Sargie's washing the large filter used for canning syrup

March 8, 2013 – Monday morning

31 degrees/cloudy/snow/sleet/rain/calm

Pentoga Road

Ah, I can’t get the cobwebs cleaned from between my ears this morning. I quit boiling late Sunday afternoon thinking I was going to be on the telethon last night. When it became obvious time was getting short and I was getting booted, I had to restart everything. By the time Sargie and I canned the two-and-a-half gallons of syrup and got to bed, it was almost midnight.

I was disappointed I didn’t get on the show last night. It was being broadcast from my old band room (the band soon outgrew the facility) and we were the first to have our broadcast studios there. That, coupled with the fact that they interviewed one of my old students, referred to the times I was there, etc…. well, I just wanted to be a part of it in some small way. Oh well, we don’t always get what we want and the television station made over their goal.

Sunday was spent boiling. Thankfully, the sap quit running around noon. I collected around fifty gallons in the morning and at one point was barely keeping even by boiling. As the afternoon wore on, I kept pouring the wood to the fire and as of last night, am down to sixty gallons of unprocessed sap. Hopefully, I’ll get that and any other that runs today made into syrup. The prognosis for the rest of the week calls for cold conditions with forecast lows in the lower teens and single numbers.

The latest I’ve ever tapped is the beginning of the third week of April. Usually, by that time, one begins to get ready for the gardening season. I also have the big end of the semester rush coming on in my classes. There were several bags yesterday that were beginning to turn making the sap unuseable. I dumped their contents on the ground. If conditions don’t improve in the next week, I think I’ll pull the taps and call it a season. We’ll have processed between five and ten gallons of sap, enough for us and a taste for family and friends. The nice thing about sugaring… there’s always next year.

Another reason I know the season is drawing to a close. The sap is beginning to turn. The golden color signals that the buds are beginning to swell. Using yellow sap makes the syrup very strong and bitter.

We’re finding that canning isn’t nearly as cheap as it used to be. The cost of jars is atrocious. Add to that lids and rings and the mere process of storage tends to be fairly pricey. I think I’m going to start asking for an empty jar to those whom I give syrup. In return, I’ll give them a full one the same size.

I’ve been tempted to advertise with Craig’s List and Telephone Time on the local radio station for anyone who has canning jars they’d like to sell. There’s no doubt there are many out there who have boxes of them sitting empty in their basements or garages.

A close up of the damper on the wood boiler. It consists of a piece of metal over the top of the stove pipe held in place with a rock.

Another piece of modern equipment... a pipe, secured by a cement block, is holding the end of the boiler in place. And the black barrel on the right? Its sole purpose it to support the flue to which it is wired.

Sargie has to work early today and has a beautician’s appointment after. It’s going to be another long one for the optician in my life.

I need to start the boiler this morning and get the sap in the barrels boiled down and finished off. I imagine more will run later today and need to be collected. There are end-of-the-semester projects to read and grade and the coming summer session to prepare for. After a winter of relative inactivity, it’s getting to be a busy time of the year. As I well know, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…