Drips and Spurts

The sap is flowing again, after having stopped for a cold spell. It's easy to see why vacuum pumps for sap collecting have taken over the bucket method. One comes in drips, the other in spurts. Hopefully by this weekend the new sugar house will be operational and we will be boiling on site.

Bricking the Firebox

One of the last big jobs of installing the maple syrup evaporator is laying the bricks in the firebox. All weekend Don cut, laid and cemented in the bricks, so that hot fires can be lit beneath the evaporator pan to turn the sap into syrup.

Fired Up

Today Don put the final section on the chimney pipe for the wood stove in the sugar house. Then, he lit the stove for the first time! Once he gets the sugar house warm enough, he can lay the fire brick in the evaporator.

Like Icing on the Cake

Matt, Pat, and Co. got working on the cupola for the top of the sugar house. It's starting to look like the real deal. Now that the trees are all tapped and the sap is flowing, it's all getting done in the nick of time.

How Sweet It Is!

The Sugar House is almost done, and looks amazing.

Inside information

Take a peek at what the inside of the sugar house will be looking like. Don and Pat placed the tank and the evaporator inside, so that Matt and crew could figure out where to make opening in the roof for flues and such.

Sunset and a Sugar House Skeleton

Matt, Doug and a couple of buddies rushed to get the sugar house frame up Thursday, before the big snow storm hit on Friday. On Saturday, with clear, cold skies, the sunset highlighted the symetrical lines of the sugar house frame.

King's Posts and Trusses

Matt and Doug are the craftsmen turning our pine trees into our sugar house. These photos are of the trusses they have hand hewn as they work away in the barn

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Work on the Sugar House

This past Saturday, Don, Pat Reed, and a couple of builders spent a few hours culling through the pile of posts and beams that were made from the pine trees we took from the land when building the house. They were looking for the good wood that would be straight and strong enough to be the made into our sugar house.

A big bowl of soup, some cheese and bread warmed Don and Pat up after a full morning of work in the cold, and fueled them for a few hours of afternoon work to move the boards down to the building site.

New Web Site

I have finally gotten a web site to the point I am happy to share it with you. That's a big step in the forward progress of our enterprise. There's no doing business these days without a website. It will need lots of editing and updating as we proceed, but in the meantime.....

http://shermanhollowfarm.com

Extra Jumbo

If I hadn't gotten this egg out of a chicken nest box I would have sworn one of my turkeys had laid it. I think this egg may be classed as extra-jumbo. See it compared to a turkey egg, and the other eggs taken from the coop today.

The Class Work Begins

Maurine and I attended our first class of Whole Farm Planning for Beginning Women Farmers. It was a full day of meeting other women, learning about the concept of Whole Farm Planning, doing lots of brainstorming, case studies, introspection, group work, individual work, and more. The focus, discipline and direction it will instill in us, not to mention the knowledge and skills it will impart will be incredibly valuable. The diversity of women and farms and farms plans in the class is interesting and fun. I think Maurine and I will gain lots from being a part of this course.

A Good Man

This guy is always on the lookout, taking care of his hens. He does such a fine job, one can't help but admire him and his dedication. He spends hours on the doorstep, keeping watch.

Everything but the Gobble

After bonding with our turkeys, it was difficult to butcher them and eat them. But we've made a commitment to eat every last bite. We had delicious Christmas dinner turkey breast, loads of turkey sandwiches, a big pot of soup, an some gristly scraps fed to the dog.

For the Record

Paula gave to me, an old egg collection record book dated from 1921. An example of an entry is February 14, when 25 eggs were laid. She must have had a large number of chickens! By the end of the month, the total eggs laid were 28 dozen with a total revenue of $15.39. Besides being a record book it also advertised Wirthmore Feeds and doled out chicken raising advise, including such harsh words as "Don't feed the slackers and cull out the drones"