It's No Secret....We Like To Talk!

Sometimes, when we tell folks that we home-school our kids, they have some.....odd....reactions.  For example, some ask, "But, what about socialization?" 
My response:  "Have you met my husband?!"  

Indeed, children, especially home-schooled children, learn to "socialize", interact with others, by watching and imitating their parents.  It is no secret that Don and I enjoy the art of conversation.  We both love a great exchange of ideas.  We genuinely enjoy.....people!  

So, it is no surprise to us that all 4 of our children were completely at ease with the 4H group that came to our farm today to learn about maple syrup production.  Each of us participated in presenting information and fielding the group's many excellent questions!

Nate did a super job explaining our sap collection system.

Don gave a great little science lesson.  And, the one dad, who came with his family, added to it from his perspective as a logger.  These youngsters had a comprehensive "tree science" experience! (Actually, the adults learned a great deal, too!)

William and Don demonstrated how the evaporator works...... to a captivated audience.

 

And, finally, Grace and Rosie served spoonfuls of syrup to everyone's delight.















I got side-tracked in conversation....(imagine that!)....and failed to photograph my daughters sharing our chickens and horses with our curious guests.  I was so pleased with their hospitality and patience, as they answered about a million questions from these 3-12 year-olds.

I hope our visitors had a wonderful learning experience....despite the MUD.  I know we did!  Made a few new friends, too!  :-)

Thawing out...

It has been a rather long, very cold winter in Central New York.  Our first 8 inches of snow fell on Thanksgiving day.  And, with the exception of one unusual week in December, we've had snow cover....

Lady joined me for a walk, Nov. 27, 2013

...at least at our elevation....ever since!  We've had record cold temps all over the northeast this winter, which meant too many days in which we did not even break out of the single digits.   

Brrrrr!  




Needless to say, I have been carefully watching for signs of spring and thawing out for several weeks now.  So, without further ado, I have some promising "signs" to share with you......

The birds are coming around, again! In addition to this little guy, and the gorgeous robin below, my resident bluejay, who insisted upon dining on our cat food last spring, is back! 

(He still prefers the cat food to bird seed...oh, well...)

Places in our woods that were frozen solid less than 2 weeks ago, are now flowing, crystal clear water....

  And, most importantly, of course..........

Sap is flowing from our maple trees! 


According to the 10-day weather forecast for this area, we should have sap every day in the coming week.  And, so long as we have those cold nights to complement our warmer days, we can keep collecting sap and making syrup. 


I can't help but grin when I lift our bucket lids to see 5 inches of sap inside, and that steady drip...drip...drip... from the spile!

William was excited to discover nearly 30 gallons in our high-vac gravity system's collection drum this afternoon!

















Oh, yeah!  Speaking of signs, we added one of our own to the farm today, too..........

We now have enough bottled for folks who want to stop by, and we expect to be boiling and bottling a bunch more this week.  We're looking forward to meeting many new people, as well as sharing with our family and friends. 
Next week, we'll have a 4H group visiting the farm to learn about maple syrup production.  Learning is what we are all about, so come on over if you're curious!  What fun this is going to be!

Trial and Error

By now, we've had several short sap runs.  Each time, we tweak our equipment and get alittle more efficient.  We're gaining experience and getting advice from a couple of other sugarmakers in our area.  What a friendly group of people!  On the whole, sugarmakers love to talk to others about what they do and impart their wisdom to folks just starting out, like us.

We've adjusted our evaporator so that we can make the finished product in one less step.  Here's our "magic" temperature.

Now that we can get the smaller runs up to temperature in the evaporator, we'll have no trouble at all with the larger runs to come!

100% pure maple syrup from our evaporator!

We learned that if you touch the boiling, foaming sap with a teensy speck of butter, the foam will dissipate in seconds!

before touched with butter...

immediately after butter...

