Picking up Momentum

Well, it's almost April 1 and we're finally getting a bit of traction this maple season....

We collected and concentrated enough sap to have our first boil, and, collectively, our little co-op bottled about 12 or 15 gallons on Saturday afternoon - not as much as we hoped to have by now, but it's a good start! 



Unfortunately, the temperatures dropped this weekend...again...and we didn't collect much sap - Bummer. 









However, we had quite a few visitors for the final day of the Maple Weekends Open House, and....Rosie and I learned to make maple cream!

We also had an opportunity to take a walk along Otisco Lake on Sunday afternoon - lovely, though still quite frozen.  I am looking forward to seeing how it changes as maple season continues!

If the weather predictions for the next two weeks are accurate, we'll be very busy boiling sap and bottling syrup well into the middle of April....and maybe longer depending when the trees bud.

Watch for our 2015 products and pricing on our Facebook page later this week!











We plan to have a stand at the Homer Farmer's Market, May thru September for local folks, but you can always contact us directly for your "maple needs".  We love visitors!

In just a few weeks, our on-line store should be ready for purchases as well.

As for our Pennsylvania family and friends, we're hoping to visit yet this spring and hand deliver your maple products, so stay tuned!

Maple Season Update

 We're off to a bit of a slow start so far.  The last 10 days have been fraught with numerous starts and stops of sap flow due to the cold temperatures still plaguing us.....in the forties one day, then barely 32 the next three! (At this rate, we'll be boiling until late-April...)

We woke up to falling snow both Saturday and Sunday, and the temperature never even got above 32 degrees in our sugarbush this weekend!  
 

Thankfully, between us, Barb, and another family who is part of her "COOL" Maple Co-op, we had enough concentrated sap to "sweeten the pans" of the evaporator in preparation for boiling sap in the coming weeks.  

 

(COOL Maple stands for "Cooperative of Otisco Lake Maple" and consists of several small maple producers on or near the lake, brought together by Barb - other folks like us, who do not make quite enough syrup to justify the cost of the high-tech equipment that Barb purchased 7 or 8 years ago.  While she taps 1,200 trees on her property, the rest of us only tap between 90 and 400 on ours.)

We still went over to Barb's place to help with the Maple Weekend Open House, though.  And, we still had some folks stop by for a tour and samples.  The curious, energetic children make it so much fun!

Between visitors, we worked on a few more confections! "Soft maple sugar shapes", to be specific - Mmmmm, they melt in your mouth!

I am hoping that by next weekend, any Open House visitors we have will get the complete sensory experience:


Sap boiling in the wood-fired evaporator and the sweet smell of maple in the air!  







In the meantime, we're choosing and purchasing our bottling materials for this year, but come Wednesday, with temperatures in the forties the rest of the week, we'll be collecting, concentrating and boiling sap.  Stay tuned...

We Love Learning!

If you know us personally, or you've been reading our blog for awhile, you know that we are a homeschooling family, and that we greatly value practical, hands-on learning.  Working with Barb at Pied Piper Maple Products fits right into our philosophy of education!  Her sugar house kitchen has become one of our "classrooms" this maple season, as Grace, Rosie and I begin learning the delicious art of making.....

maple confections!




Actually, it both art and science with a bit of math thrown into the mix.  There is some precision involved - a little bit more than in baking, I'm discovering - but, still room for creativity!

First, we have to measure the overall sugar content of this batch of maple syrup....

Maple syrup contains fructose and sucrose, as well as glucose, so using the same glucose meter commonly used by diabetics to test their blood sugar, we measure the glucose level of the syrup, which is most important in the making different types of candy.








Based on our sugar tests, Barb decided that maple lollipops and maple meringues would be the outcome of today's lessons!  We learned about "invert syrup", the importance of temperature and humidity, and the importance of being prepared.






Rosie is preparing the lollipop molds...

Here, we take turns pouring the hot syrup into the molds - a rather messy job, but YUM!

Rosie is stirring the syrup and dry egg white together for the meringue...

 In the beginning, it is this light tan color, but....

After about 6 minutes, it is white and becoming fluffy!

Humidity is preventing our meringue from holding its peaks, but these will still taste light and "deliciously maple" after 2 hours in a 200 degree oven!

Barb is a dynamic and patient teacher.  I hope my girls had as much fun as I did.  In fact, I'm looking forward to another lesson in the coming week!

While Barb sells these confections as part of her business at many venues across New York State, as well as weddings and special events during the course of the year, we at Westbrook Farm Maple will be sticking with maple syrup and maple cream for now.  We still have equipment to purchase and much to learn about creating these tasty treats.   However, if you stop by our home some quiet afternoon, you just may find me experimenting with maple confections on my own...and I love to share a sweet treat with friends!

