Dateline: 12 March 2016 AD
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I took 28 pictures before I finally got the one above, showing a single drop of maple sap just before it falls off the end of the spile.
I love the pinging sound the drops make when they hit the bottom of an empty sap bucket. So I checked YouTube to see if someone has thought to record the sound, and I found This Video.
It was kind of shocking to see a galvanized pipe being used for a sap spile in that video. Please don't do that if you ever tap a tree. Get some stainless steel spiles. They will last you a lifetime if you take care of them, and they inflict much less trauma on a tree than a galvanized pipe.
It's been awhile since I posted here. Life is just plain busy. But all is well in my neck of the woods, and I hope the same is true for you.
I'm boiling down my last 45 gallons of sap today here in Minnesota. Season started three weeks ago and looks like it's done already.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth L. Johnson said...
ReplyDeleteGlad to finally hear y'all are alright and doing fine. Busy in winter? We can't get out here in northern California. All misty, foggy, and rainy. New onion and potatoes are up, planted weeks ago. Blossoms on fruit trees, peach, apricot, plus, pear, nectarine, and cherry. Apples are getting ready, though, to also bloom. Hope everything works out as far as production, for the winds and rain don't seem to have ruined blossoms yet. Very glad all is well, and hope business at the restaurant for the young people is booming.
Good to hear....was composing an email on my way to work tonight because I was sure some misfortune had befallen you or your family.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Pam
P.S. that composing.....it was in my head...not on a device...just in case someone misunderstands.
ReplyDeleteChristopher—
ReplyDeleteSounds good. Our season is about over too. We got started late here. May only get a gallon or so from one boil. :-(
Elizabeth—
California is experiencing a drought, but it must be it doesn't apply to northern CA? Glad to hear you have adequate moisture and your garden is on the way. The Glenside Diner is doing well. Thanks for asking.
Pam—
No misfortune. My wife went to visit her sister in AZ for ten days and that was an opportunity for me to get at some much needed painting, repair, etc. in part of our house. Thanks for caring. :-)
Elizabeth L. Johnson said,
ReplyDeleteEntirely different country up here. Water was rationed in town. God put us in a position to be self-sufficient. Our own source of "precipitation" gave our orchard, our gardens, and our selves no lack of water from our well. No lack of energy either. Solar power and off the grid, are we! Glad to have an excavator to modify the giant slopes of this mountain. Thanks be to God! from what we hope will one day be, the state of Jefferson (far northern Calif.)