I don't know if you have ever heard of the term tapped out. In mixed martial arts this term is used when an opponent has decided to call it quits and surrenders to his opponent. After getting home from Florida this year, we went back and forth for a day or two discussing whether we wanted to tap out or make Maple Syrup this year. Once we decided not to call it quits and make that sweet nectar again, it was game on.
Before leaving for vacation I purchased an additional 10 taps along with an additional 25 feet of tubing. In the Fall I scouted out another 10 Maple trees that I would tap. The total number of trees that I would pierce with a 5/16 drill bit, 2 inches deep, would now stand at 32.
The flow of sap is dependent on one thing, the weather.
For sap to run, daytime temps need to warm up to at least the mid-forties and drop to below freezing at night. This temperature fluctuation is vital to the flow of sap.
During these fluctuations, when temperatures rise above freezing during the day, positive pressure develops in the tree. This pressure causes the sap to flow out of the tree through a wound. (tap hole) During the night when cooler temps set in, negative pressure (suction) develops, drawing water back into the roots of the tree.
Over four days #Mother #Nature delivered the perfect conditions and the sap ran like we've never experienced.
We had collected so much sap that after our outside fridge was packed to the gills, we started to store the sap in the inside fridge, which left very little room for any food.
With both fridges puking with sap by the third day, we had to get a little creative. I decided to break the ice at the edge of our pond and store an additional 22 gallons of sap in the frigid waters.
These pans should have been cleaned after our final boil last year, I guess @farm-mom dropped the ball. 😁 She's in the other room at the moment, I might as well blame her.
We started making syrup in 2017, our first year of being retired together.
I've kept a log of these times for every year except 2022, the only year we didn't make syrup. It's always a lot of fun going back over these notes, which include a lot more than the stats about the syrup.
After collecting what I thought was the most sap ever for a single boil, I went through the log, and sure enough, it would be an all-time high. In 2019 we had collected 53 gallons of sap for a boil. Here we are ready to cook 82 gallons, 29 gallons more than ever before. Great weather and an additional 10 taps did the trick.
After moving all of the buckets to the back deck, I think I may have lost a gallon or so, oops.
I know I've said this before in previous posts about making syrup, but if you're considering giving it a try, I'TS ALL ABOUT THE FIRE.
I prepare the kindling the night before we cook. Weaving the sticks of wood so that the entire fire pit burns evenly, is key. This takes me about an hour, an hour I would rather not spend the morning we cook, the day will already be a long one.
Back in the day, there used to be a contest called #SANDWICH OF THE MONTH. My best friend, who goes by the name Robin, made me this killer of a steak sandwich while I was tending the fire. It was smothered in everything including Pepper Jack cheese. This sandwich would have been a winner.
Let the Boil Begin
Getting an early start should get us done before dark, hopefully. With the ratio being 50 gallons of sap to 1 gallon of syrup, we'll be turning 80.5 gallons of liquid into a gas, (water vapor) before ending up with 1 & 1/2 gallons of PURE MAPLE SYRUP.
Tending to the fire is almost non-stop.
Making Maple Syrup with a friend is the way to go!
At this point in the cook, we've got about 4 gallons of liquid left.
We'll transfer the remaining liquid into a pot and finish boiling off the remaining few gallons of water tomorrow morning. Here we are filtering it for the second time as we transfer it.
We did the final boil on our outdoor burner.
After a few more hours we were almost there.
Filtering the syrup for the final time will make for a crystal-clear, amber color, 100% Pure Maple Syrup.
BRING ON THE PANCAKES!
The final tally - 197 ounces
At the ratio of 50/1, we got just over what we were hoping to produce.
Don't be afraid to stick your finger in the bottle and give it a try.
After a few more hours we were almost there.
Filtering the syrup for the final time will make for a crystal-clear, amber color, 100% Pure Maple Syrup.
BRING ON THE PANCAKES!