Going High-Tech

Last year, when we began this adventure, we were very "low-tech" with our maple syrup production, and while it was a bit more labor-intensive, it worked out just fine.  In fact, I'm a low-tech kind of gal - partly because I feel like there's something gratifying and serendipitous about getting in touch with our roots and traditions by doing things the way folks have been doing it for generations......and, partly because I find "high-tech" quite intimidating!



 Now, I wouldn't have wanted to use buckets for collecting from all 250+ trees, like they used to, but...

 This year, finances preventing us from replacing our worn out evaporator pans, we teamed up with Barb at Pied Piper Maple Products, who LOVES  "high-tech".  While high-tech is somewhat cost-prohibitive for a small operation, like ours, on our own,  it is pretty cool teaming up with a bigger producer to learn about the equipment, learn how to use it properly, and make excellent quality syrup much more quickly, in exchange for a portion of our sap and our labor.










Last evening we transported our first 150 gallons of sap over the hill and down the valley to Barb's place....

Our sap gets pumped from our storage totes into this tank:

Next, it is pumped into the R-O, or reverse osmosis machine, where the sugar content of the sap becomes concentrated by removal of nearly 75% of the water...

Once concentrated, which happens surprisingly quickly, the concentrate is pumped into this holding tank which empties into the evaporator where the sap will become syrup in about a third of the time it takes the "old-fashioned" way!

Here, Nate is collecting a sample of the concentrate so we can test the sugar content...

And, yet another "high tech" tool is used for that...

I have no idea what it is called, actually, but that round blue piece is a lid, which you open and place a few drops of the concentrate.   The digital screen displays the percentage of sugar in the fluid - pretty cool!

It seems that I have become the "meal manager" for this operation... Since we had a homemade meal of soup and rolls on Saturday, we went super simple last night -  somewhere in the midst of all the action, we shared some pizza and fruit!

For the next three weeks, Barb's maple house and kitchen will be our second home!  In fact, you can find us there during the upcoming NYS Maple Weekends.  Look up "Pied Piper Maple Products" for directions to Barb's place.  And, we'll have our maple syrup bottled and available for purchase starting April 3rd.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Let It Flow!

 

We spent the weekend getting ready for sap to flow!  

First we went over to our new friends, Bob and Barb Hamlin, to help them get equipment cleaned out and ready and begin the process of tapping their trees.  


 


 

 

 They have an R-O, or reverse osmosis machine, along with a new, modern evaporator, so we'll be transporting our sap in large food-grade storage totes to their sugar shack for boiling down this year. 








For my curious readers who want to know, a reverse osmosis machine separates a large percentage, like 75%, of the water from the sugar content of the sap, therefore boiling the sap to 66.5 degrees Brix takes a third of the time and fuel that it would normally take.  
(I'll share pics of it when we get to that point!)



Then, Sunday and Monday were spent in our own sugarbush, tapping trees, cleaning snow out of the sap collection tank and getting everything ready. 











A tiny bit of sap was dripping from the trees in the warmest, sunniest spots of our property.  That means we'll be filling our totes very, very soon! 

Stay tuned for regular updates on the 2015 maple season!!

Getting Ready....

It's March 6th.....And, no sap, yet....We've been completely out of our own stock for over a month now.  Oy, Vey!  

We've had a challenging winter!  Well, actually, just a challenging February, really.   

Record-breaking frigid temperatures and record-breaking snowfall, according to all the meteorologists. 

However, the week ahead shows much promise, with predicted highs in the 40's, and lows in the 20's - perfect conditions to wake up the trees and begin collecting that sweet sap!






 

 

 The greatest challenge at the moment is actually getting to our trees to drill and tap them - there's easily 3 feet of snow out there!!  We began working on preparations earlier this week, but today and tomorrow we'll be busy little beavers. 








We are not working alone this year, however, because we've connected with another producer who lives about 9 miles east of us, right on Otisco Lake, the next "little finger" lake to the right of Skaneateles Lake on the map.  

She has fantastic equipment, knowledge to share, and a desire to educate the next generation of producers; we have young, strong "manpower", 500+ trees prepped, and a desire to learn - a perfect match!  More about that, and lots of pictures to come!
 

 Also, exciting - our little on-line store will be ready for purchases in April, thanks to our devoted friend, Josh!  But, I am still happy to hand-deliver syrup to my friends and family whenever possible, and folks are always welcome to stop by our home.   
And, this year, we plan to have not only maple syrup for sale, but also maple cream - a luxurious spread on toast, crackers, scones and more!