We had a successful attempt at making maple cream, though it was really hard work to do by hand. We all took turns stirring the thick, sticky syrup for a total of fifteen minutes, giving each family member a good upper body workout! (No wonder early-American women were so strong!)  It was really cool to watch it turn from that translucent amber color to an alabaster cream.

It tastes superb, and we've enjoyed sharing small samples with friends that stop by.  I also used it to develop a maple barbeque sauce recipe - YUM!!!

I am enjoying finding new uses for maple syrup and maple cream for my family, and eventually, I'll post recipes to share.

One night recently, I attempted to make "sugar on snow" with the kids.  You have to heat the syrup to 235 degrees, then let it cool down some before pouring it on the snow.

It should become a stretchy, taffy-consistency that you can pick up and chew.....



I didn't allow it to cool long enough and we ended up with..... maple snow cones. 
Still quite tasty! 
I'll have to try that one again, though!

What we couldn't eat, (in other words, once we were stuffed on snow cones!) we were able to boil the remainder back to syrup for our pancakes, so nothing was wasted.

All in all, we are having fun with this new adventure of ours.  Whether we make 5 gallons of syrup or 25 gallons, we're learning so much....together....

 And, that's what its all about!!



Actually, we've made about 8 gallons so far. At a rate of about 45 gal. sap to 1 gal. syrup, how much sap have we collected so far?.......







That's right!  About 360 gallons of sap from our trees!  God-willing we'll get a great run starting this Thursday when Central New York warms up again....for us, spring has definitely not sprung, yet. :-)

Seasons

Last week a friend commented on a photo I posted on Facebook, "You make winter look fun!"  What?  Really?  Winter is my least favorite season, actually.

The next day, Don and I were taking a snowy stroll through the woods when the topic of our future came up.  Looking over at me, he commented, "You realize that this is just another season of our lives...it won't last forever."  These comments got me to thinking about.....SEASONS.









Farmers are acutely aware of seasons.  They must be!  Growing crops or produce, raising livestock.....the timing of it all will make....or break you... in agriculture.  For example, if you breed your beef cows at the wrong time, they could be calving in a blizzard and much of your new stock would freeze to death.  Or, if you plant your tomato crop too late in the summer, your tomatoes will probably be lost to an early frost.

In the world of sugarmakers, you never know quite how long your season of productivity will be or exactly when it will be.  It could be as short as 3 weeks, or as long as 6 weeks.  It could begin in late-February or early-April.   Just like other agricultural commodities, you better be on your toes when the season arrives or you'll miss your payday!

We've been well-trained by our years of planting and harvesting corn, wheat, soybeans and hay.... so we've been ready for the sap to flow for a few weeks now, anxiously awaiting "the big run", while collecting all we can from these little 2- and 3- day runs.

All this talk about seasons got me to thinking about the seasons of our lives.  Sometimes, the beginning and ending of one can be fairly well-defined, and you see it coming well in advance, but often times, it is just not that way.  If you had asked me just 3 months before we moved up here, "Will you be moving anytime soon?"  I probably would've said, "I doubt it."  Especially not 4+ hours....NORTH!  (I'm partial to the Chesapeake Bay area, actually.)  I have some days, still, when I wonder if we made the right decision.  But, other days, I think, "Boy, this was a great decision!"  It certainly began a new season in my life....in our family's life.  But, like Don pointed out, it is just another season.

Making "winter look fun" is a choice I must make each day to have a positive attitude about this particular season in my life.  (Some days are tougher than others!)  Will we still be doing the same things in this same place 10 or 12 years from now?  I highly doubt it!  Don never allows grass to grow under his feet!  By then, my children will be all grown up, maybe even with children of their own.  Hopefully.......we'll be moving hours SOUTH of this place, where the temperatures rarely go below 35 degrees...even in February.  Heck - we haven't tried growing peaches or pecans, yet! 

 Buttonwood Beach - June 2008

 
Until then, I will choose to live my life right here, in Central New York, and just visit places south whenever the opportunity presents itself...

As The Saying Goes...

