Today I talked Beth into going into the woods behind the house with me so we could tap a tree or two. First stop was the garage where we found my sap bucket. Last week I bought another bucket at Bryant & Lawrence in Tilton. He didn’t have any taps, but I thought I had an extra at the house, so no big deal. Turns out I only had one tap to go with my one bucket and one lid.
So we went out with just the one bucket. She bored a hole, but I had put too large a bit in the brace. Bummer. We wedged the tap into that hole anyhow, and I jammed a few twigs in above the tap to help hold it in place. I think it will work out, but if it doesn’t, I have more trees than taps & buckets.
After we had some lunch, I headed into Concord. I stopped at Agway while I was there and picked up a tap to go with my new bucket. Well… my new bucket is actually quite old. I don’t know how old, but it has definitely seen some service in the past.
Then I stopped at the church to hang some backdrops for Va. This weekend we will have Adventurer Camp-in. We were supposed to have it the day Nemo hit, but… it’s pretty hard to get anyone to come out in a blizzard, so she rescheduled it.
I got home again just before it got dark and headed back into the woods with my brace and bit, new/old bucket, and new/new tap. Once I had bored the hole the sap started to run immediately. I mounted the bucket and listened to a very satisfying “plink, plink, plink” as the sap dripped into the bucket.
A new old bucket
I’ll check on them both tomorrow.
February 28, 2013 at 11:18 pm
I will be interested in your syrup making.
February 28, 2013 at 11:24 pm
In the past I have done it in the kitchen, and I may do it that way again. The problem with doing it indoors is that all that water you boil off has to go somewhere. It usually ends up on the range hood and on the kitchen ceiling. Doing it outdoors has the advantage of providing a place for all that moisture to go, and also, I could heat the sap with a wood fire for free (other than labor).
The downside is that I don’t have an evaporator (they inexplicably sell for four digits!) I could use one of Va’s big pots, but… she would kill me for blackening it, and then kill me again if I couldn’t get the black off.
February 28, 2013 at 11:32 pm
You might find a big pot at a second hand store…
February 28, 2013 at 11:38 pm
Now there’s a thought!
March 1, 2013 at 12:53 am
Would a grill work? Or would it be too hot?
March 1, 2013 at 1:05 am
I don’t have a grill. I don’t know if it would be too hot or not, but I expect it would be OK.
March 1, 2013 at 6:13 am
I noticed some wounds on a few maples around here were weeping so i wondered if the sap was running in your area. You can buy 4-5 gallon stock pots in Wal-Mart for under $15.00, but I don’t know if that would be big enough. I don’t think it has to be stainless steel for such a small operation.
March 1, 2013 at 10:52 am
I’ve used a stock pot in the kitchen in the past. I’m only tapping two trees, so 4-5 gallons is plenty big. I’m thinking about getting a pan from a steam table though, as that creates a greater surface area for faster evaporation.
March 2, 2013 at 6:32 am
I never thought of that. Good idea!
March 2, 2013 at 8:00 am
The trick of course, is to find them at a reasonable price.
March 2, 2013 at 12:25 am
Maybe you should patent your snow gauge.
March 2, 2013 at 8:00 am
There’s supposed to be a clause in patent law that prevents patenting the obvious.