The final tally - 197 ounces
At the ratio of 50/1, we got just over what we were hoping to produce.
Don't be afraid to stick your finger in the bottle and give it a try.
Total Victory ✌️
Thanks you very much for recognizing this post, that always feels good. A special thanks to @brumest for curating my blog, I know it takes some time from your day.
I would directly come and ask for one, had I been near to you :) I can feel the joy after all the work.
What's up my friend
If you were near me you wouldn't even have to ask, a bottle would be yours to enjoy!
It was a joyous day from start to finish. The day was a blessed one.
Boy your children are getting all grown up. That seems to happen in the blink of an eye.
Loved to hear about all the steps, had no idea hoe maple syrup was made... and I love it! Hope it tastes as great as it looks. 😉 !BEER
There are a lot of steps, with the worse one being doing all of the cleanup.
@farm-mom was a champ in that department, but I had to commit to doing the dishes for a week. I still think I got off cheap.😁
The taste is fabalous, so different than the syrup you get at the store. It's so light tasting not as thick as commercial syrup which tends to be overwhelmingly sweet.
Have a wonderful day!
Sounds even better! Although I don't have the concept of overwhelmingly sweet.. :))))) Cheers! !BEER
What I mean by overwhelmingly sweet is that overpowers whatever you put it on, hiding the taste of the dish.
Yesterday I put it on some salmon along with a lot of spices and blackened it in an iron skittle. It was delicious.
thanks for the beer!
Does sound like it! :)
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BEER.Wow! Making maple syrup is really a tedious and a lot of hardwork. Tha k you for sharing this to us. Well I guess it's a lot of work mainly because of the abundant supply, imaging your fridge is puking with syrup!!😍😍😍
What do you do with all these abundance? Like do you sell them or keep them for personal family consumption specially during winter months. The end photo with you and your lovely wife is just pure joy♥️ the smiles of wer're almost to the finish line! Victory is brewing!!
Cheers! 🍷🍻😍😍
These are really what makes a blissful companionship work. Through extracting, prepping, boiling, cooking, filtering, bottling .... Through thick and thin and viola!!! Awesome years of togetherness pure Bliss and love.
This jar represents pure love and sweetness!!! Awwwww! Can I buy one big brother?!😍☺️♥️
Since I retired I haven't worked another day. When something even starts to resemble work I drop the old toolbelt and move on to the next item on my never-ending list of hobbies.
When I'm involved with something, I'm hobbitizing.
Whenever I'm doing something it's hobbitational
I try not to even use that four-letter word that starts with w and ends with k.
All of the syrup stays in the family, a bottle of that sweet nectar makes a great gift.
We also use it as a sweetener.
None is for sale, as long as it takes, if I were to sell some I'd make about 2 cents an hour.
I've been married for 48 years now and sharing time with my better half and enjoying these times together has been one of our keys to a happy relationship.
Since you're my little sis, if you lived in the area, a bottle would be yours for the taking.
Ooooh! I love it that you have abundant supply of maple syrup. I can only taste this sweet nectar when I go to the duty free shops here in our city but I know it doesn't taste that good compared to yours that is made out from pure love.
I bet you have a big storage room for all your syrup it's like you have lots of honey!!
A perfect gift indeed, made from the heart! 💖♥️
Awww! Thank you for that sweet nectar. Your birthday gift for me! 🤭🤭😍
Well, I think you have a lot of time doing w__k before so now it's all about you doing the things you love, the things that you weren't able to do because you need to w__k, earn a living for the family and now that you have the Money and Time freedom so it's just perfect to do all your hobbitizing. Which is truly a blessing for a lot of people cannot do that anymore after the pandemic... For Thor did his cleansing🤭😍
Grateful for the good health and love you have from your family.
Wow! 48 years!! Truly a milestone for you and your beautiful queen. Me and hubby 28 years still going strong.