This is our second winter in Central New York, as you know if you've been following my posts. It is.....quite different, in many ways, than our "home base" in south-eastern Pennsylvania.  One day last April, I was driving to our local farm store for animal-care supplies.  This trip is about 30 minutes, more or less.  Within that brief time the weather morphed from 50 degrees, cloudy and rainy...to snow....I watched my vehicle's digital thermometer, in awe, as it dropped from 50 to 47....to 44.....and finally 42 degrees in about 20 minutes!  I wondered if, maybe, it was broken - until I stuck my arm out the window while sitting at a red light.  Then, much to my delight, as I pulled into the parking lot, the sun beamed brightly, as the clouds disappeared almost completely!

How odd!  I mentioned this to the older cashier as I swiped my debit card, and I'll never forget his response:  "In Central New York, if you don't like the weather.... just wait 5 minutes!"  He quipped, with a sarcastic, "been livin' here my whole life"-smile on his face.




We have found this quip to be true on many occasions.  We've also discovered that if you pull out of our driveway and travel just 10 miles in either direction, the weather could be drastically different, too. 

So, this evening I want to share with you the stark contrast of yesterday and today - what has happened in less than 24 hours at the Westbrook farm:



Yesterday:  Sunshine, 48 degrees

There was a very gentle breeze.  As you can see from the photos, the snow had melted significantly, the chickens were contently foraging, and the trees were clearly soaking in the cool, fresh water and pushing up plenty of sap. Glory day!!





We spent much of the day outside, as I'm sure MANY folks did, soaking up the warmth, wearing lighter clothing, not minding that our feet were getting muddy and wet.  If you know dogs, you understand that ours were reveling in it!

 It's been awhile since we've seen our logging roads in the woods........

I took the above photos around 3:30 yesterday afternoon. 

The pictures that follow were taken at 1:30 this afternoon.....Be prepared, as this is not for the faint of heart....especially, you "beach bums" out there...........

At the time these were taken, it was still kind of warm for us.....33 degrees....making this snow wet and heavy.  I'm sure I was quite a sight trying to stomp through it to take some pictures!

The snow is expected to continue through the evening and tomorrow's high is just 18 degrees!




As you can see, our paths are, once again, hidden beneath the pure, fresh snow......


.....it will be a good foot deep by tomorrow.






The sap has stopped flowing for now, but.....as the saying goes....




We'll just wait 5 minutes!






Until then, we're finishing off this small batch of syrup in our kitchen, so it feels like a tropical rain forest in here!!!

Barter and Trade

I think Don may have been born in the wrong era.....no, really..... The arts of bartering and trading are not appreciated in America today as they once were, but my husband happens to be a master at both!  It is no surprise to anyone that knows him well that he thrives when he works in sales. No cash needed for my guy, either - his skills at trading are.....artful.

We are far from affluent by American standards, but given the time we've spent in agriculture, we have collected.....stuff.  To me, it often doesn't look like much, but Don manages to find just the right person who wants something we have...and has something we want! 

I give the glory to God, because He seems to orchestrate these meetings according to HIS perfect timing.  In fact, that is how we acquired much of what we needed for this newest agricultural adventure!





Don's latest trade involved a vacuum pump which had been given to us, in exchange for a moisture trap (???), more tubing and taps, and a bit of cash.  So, this morning, in anticipation of the warmer temperatures, Don added the moisture trap and made a few adjustments, while the kids added 16 new taps to our system.

Meanwhile, I did the all-important job of................

MAKING COFFEE.

(Which, I might add, is another one of our amazing trades - firewood for a CASE of Dunkin' Donuts coffee beans - thanks to a family that has become quite special to us!)

Delivery to the work site was included in the deal, of course.....

When the coffee break was over, Rosie and I checked buckets, while the others checked the lines in the woods...

