A Pleasant Surprise!

In my last post, I thought we had boiled for the last time this year.  I was prepared to just enjoy my Easter weekend, figuring we'd pop the taps on Saturday and get busy with bottling today.

However, the temperature got down to 26 degrees on Friday night and around the same on Saturday night.

So, when the daytime temps rose above freezing, sap flowed!













We collected several hundred gallons of sap over those two days, so Nate got his chance to help with boiling after all!

Today, however, we officially declared maple season 2016 finished.  The kids popped the taps this morning in the misty sugarbush.  It is always both sad and a joyous relief...

We bottled some syrup today, too.  Interestingly, most of it is dark this year, with good maple flavor!

Below, I am testing the Brix with a hydrometer before I bottle the syrup to be sure the syrup is at least 66% sugar content.

All in all, not a bad season.  Will we do it again next year?  Probably.  But, who knows for sure...

Will graduated from his auto tech school, finishing up his internship on Friday.  He's currently seeking employment in this area, but may yet choose to move back to Pennsylvania, like Nate...

Grace took a part-time job recently and plans to attend Homer High School next year...

I will be a licensed cosmetologist come February 2017, and hope to be employed, at least part-time.

Daily life here at Westbrook Farm is going to look very different by next maple season, as our family is in a season of transition that will likely continue for the next couple of years!

So, we'll take each maple season as it comes, re-evaluating, adapting, and seizing the opportunities that present themselves.





I'm so glad that Nate had the opportunity to participate with the rest of us this season!  We had a wonderful 4-day visit with him, and, as always, my heart was a tad heavy when we saw him off this afternoon.


Regardless of the adventure, this family will always tackle it together, although that may look different in the years to come.  We are so blessed to have each other!






I am so blessed by and through these wonderful individuals...

Keep following our blog for more information, recipes and adventures!  Syrup is available for purchase.  Contact us via facebook or phone, or visit our on-line shop after April 2nd.

Last Boil

Rosie worked hard this season!  I'm so proud of her!

Well, it seems that today is the day....it's 65 degrees and sunny...there are signs of spring's arrival everywhere...





It's our last boil of 2016.  This batch of syrup has a dark, rich color and robust maple flavor!

Rosebush needed a haircut!

We still have a bunch of bottling to do, but we won't be collecting sap any longer.  In fact, Nate is coming up tomorrow, just in time to help pull the taps from the trees.

Sadly, he was hoping to catch at least one weekend of boiling, but that just wasn't meant to be this season.

Each year that we've made maple syrup so far has been an extraordinary learning experience!  Unique challenges, weather, people, equipment....But, now that we have the majority of the "kinks" worked out of our own system, we'll definitely be well prepared for next year...although, I am quite sure it will present novel challenges and successes of its own.

The geese have been visiting our pond again!

Did we make as much syrup as we planned?

Well, not quite. 

The weather, as crazy as it was, allowed us the time we needed to adjust new equipment and make our operation more efficient, however, it was not conducive, for us small producers at least, to making a large quantity of syrup.











We really hoped to make about 35-40 gallons of syrup for direct retail sales, as well as fill this 33-gallon drum for bulk sale, which would have almost paid for all the parts Don needs to build our own cream machine - to make that luxurious, creamy spread for your bagels, toast, scones and more.


So, we have PLENTY of syrup to sell to all of you, but...







Unfortunately, we are about 20-some gallons short of filling the drum for our local bulk buyer...Darn....However, Don may, yet, come up with another plan for building that cream machine, knowing my incredibly resourceful husband....we shall see...

In the meantime, we have lots of delicious syrup to bottle!

Our 2016 price list looks like this:

1/2 gal. jars:                $30  (These went fast!  Only a few left!)
Quart jars and jugs:     $16
Pint mason jars:          $10.00
Large glass flask         $9.00  (Great for gift-giving!)
(12.5oz)
Small glass flask        $6.00  (Great for gift-giving or party favors!)
(8.5oz)

Maple Vinegar           $8.00  (New item!  Makes awesome vinaigrette!)

Let's hope we get to add maple cream to this list by summertime!

Wishing you all a Happy Easter this Sunday!  Christ Has Risen, Amen!

It's M&M Season...

...And, I'm not referring to those delicious colorful candies that "melt in your mouth, not in you hand"...although, with Easter just two weeks away, that application of "M&M" would be appropriate.

But, no, I'm calling it M&M season for maple and MUD!

Yes, we are experiencing both this month.  The good news is that the sap still flows generously from our trees, and it still has decent sugar content.