It is indeed a milestone for so many nowadays don't believe in the sanctity of marriage. Hooray for you and your wife big brother! Cheers to that lifelong partnership through time and eternity.🍷🥂🍻
Been busy these past few days haven't made a recent post but I will gather all my thoughts and photos too so I can share it here in hive.
Have a great day ahead big bro!♥️🥰
Thank you for not using that 4 lettered word in this reply, greatly appreciated little sis.
28 years and still going strong, I love to hear that. Every relationship has its ups and downs, but some people just throw the towel in at the drop of a dime.
It has been a few days since I have logged in. I'll take a look a little later to see if you've got a post up.
Peace
Yes that is truly sad, I have friends who does that specially the one's that are working far from their families mostly abroad. A lot of Filipinos fond jobs elsewhere outside our country and you know when you are far from each other it gives each one a lot of freedom.
It's either the man or the woman who will disrespect their marriage vows. So so so sad. Divorce is not legal in my country so even if you want to be separated you have to undergo the trouble of having legal separation which is very expensive like $6,000 up. So, a lot are separated but not legally yet.
Hard for the kids, they are the ones who suffer more.
The kids always take the brunt of a failed marriage.
I've never heard of divorce not being legal, in the States the divorce rate is somewhere near 50% and growing.
With the cost of being legally separated at $6,000, I would imagine that many couples stay married even if they don't live together any longer.
What's the old saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"
I guess that statement only holds some truth if you are truly in love.
That's true, they are still married but not really living together. I guess it's not good to look at too if you look at it on the church's perspective both parties are living in "sin" no blessing because both are still not free from their current marriages and to think The church has the big say if Divorce will be legalized... I guess in South east Asia or all over the world, we are the only country who doesn't legalize divorce yet.
Our government still prohibits divorce but a lot wants it have it already. They say now the Senate are thinking of legalizing it in which a lot are happy about it and one of them is my brother in law🤭😄😍
Looks amazing after all the hard work😯❤️.
Thanks for the nice comment and it tastes even better, so light tasting.
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Great post! In the spring, we also like to collect birch sap in our forests. Or you can just buy it in some stores directly in cans, sometimes there’s even a piece of wood floating in there.
I've heard about collecting Birch sap, but not a very common tree in our area. I've also heard of collecting the sap From Walnut trees, I wonder how that would taste?
A piece of wood floating in the can, now that's natural.
Hello @thebigsweed
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I do like reading your sap posts!
Was a good thing you have the pond, that is yet another use for it, winter fridge lol.
But blaming @farm-mom lol you are braver than me 🤣
I enjoy recording the activities of the day and sharing them with others.
Acting as a fridge, that's a new one.
That small body of water is the heart and soul of our place.
I did catch some heat for that one.😁😁
The life of a farmer is not easy, one has to work hard, then go and produce such beautiful things and trees and other beautiful things like that, it is very nice to see them all these things. Can be achieved only through hard work.
To be a full time farmer is something I would not enjoy. Now' that's a full time job and doesn't sound too hobbitational to me.
Being a part time farmer is just perfect.
Yeah you are right.
Natures pay back in pure gold liquid, little effort loads of pleasurable fun!
Now to enjoy pancakes throughout the year to come, you two have this down to a fine art of late!
!BEER
Loads of fun. Just spending the time in the woods, surrounded by nature, is a blessing and then you get Liquid gold ontop of that.
Life is good and we count our blessings everyday! Knowing that so many people are hurting in so many ways while we have what we do, sometimes feels unfair.
After 7 years we've kind of got this down, but I'm always thinking of new ways to streamline the entire process. I made a few changes this year the saved some considerable amount of time.
Thanks for the beer @joanstewart
Time saving is always a bonus considering how much goes into processing your liquid gold.
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You have always been after perfecting things and making sure they work out
I’ve heard of tap out but I never knew what they meant. Anyway, you did a good job and if came out well
Kudos to you!
Looks like it was a good season for you! Pretty color too!
It was great to make that much syrup in a single boil.