On this fortieth day of the season of Lent, the most quiet day of the year in the Christian calendar, the day between Good Friday and Easter, I will reprint an entry from the 2010 Sugar Season Blog. The Far Corner of the Sugarhouse: As you enter the sugarhouse – just you – to the… Read More
April 18th: Wrapping Up
A Chronicle of the Last Day of Boiling: I’m sitting on a stool by the back pan feeling cozy on a chilly day. Ross is tending the finish trough, Sam is whistling to a silly song playing on the CD, I fell into the sap today….while scraping wood scraps toward the firebox with a shovel,… Read More
April 13th: All Thaw News
“It’s time to put on your big boy pants and get zesty,” said an Iditarod musher to a flailing musher he overcame on a particularly grueling stretch of trail. ‘Tis. WEATHER: The Turn. The thaw began on Thursday. Thursday night it dropped to 32 at the sugarhouse. Friday it climbed to 45. Friday night stayed… Read More
Maple Whiskey Pudding Cake – oh my is it good
Maple Trout Lilli writes: MAPLE WHISKEY PUDDING CAKES These wonderful desserts bake up with a gooey sauce beneath a layer of rich, tender cake. There are a few steps involved, but the result is so worth the 20 minutes of prep. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream. Do not stir the maple-whiskey… Read More
April 9th Hill Report
Woodsmaster Ross writes: “I hope the snow isn’t too soft out there,” she said. “Nah, should be fine,” I replied. “May not even need the tails on the snowshoes.” WRONG! Ten steps into the woods and I was wishing for those longer snowshoes. Of course, the higher I climbed in the sugarwoods, the worse it… Read More
April 8th Update
WEATHER: Since the April 4th post, the nighttime lows have ranged from 30-33, the daytime highs from 33-40 except for yesterday’s high of 46 or so. Today the temp hovered at 34 while sleet stung the face. In the tug-of-war between winter and summer, winter is currently tugging harder. The dreaded precipitous April thaw hasn’t… Read More
A Good Sap Run at Last
QUICK UPDATE: We got a good run starting Tuesday afternoon. We boiled yesterday, Wednesday, from 5am to midnight. The RO has been processing sap night and day. This evening we are still boiling leftover sap. Last night it froze and barely cleared 32 all day. Tonight it is freezing much harder; it’s the last freezing… Read More
Pail by Pail, Stoke by Stoke
To catch you up, here are entries from the Sugarhouse Logbook: 3/28 Frozen ’til yesterday afternoon – sunny with good run in late afternoon, solid freeze last night. Thought today would be banner run but rain in the afternoon with south wind slowed it down. High into 40’s. Sap sweetness 2.4%. 3/29 Ran feebly all… Read More
The Art of the Draw
Chief of Operations writes: Our style of maple sap evaporator and our technique of drawing off syrup are rapidly becoming obsolete. Open pans, where you can actually see the myriad of bubbles dancing on the boiling sap, and the practice of manually drawing off the finished syrup, are considered “old school” by professional sugarmakers. Not… Read More
Preparing for Open House
WEATHER: Snow. It’s a white white white white world. HOW’S IT RUNNING: Ever since Wednesday afternoon the sap’s been flowing, but not well. At night it trickles, during the day it sputters (collectively, that is, with sap from all 9,700 taps flowing into one receptacle). SAP SWEETNESS: 2.2%. Good news. BOILING STATUS: Thursday was Day… Read More
