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Health & Fitness

Maple syrup update

The first week at the sugar shack and while the sap is not running the wildlife is very active.

 

Winter weather and syruping is like all farming which is guessing game and this year is no different. Even with the mild winter and early spring it looks like Mother Nature is on her normal path.  The good side is I have had a week to get everything ready.  Setting up a new vacuum system, cobbled together from e-bay parts and a little ingenuity went quite well. After a day and a half figuring out why I could not get vacuum in the lines it all came together. Now with an additional 80 tap on vacuum the expected return on average is 200 to 300 percent more sap.  It’s like having an additional 160 to 240 trees on taps.  And you can collect it in one spot or run it directly to your sugar house.

  The Ravens are nesting for at least their tenth year, perched far atop a highline structure.  The crows are active and making themselves known every morning.  Every morning and evening the small clan of 5 deer comes in for lunch under the bird feeder. 

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While there was around 12 to 15 inches of snow last week it has now dropped to about 6 to 8. This certainly makes it easier to get around in the woods. I now have 150 bags in as well as an additional 40 or so on a gravity feed line. Next up is Mother Nature to work her magic.

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