At 11am we had a little less than half a gallon in each of our plastic buckets, and sap was flowing very lightly in the tubing system.  We didn't get much sap today, as it never warmed up as much as anticipated, and the sun never made an appearance.  But, we did collect and boil some sap, and Don got to test the sugar content of this small batch with our new sap hydrometer.

We are at just over 2% sugar content, which is pretty good!









Sunday is supposed to be sunny, but only 32 degrees, so we'll have to wait until Monday and Tuesday for more sap.  Last year the maple season came early to New York, apparently.  It seems that this year is going to be late.  Hoping for a few solid weeks of good maple weather to come very soon!

Organic Maple Syrup? What's up with that?

Over the past few months, Don and I have done tons of research, visited and spoken with a variety of people involved in the maple syrup industry, and checked out numerous producers' websites from all over northern North America.  I have even been checking out maple syrup in farm stores, gift shops and grocery stores, carefully examining the containers and labels, occasionally buying a sample for....analyzing, shall we say.  One might think we've got an unhealthy obsession with this sweet, beautiful, sticky, tasty "gift" of the maple tree. (Most sugarmakers do!)  Like I explained in a past post:  Nothing beats learning by immersion!

Often, I encounter the word "pure" on maple syrup labels, but, lately, I have been noticing the labels with the word "organic" on them.  What?  "How can maple syrup be anything but?" I questioned. The bottles and jars with the word "organic" are noticeably more expensive to me, so I have not purchased any, being a cost-conscious mom working within a modest grocery budget.  But, I am also a health-conscious mom.  So, I decided to do some research into this, both as a mom and a new maple syrup producer, so I can educate all of us on this matter.

In my opinion, people can take the whole "organic" thing way too far.  It has become an almost-spiritual matter for some folks - like eating all organic products somehow makes them more pure; better than the average person who still buys food products without that little green emblem on it. Like the rest of us are obviously uneducated neanderthals - makes me chuckle!  An all organic diet does not automatically equate to good health.  Cheese curls, even organic ones, still do not turn into carrots on the way down!  I believe moderation, prudence and wisdom are so important in diet and nutrition choices.  Educate (yourself) and evaluate!

So, what IS the difference when it comes to maple syrup?  I have found several articles and blog posts about this topic.  Of course, the syrup producers who have jumped through all the hoops and paid good money for their official government certification will defend it as the ONLY way to ensure you are getting totally "untainted" syrup. "Tainted by what?" I wondered.
 

Of all the producers we've met so far, no one fertilizes or sprays.... the forest - How ridiculous!  I guess it is possible that a few trees may be close to farm ground that is sprayed, but the chances of those chemicals affecting the trees, whose roots are very deep, is slim.  We are talking about native trees that are usually 30 yrs. old ...or older when tapped.  We're not talking about corn or wheat or produce- products grown in a mono-culture, one species of plant in an area that is largely dependent on human management to grow and flourish.  Those trees have been living off of their own sap for years, amongst a wide variety of other plant species. This aids to protect them against disease, bad molds, etc.  So long as we selectively remove overgrowth, they don't need us for much.  And, we only extract about 10% of the sap they actually produce in a year.

Many years ago, before folks knew any better, formaldehyde was used to clean the taps between seasons, but that practice died long ago.  Today, we use alcohol or hot water.

Some producers use one drop of canola or safflower oil per 80 gallons of sap to "defoam" the boiling sap. Apparently, the organic guys must use organic oil for this.

The organic producers have strict rules regarding the number of taps per tree based on its diameter.  However, all conscientious sugarmakers follow these guidelines for the health of their sugarbush.  I'm sure there are some irresponsible folks out there, but they can't stay in business very long with damaged trees.

I also learned that the organic producers must hand over their detailed records for scrutiny by the certifying agency.  All producers of any quality, however, keep detailed records of each season.



So, is "certified organic" maple syrup really any different than, say, what we are making this year? Or, what I have bought at the local farmer's market? Not really.  Is it worth the extra cost to buy it for my family's health?  Should we pay for the certification ourselves?  I would have to say.....NO. But, you need to make the decision for your own family.

