Good afternoon Fedifeathers,

On this crisp sunny day I helped my friends, the extended Russell Family, gather sap & pull taps and buckets: here in NW #Vermont, #maplesugaring season is over. One last boil.

In the woods with a Russell and a Donegan, we stopped to figure out how many generations of their family have sugared in those woods. Young Patrick (7th grade; he was driving the horses) made it 8 generations. Sugaring the same way.

A story (with audio): https://www.geoffreygevalt.com/projects/russell-family-sugarhouse

Good afternoon Fedifeathers,

On this crisp sunny day I helped my friends, the extended Russell Family, gather sap & pull taps and buckets: here in NW #Vermont, #maplesugaring season is over. One last boil.

In the woods with a Russell and a Donegan, we stopped to figure out how many generations of their family have sugared in those woods. Young Patrick (7th grade; he was driving the horses) made it 8 generations. Sugaring the same way.

A story: https://www.geoffreygevalt.com/projects/russell-family-sugarhouse

I mean it’s spooky wonderful in the sugarhouse tonight. Video of steam. And light.
#vermont #maplesugaring

Like I said, weather is #vermont gnarly out in Sugar Roof Maple tonight…
#maplesugaring

Storm moving in.

#3goodthings

1. The sap is just about run out.
2. The sap is no mostly maple syrup.
3. It’s raining snowing sleeting and getting colder, and the wind is picking up and blowing through Sugar Roof Maple, don’t you know, and soon the fire will be coals, and I can slide the evaporator off the arch and I can turn the light off and grab the last pan of syrup into the house and go to bed and leave bottling til the morning.
#vermont #maplesugaring

The season’s a wrap.

I can see the finish line now. Another week to go. Silver maples may get buddy today or tomorrow, sugars will be ok. Up over 41 gallons bottled. Topping my previous best season by 12 gallons...and who knows what's yet to happen here at the end. #maplesyrup #maple #maplesugaring

My maple syrup this year has a *really* thick layer of 'sugar sand'. Something to do with an overall quite warm winter?

#homesteading #MapleSyrup #MapleSugaring

The weekend boil at Sugar Roof Maple, Hinesburg Division. Four gallons, Fancy to “B” (my favorite; more flavor).

#vermont #maplesugaring #maplesyrup #hmmmhmmmgood

Night boil.
#vermont #maplesugaring

Isn’t it mesmerizing?
#maplesugaring #vermont #MapleSyrup

Sound and sights of a full boil.
#maplesugaring #vermont

So here’s a thing about #maplesugaring in #vermont (not to mention that three days after a blizzard it’s 46 degrees and raining):
You have to pay attention.
You have to keep moving. Like Lucille Ball at the conveyor (sorry young’uns).
If you don’t pay attention you burn the syrup. Or you lose the boil.
You keep moving by: getting more sap out of the holding containers; pouring it into the warming pans; getting wood; splitting wood; feeding fire; getting sap… Repeat. Repeat. Repeat….#photography

So here’s a thing about #maplesugaring The sap has curious properties. As you boil it down, it produces a mineral type material called niter; it tastes like an old sock, which is why we filter the syrup three times.
It also spoils; think milk. So cold temperature storage works.
Water in the sap freezes first, so if the sap freezes in storage, outside in, you take the ice out, and you have sap already concentrated. Boiling is shorter.
Cool, no?

For those of you into making maple sugar, a bit of a primer on how it's done. Now I've got to go make some...

https://www.geoffreygevalt.com/projects/1gn7kbrm4mjpuss829wau92qeiaeeo

#vermont #maplesugaring

Making steam again! #maple #maplesugaring #maplesyrupseason #maplesyrup

1. The sap is running.
2. Forecast for 14" of snow tomorrow.
3. I can boil in the snowstorm.

#3goodthings
#maplesugaring

Hit 30 gallons for the season and we're not done yet! Some of the biggest runs are probably yet to happen. This is the most syrup I've produced in any season. Last year was the previous best at 29.2 gallons. #maple #maplesugaring #maplesyrupseason #maplesyrup

Let the sugaring begin! My maple sap bucket filled up, and I started boiling it down outside on my little electric hotplate. About 16 liters of sap.
My process is not very sophisticated, but it keeps things simple and is less intimidating for others when I suggest they try it out.
#MapleSugaring #MapleSyrup

This morning, sugaring is in limbo. The temperatures are right -- below freezing at night -- above freezing in the day, but the trees are sluggish, put off by the constant snow, flurries, sleet, clouds, cold, warm, flurries.

That's OK. I can wait.

#maplesugaring #maplesyrup #Vermont

This morning, sugaring is in limbo. The temperatures are right -- below freezing at night -- above freezing in the day, but the trees are sluggish, put off by the constant snow, flurries, sleet, clouds, cold, warm, flurries.

That's OK. I can wait.

#maplesugaring #maplesyrup #Vermont