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 !