4d023 - 2y
Finished up tapping the maple trees today, 60 taps total this season. I started with just handful in 2016 and have pretty much doubled each year since. Not sure if I have enough trees to double to 120 taps next year. Many still have a ways to grow before they're big enough.
GM! Finishing off a batch of maple syrup. A little sweeter than necessary at 67% sugar instead of the necessary 66%.
Dan Wedge @WedgeSocial - 2y
How many trees do you tap each season? Are they the same ones or do they need a rest year?
f2b7c - 2y
The best maple syrup you will ever have is the stuff you make yourself.
I try to run all mine at the sweet spot of 67 to 67 1/2
I bet you made everything on the plate yourself! I look forward to homemade bacon. My fruit and nut trees need to start producing first so I have something to feed them.
I have been doubling the amount of taps each year, now at 60 taps. I haven't tapped many of the same trees twice yet, each year where I tap has changed due to where our sheep are and our plans for how to collect the sap. This year I tapped a totally different stand of trees so we could easily collect with the horses. So far, we haven't been able to try it yet. As far as letting trees rest, I don't think it's necessary, I've read that the where the trees are tapped from year to year needs an appropriate distance from the prior years tap. #[2]
I wonder how ₿ig a grove i need for that, very intriguing
Just finished up the 4th collection with 75gal of sap. Filtering water out of the maple sap directly into my water bottle with a homemade reverse osmosis system. Just over 3gal/hr of water can be filtered out of the sap, concentrating it to about 6% before boiling with propane to finish the syrup. It might be in my head but the water from the maple sap is very good, better than water filtered from our well. The 3rd collection of sap was small and only ended up with a couple quarts of syrup, but with this latest collection we should have all the syrup we need for the year. Everything else will be for sale at Bitcoin meetups and direct homestead sales. #P2P #maplesyrup #homesteading #permaculture #maplesugaring #structuredwater #bitcoin #forestfarming
https://i.imgur.com/wDxzN41.jpeg Maple sugaring supplies are all packed up till next season. Lots of downsides to using buckets, one being where to store them. But they are accessible and useful if sugar making doesn't work out. Will probably expand with bags moving forward. https://i.imgur.com/DbAdlqe.jpeg Ended up with about 4 gallons surplus syrup to sell and am nearly sold out already. Thanks to the plebs at the Michigan Bitcoin meetups for the support! Looks like I have to double the number of taps yet again next season. https://i.imgur.com/RXVcO2G.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/b9ud6ob.jpeg Got a little discouraged when I let my reverse osmosis system freeze and it was destroyed. It was a good excuse to upgrade to a larger system though. This new filter has 4x more capacity than the previous system and will handle all the possible potential sap flow capacity here on the homestead as more trees get large enough to tap. All in all another successful sugaring season but not without it's failures and setbacks. #permaculture #permies #homesteading #grownostr #regenag #regenerativeagriculture #maplesyrup #bitcoinmeetup #circulareconony #sugarfromtrees #forestfarming #woodlandagriculture #theproblemisthesolution
