Showing posts with label sap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sap. Show all posts

Thursday, March 17, 2011

My Cup Runneth Over...

Well, my Cup may not be running over, but my 
Maple Sap Tanks sure were!

Before I got the hose on it, the sap was POURING onto the ground!

I didn't collect sap for two days because the weather was cool and there just wasn't that much.  I felt it just wasn't worth the time and gas expenditure.  Today, I substitute taught at the high school, and as I drove home I swung by to check the sap collection tank close to my home.  As I drove up, what did I see?  Precious liquid gold - maple sap - was pouring out the top of the tank onto the ground!  

I ran home as fast as I could, changed into my outside work clothes, jumped into the truck and rushed down to pump that precious sap!



An almost full to the top tank.

I had to make two trips to get all of the sap.  Along the way I had a few mishaps  - like overflowing the tank in the back of the truck and spilling some sap!  

When I got to the unloading point this is what I ended up with.



Yup, that sticker says 550 gallons!  That tank was tilted, but I figured I had about 525 gallons of sap at 2.1 percent sugar content!

The chickens love the longer days and have been coming on laying.  I've been collecting about a dozen eggs, more or less, each day.  I'll be putting my "eggs for sale" sign out!

A happy Pants On The Ground surrounded by his hens.


Thursday, February 24, 2011

Sap!

THE SAP IS RUNNING!





After I got off work yesterday, I thought I would take a ride and look at my sap lines.  What a pleasant surprise!

In the top photo you can clearly see the sap running out of the lines.  Those icicles hanging off the tank are all maple sap.

  The bottom photo shows an area we tap that is very shady.  A lot of junk gets built up in the lines and all that green gunk you see has washed out.  That's why we run the lines a bit before we stick them into the tanks.  If you look at the bottom photo near the top center you can see the stream of maple sap.  

After I took these photos I stuck the lines into the tanks - we're collecting!  Now we just have to cross our fingers and hope Mother Nature does her part!

The worst that can happen (I can't believe I'm saying this) is that it gets too warm too fast.  We want below freezing nights and above freezing days.  

Maple Sap Weather for Wednesday -  6:30 a.m. temperature:  -3 degrees
4 p.m. temperature: 33-degrees.

Got Sap?