We have sweetened our pans!

From deep, deep freeze to toasty 40's. Warm enough to tap. So tap we did on the 15 Th and a good run of sap followed. A half gallon + of sweet maple syrup. Tickled to pieces! And the fever catches you up for another year. The weather is turning cold again, freezing rain, sleet, snow, so the run is over but another will start again by Monday. It gives us enough time to finish off the sap we have. Cooking is done on the old Home Comfort . What a heat machine! running about 40 gallons sap to 1 gallon syrup.That will change as we tap more reds, 60 to 1 or higher. When the season gets rolling, there will be more sap then can really be handled on the cook stove. We are trying to come up with a makeshift arch ( a giant boiler) outside that will run on junk wood, old pine, etc. that can't be burned inside.

Here are some pictures taken last year at the Highland County Maple Festival.The barn that looks like it is burning is The Rexrode sugar house, their arch is the big old brick one that oozes smoke and flame. The big stainless sap tank and green building is the Puffenbarger sugar shack replacement. The sugar house burned in the second week of festival 2 years ago. Ivan Puffenbarger thought they were done, but the community and customers made sure that they came back, better then ever! They make the best maple doughnuts ever! The tank in picture is full.

Post again later.