I’ve mentioned about tapping birch trees to a few folks and you would think I was making things up… Not one person has heard of birch syrup. So just in case you fall into that camp: Yes, birch syrup is thing. It’s bigger on the west coast – Think Alaska west coast – where maple trees do not exist, but birch is in abundance. Birch syrup is also very expensive due to the birch tree’s sugar content being so low. Instead of Maples 40:1 ratio (40 gallons of sap to 1 gallon of syrup), Birch finds itself at 100:1 – ouch! To top that off with the fact that birch…
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So I starting running again. I’ve always hated it. It’s just not for me, yet I do it as it’s the most efficient way to get exercise for me where I live. The roads and hills are not conducive to biking. There are no side walks, no shoulders on the road, nothing but hills everywhere you look. You take your life in your own hands biking. I do own a mountain bike and keep it up north at my house by the lake. I’m hoping to do more activities with it up there, but back home I’m relegating to weightlifting and jogging. Saturday I ran a couple miles on the…
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Potential of the maple syrup season being extended… This week will be the harbinger if we continue or not. Days are to be in the 40’s, and the nights into the 20’s. Perfect sap running weather, that’s if the trees will allow it after the many days of warm weather. Will know more when I go check my sap traps (which I’ve come to call them as a joke but find myself saying that more and more though) and find out if there is a haul or not. Sailing club meeting and dues due tonight. So need to take a trip there, hand over a check and sign up for…
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Nearing the end of the season? Potentially. The days are warm and the night temperatures are not dropping. Next week’s outlook looks good, but the warm temps must be affecting the drilled holes and they’re probably healing up and won’t run much if any. So for now I’m tapped out (see what I did there?) and don’t expect to boil if at all this season until mid next week. I’m getting small bits still, maybe 5 gallons a day of 2% sap, that I’m still running through, but giving that to a neighbor who wishes to boil this coming weekend. I’ve already made 3 gallons of finished syrup so if…
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It was a nice warm day and decided to take the day to hit the ice and hitch a ride in an iceboat or two. It happened to be two. An iceboating friend Paul showed up with his vintage stern steerer and offered my wife and I a ride. I’ve never taken a ride in a stern steerer and jumped at that chance! Cat took a little video of the adventure with her phone: [video_lightbox title=”Taking a Ride in a Vintage Stern Steerer” video_url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJLDbsx8EXU”] Taking a Ride in a Vintage Stern Steerer Video [/video_lightbox] Of course it wasn’t without a little excitement. We did hit a gust and…