However, I will stress that buying locally, or at least buying directly from a producer's website, is the best way to go.  I encourage you to visit your local sugarmaker.  If you buy syrup from a farm store or farmer's market research the producer, check out their website.  I guarantee you'll get a better product there than you will from the grocery store, though it may cost a little bit more (maybe, not). Most sugarmakers keep their best quality syrup for direct sales, as well as their own families!

These 2 articles sum it up fairly well.  The first is an article by Richard Bernstein published in the New York Times entitled "Is Organic Maple Syrup a Step In The Right Direction?"(www.nytimes.com ). And the second is a blog post entitled "Should we buy organic maple syrup?" by Kimi Harris ( http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com )

I encourage you, as much as possible,  Buy Local,  Buy direct!  Support the farmers and artisans in your community, Friends.

The Implications of "Keep Moving Forward"

We are an experiential, experimental, learn-as-we-go kind of family.  My husband is quite the risk-taker and does not fear failure, but rather takes it in stride and learns from it.  He would have enjoyed the company of guys like Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin, and other such visionaries of the past. He lives by the motto from the Disney movie, Meet the Robinsons:  "Keep Moving Forward"!

So, as he researched this "maple syrup" idea of our son's, going small and simple wasn't even a consideration.

I said, "Let's just tap about 20 trees this year, for ourselves, to see what it's like.  And, we'll plan some field trips to maple producers this maple season."

"Nah.  Why waste our resources?  We've got a thousand maple trees out back, so let's just do it.... for real!," was Don's response, with that excited, challenge-seeking glint in his eyes.  ('Tis the story of my life!!)

For the sake of our children's learning, and for folks who want "educational tours" of our farm, my husband set up 3 different sap collection methods:



1.  bucket collection - both plastic and metal (8 trees, for now)                               

2.  high-vac gravity-flow collection (about 50 trees)  
      *note the blue tubing
    





 And...........












3.  vacuum pump system (300+ trees)
 * an elaborate maze of blue and black tubing connected to a pump which empties into a large tank

     

First, Don attempted to build a "releaser" for the vacuum pump system, himself, but after much trial and error, and many learning opportunities for him and our sons, they discovered that the materials, time and effort to build it correctly, would cost almost as much as buying the completed, brand new releaser from a local maple equipment dealer.  So, last weekend, he, Will, and Nate made the 3-hour, round-trip journey to make the purchase.

You can't actually suck sap from a tree, as the term "vacuum" implies.  However, with a vacuum pump system, you can significantly lower the air pressure outside of the trees, inducing the sap to flow more freely.  This can nearly double the amount of sap you will collect from your trees!

Once in place, he fired it up, and much to our delight, we added about 80+ gallons of sap to our tank in just 2 hours!  I am so glad for our little "dress rehearsal" last weekend, because now we know we'll get the maximum productivity out of the majority of our trees when it warms up for real!

It is so cool when the releaser dumps a barrel-full of sap into the tank!  The first time it released, our whole family cheered.  Here's a brief video:

Once the tank is holding around 200 gallons, we pump it into a storage tote and transport it to the evaporator located in our barn...



For the record, Don (and the kids, whenever possible) have visited and spoken with several veteran maple producers in New York, Vermont and Pennsylvania over the past 4 months - some small producers of less than 200 taps, some with 80,000 taps!

Do we have the most efficient and sophisticated syrup collection and production system?  Nope.  But, what we have we've acquired without debt, Praise God! 

So, over the next few years we'll upgrade and streamline our maple operation as finances allow. Don thrives on finding more efficient ways to do things, and that gives him and our sons many great learning opportunities.  As homeschoolers, we love that part! I'll be sure to share what we're doing as we grow.  

We watch the weather carefully these days.  Looks like the next warm up will be around March 12th. Hopefully, we'll get a good, long sap run next time!  We're ready for it.
We hope to have our product page ready by early-May, so bookmark our website, Friends!