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Nancy’s Aunt and Uncle provided inspiration and technical help to get us started. This was their sugar
shack. Is this a classic or what?
The operation begins with an assessment of the potential of the maple bush. The numbers in each
block represent the number of tapable trees.
Holes are drilled in the trees and taps hammered into the holes. The pails are then hung from the taps.
The sap must be transported from the collection point to the 350 gallon stainless steel feed tank
beside the evaporator building. Origionally this was via tractor but now it is pumped.
We burn approximately 6 cords of wood each season. We fill the wood shed by the end of August after it has
had a chance to dry over 2 summers.
We converted an existing building to be the sugar shack. You can see the steam coming
from the evaporator
The syrup is ready when the boiling solution at the draw off point is 7 degrees above the boiling point of
water.
Syrup must have 66% sugar content (Brix). If it is higher than this sugar will crystalize out, if less mold will form after
opening.
The beginning and end of the season are dictated by the weather. Sap flows when the temperature goes from below
freezing to above. The amount collected depends on the number of days you get like this and the number of taps you
have. 2011 was our best year.Annual Syrup Production
0.00
100.00
200.00
300.00
400.00
500.00
600.00
Date
Lit
ers
2003
2002
2001
2000