Filed under: April 2014 | Tags: firing, good to be needed, maple syrup, spring work
End of the 2014 season
April 6, 2014
What and awesome, yet wacky year! We have pulled our taps and boiled the last of the sap. The syrup has all been canned and stored. Orders are flying off the shelf and we are enjoying fresh maple syrup ourselves.
The season came late, but once it started, it was steady. I believe we could still be hanging in there, but my off farm job got in the way. I simply had to call it a season. I had help enough to gather the sap one last time, pulling the taps as we went. The following day, my oldest son and his family came to help with the last boil. It was a nice day and the perfect end to a great season.
We made real nice syrup, right down to the last draw. I could have gotten a little more by waiting for today, but it was not to be. We made thirty percent more syrup than our goal! I will not complain about missing one last day. I will celebrate the season with a glad and grateful heart 😮 It was nice to see the fire go out, the steam die down and the last 2014 maple syrup fill the jugs. I really like making maple syrup, but , like any job, it’s good to be done.
The spring field work now starts. Horses will soon be helping me plow. In the meantime, we will work on filling the woodshed back up. We went through quite a bit, but not nearly as much as I expected. The longer, split, dry wood really increased our “gallons per cord” ! Modifying the log splitter to accommodate thirty inch logs really paid off. Even the job of firing the evaporator was made easier. It allowed me to go from putting wood into the fire every seven minutes, to every ten minutes!
The job of clean up awaits me, but on a farm…that job is never done! It is like housekeeping…there is always a mess somewhere… but it is good to be needed.
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RicelandMeadows 
Good for you,Ralph. I wasn’t sure if spring was ever going to show up. What a winter! I hope we have a Summer that is somewhat normal. No “global warming”, no” ice age”.
Comment by Bob T. April 7, 2014 @ 8:43 pmBest Wishes,
I’ll get down your way one of these day
Thanks Bob. We will get some good weather soon… we just have to wait. I hope you will visit on a nice day…it forces me to stop long enough to appreciate what I have, including good friends like you.
Comment by ricelandmeadows April 7, 2014 @ 11:37 pm