Sargie - Vice President of Maple Production

March 23, 2018 - Friday evening

29 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Arg, the temperature is once again taking a dive downward. The last two days have seen lows of four above zero and it appears it's going to happen again before sunrise tomorrow. 

It's tough to make maple syrup in this age of global warming. 

With the temperature far too cold for sap to run, I began Friday morning trying to level the gravel floor of the shed so we could begin assembling the boiler. 

There was a problem. The gravel was frozen solid and floor uneven. If the blocks that make up the boiler are uneven, the sap in the pans will be the same.

Hmm, how to melt the ice that made the floor like concrete?

I used a propane torch and held the flame to the frozen gravel. Within a few minutes, I could begin to level the area.

Sargie and I collected several gallons of sap from sixty taps this morning despite the cold temperature.

I used the four wheeler to transport the water from the bags that were fairly close to the road. 

Later in the day, the Tundra was used to collect sap from the remaining bags deeper in the woods.

The snow is so soft and wet that we sank to our knees while trying to carry full buckets. I'm happy to use whatever means possible to make the job easier.

After a quick ride to town we returned home to finish building the boiler. With Sargie's help, we constructed it to be as straight and level as possible. 

I'll be ready to boil as soon as enough sap is collected. I'm hoping that will be sometime towards the beginning of next week.

I filled the sap pans to let them soak overnight late this afternoon. While I carried out one five-gallon bucket filled with water from the kitchen sink, Sargie watched the second one to be sure it wouldn't overflow.

I'll be glad when the temperatures warm enough that I can use the hose to clean the maple equipment, hopefully before the season is over. That would keep a lot of mess out of the house.

Saturday looks to be a repeat of today. With a high in the mid thirties forecast, I'm not looking for a large sap flow. Other than finish cleaning the pans and collecting what sap flows, I'll leave the rest of the day up to the Vice President of Maple Operations.

After all, a man's work and that of the Vice President's, is never done.

So are the tales of Pentoga Road...