As it warms up and spring truly arrives in the Northeast, the sugar content of the sap drops from 2-2.5%...to 1.5%...down to 1%, and so on.








With the reverse osmosis machine to concentrate the sap, we can still make yummy maple syrup from sap that is 1.2% sugar.  Once it drops below that...well...it just doesn't work so well.



Since my last blog we've continued to have this cycle of 2-3 days of collecting sap, then several days where the weather is just not conducive to sap flow.




We just roll with it...











...collecting, concentrating and boiling as we can.

We've bottled only about 5 gallons so far, mostly in 1/2 gal. and quart jugs...


...and store the rest in our handy-dandy food-grade buckets to be bottled at a later time when we're less busy with the "raw production" end of things.

I don't mind this at all.

Why you ask?  

Well, in order to bottle maple syrup properly, it must be heated up to 180-185 degrees Farenheit... which makes my house smell FABULOUS!!

It's a sticky job, but somebody has to do it! 










So far we've made "amber" and "dark" syrup.  The "very dark" usually comes at the end of the season, so, if not today's run, it's looking like we'll get one more good run towards the end of this week, which is likely to produce my favorite "very dark" syrup.

I can't wait to taste that rich, robust maple flavor on my pancakes and in my coffee or tea!  










We collect a grading and quality-control sample from each boil.  This photo shows the progressive darkening of the syrup we've made so far...

We're figuring on a couple more evenings of boiling yet this month, which also means a few more evening meals in the sugar shack...

I think tonight, I'll make pancakes and bacon....served with delicious dark maple syrup, hot, fresh off the evaporator!

(I know that I mentioned a new price list in my last blog, but we're just getting into our bottling...Next blog post, I promise!! Check back next weekend, Friends.)

Come on, Spring!

A Season to Remember, To Be Sure!

Unusual weather...in my last post I described Jack Frost's last stand....or so I thought.


We had spring-like weather for 3 days, then it seemed as if the floor of Heaven's giant storehouse of snow broke wide open!  We ended up with 6 or 7 inches over 3 days.












Then, we dramatically swung the other direction, again, and I was grilling burgers on the porch this weekend, while my family boiled sap in the sugarhouse!

We've had another 72 hours of decent sap flow, and we're expecting to collect some sap today, however, for the next 3 or so days, our temps aren't expected to rise above 30 degrees, which means the trees will rest from sap production temporarily.


This is actually working in our favor so far...it's giving us a chance to work out any kinks in our new system.





For example, since purchasing a syrup filter-press is a bit cost-prohibitive at this time, Don and Rosie have engineered a way to filter most of the sediment out of the sap before it even gets to the evaporator...

...And, then, Don runs the syrup through a double-filter made of two different types of fiber as we draw off the syrup!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Little, if any, mineral sediment remains and settles to the bottom of the drum or bucket.  An inexpensive and easy solution.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Another example of how the Westbrooks adapt and overcome!

We're still waiting for the manufacturer to send us the replacement part needed to run Don's RO, reverse osmosis machine.  In the meantime, however, our new evaporator is way more efficient than the old one!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Boiling time is reasonable even without the RO. However, Rosie and Don have been experiencing some long evenings in the sugar shack.  We're so thankful for some friends that have come by to lend a hand and keep us company.  We also enjoyed giving our neighbors a tour this weekend! 

Rosie has become quite adept at running all the machinery we have on the farm:

                                                                                                                                                                        I watch, in wonder, as her natural talents are brought forth by the challenges she faces.                                                                                                 I'm quite sure the skills she is developing will be useful in her adult life, and will be a source of blessing for those in her life.

Grace has been facing new challenges as well.  With me in cosmetology school every afternoon, she is becoming quite the family chef!  She's taken over much of the menu planning and grocery list composition.  I'm so proud of both of them!

Another thing we will always remember about this season....

At any given time, you may walk into my dining room and find this on the table next to rows of maple syrup jugs and jars!

I am enjoying my new education very much, although it is adding to the craziness of this maple season!

How this crazy weather will affect the end result - gallons of maple syrup produced - only God knows.  We'll keep working at it until the trees begin to bud...

Watch for our 2016 price list in my next blog post, Friends!  And, our on-line store will re-open in about two weeks.  

For our friends and followers in south-eastern PA, we plan to send along a supply of our delicious maple syrup with Nate (He lives near Parkesburg, PA) upon his next visit.  I will gladly put you in touch with him!