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!