabriel for asking for a status report.

All told there were about 40 litres of the sap.

Since I had made no real plans for the syrup operation I fell back on the BBQ. None of the "settler romance", the roaring fire, syrup on the snow, clouds of steam.

The boiling was reasonably successful and after two hours I had a pan ready to " finish" on the stove.

Oh, it bubbled and boiled, and I didn't mess up the stove, and I had the thermometer ( meat) in the pan to watch for the magic point !

The small amount of syrup that remained was poured into a mason jar. It looked pretty good, a golden hue, and tasted palatable.

An hour later I had about three inches of rock hard maple sugar !  Nothing short of a pick axe will liberate it ! A sure tooth breaker !

Today I must get a Candy thermometer and maybe I'll try again. There's still hope and I'm not giving up yet !

I guess I'll make wood collection a priority for the coming spring and summer months, and modify the incinerator pit to become my fireplace.

Thanks to V, C,B,O,L. for the present of five sap buckets. They look really great hanging from the trees, adding a certain cachet and allure to the property,  along the driveway up to the farm house.

While waiting for the sap to boil, I got a lot of stuff tidied up in the barn, and Dobbin started right away !

I haven't been totally idle since my last post. Done quite a number in the basement, with paneling on the stairwalls, almost finished my doors and wall project on the main stairwell, (needs staining) replaced a rather grotty door on the upstairs bathroom with a rather nice semi-refinished old pine door, and am in the final stages of the total renovation of the downstairs bathroom and passage. The attic insulation job seems to have been quite effective !