Mitchell & Savage Maple Farm

Home of

The Maine Maple Kitchen®

Producers of Prize Winning Maple Syrup and Maple Candy and other Maple Products including maple walnuts, maple butter and more.

485 West Burrough Road

Bowdoin, Maine

207-353-4090

email: mitchsavlcl@gwi.net

About Our Farm

Welcome! We are a small, family run maple business in Bowdoin, Maine. We tap 700 maple trees to make 125-150 gallons of maple syrup each spring. In addition to our maple business, we also grow organic dry beans, oats and vegetables.

Jacob Mitchell settled North Yarmouth, Maine in 1727. A family of carpenters, farmers, and fishermen for eleven generations, today Mitch and Penny still work to keep the tradition of self-sustainable living alive on our farm

While we still work off the farm, our hearts and dreams are attached firmly to our land: the fields, the gardens and our sugarbush. Our three grown sons, Lars, Caleb and Luke, off pursuing their own dreams, always return each spring to help us "sugar". They gather a few pails and help out as best they can and anyone who has ever lugged a full pail of sap fifty feet through three feet of snow knows what a help that can be.

About Maple Sugaring

Mitch started maple sugaring in 1977 with 16 taps whittled from sumac shoots, and any sort of pail he could find, boiling 'til the wee hours in the driveway on an old flat pan built up on a few stones. Today he and Penny hang 500 buckets, and have 200 more taps on tubing, running downhill into an old bulk milk tank out in the woodlot. Most of it is collected with our team of horses, Jenny and Star and most days we collect between 300 and 800 gallons of fresh sap.

About Making Syrup

Our 2x8 foot evaporator struggles, at a rate of 50 gallons per hour, to make 15 to 17 gallons of pure maine maple syrup each 12 to 16 hour workday. We love it and wouldn't have it any other way!

Maple sap is diluted starches made the summer before and turned to sugars by chemical reactions inside the tree when the ground thaws in the spring and groundwater floods the tree. It flows from the tree at an average rate of .025% sugar. Sweet enough to taste, it boils down at a rate of 40 gallons of sap to one gallon of pure maple syrup. Early on in the season, the sap is highly concentrated and may be as high as 25 gallons to 1. This sap boils quickly and is very light in color. The end of the season sees the same sap as weak as 60 to 1, and produces a very dark, strong tasting syrup. This happens slowly over the four to six week season and in between the sap changes color and taste each day as the season progresses.

About Maple Grades

Maine maple syrup is graded into five categories. Grade A light amber syrup is very light in color and delicately sweet with hardly a hint of maple flavor. Grade A medium amber syrup is a bit darker and starts to taste a bit more mapley. Grade A dark syrup has much more color and flavor. Grade A extra-dark syrup is of course very dark and has the kind of sharp maple flavor that will stay with your dish through cooking, but might be too hard right out of the bottle. Maple syrup gets even darker and stronger but this product usually ends up flavoring tobacco and imitation maple syrups. It takes special weather to produce maple syrup. Freezing nights and thawing days in the 20 to 40 degree range work best. Next you need maple trees. Any will do but the sugar or rock maple is king. Maine is right in the best spot for making maple syrup . The native americans did it here for time out of memory, and taught it to the early settlers when they came. Thousands of farmers and back yard sugar makers still keep this tradition alive each spring. It doesn't matter if you have 100,000 taps or 1 tap, the process is still the same and very important to do. So keep it up if you do it or start if you haven't yet, the fun part is when you eat this stuff !

About 'Maine Maple Kitchen' Products

We sell a full line of Mofga certified organic maple syrup and candy products here at the farm.

Please call 207-353-4090, or e-mail us at mitchsavlcl@gwi.net

More Farming

Our farm is a small Maine farm, unchanged in 250 years. 900 feet wide and a mile long, it figures out just shy of 100 acres. Divided by a stream, our land is half tillable, half woodlot. It took ten years to clear the fields, and put the edges back where they belonged. Now we are plowing our way to the road, turning over about two new acres each year, rotating our crops as we go. First year is usually oats, then, as the weeds die back, we grow dry beans or corn the next year, overseeding a hay crop with oats the following season.

Many thanks to Bryce Muir of Bowdoinham for the great photographs in this web-site.

Our Journal

2008

Jan. 1, 2008 - Heavy snow year so far.

Feb. 2, 2008 - Warm. Rain and ice today. Buried in snow. No wood cutting yet.

Feb. 14, 2008 - Seven storms in ten days. Snowed 48 hours straight albeit it for 3 ".

Feb. 27, 2008 - Penny took two hours to shovelout door to sap house.

Mar. 3, 2008 - Hooked Dick, Mollie, Dock, and even Jennie today. Getting ready for sugaring. Seems late.

Mar. 6, 2008 - Started cleaning up sugarhouse.Setting up pans. Nasty weather coming.

Mar. 10, 2008 - Hard crust. Started tapping at merrill's farm today. Running on top of two feet snow.

Mar. 11, 2008 - 219 taps at scott's. No buckets.

Mar. 12, 2008 - Tapped 73 in our woods, 21 on the reed farm, and 78 in mike feldmans woodlot. Three and a half feet crust and sugar snow. Snowshoes. No horses yet.

Mar. 13, 2008 - Tapped 96 more in feldmans.Finished up in saphouse.Sap running well. Hung two dozen pails at scotts.

Mar. 14, 2008 - Snow soft and sticky enough to get pails out at scott's. Tractor went well til 3 pm. and started to stick

Mar. 15, 2008 - Really seems late yet. Four inches new snow. Sap running well. Gather tomorrow. Can't get horses into woodlot yet. They don't seem to mind. Harness needs some mending, and some woods bridges are sure to fail this year.

Mar. 16, 2008 - Collected at Scott's. Kenny, Keena, Penny and I. 238 gallons 2.7 sap. Made a pail of dark amber syrup.

Mar. 17, 2008 - Tried horses into woods. No good.

Mar. 18, 2008 - Pen and I at Scott's. Collected 185 gallons sap. Dumped 100 gallons ice. 2.9 sap. Made 4 gallons dark syrup.

Mar. 19, 2008 - A few inches wet heavy snow. Sap running.

Mar. 20, 2008 - Freezing rain. Just me at Scott's. Collected 215 gallons rain weak sap. Tested 2.3. Boiled for ever. Made a few more gallons. Still dark syrup.

Mar. 21, 2008 - Cold.

Mar. 22, 2008 - Cold.

Mar. 23, 2008 - Maine Maple Sunday. Cold. Closed for Easter with family. Open next Sat. Mar.29.

Mar. 24, 2008 - Tapped 27 more in mikes woods. Cold. No horses or buckets yet.

Mar. 25, 2008 - Warming up. Lars, Robin, Pen and I collected 108 gallons 3.5 sap at Scotts. Made 2.5 gallons dark syrup.

Mar. 26, 2008 - Snow disappearing in woods. Hooked Dick and Mollie. Got 150 yards into woods. Deep snow. Collected 150 gallons 2.5 syrup at Scotts, made 3.75 gallons dark syrup.

Mar. 27, 2008 - Ralph Bard dropped off his 550 and I spent 4 hours digging out woodlot. Hard job, lots of snow.

Mar. 28, 2008 - 7" new snow this morning. Pen and I gathered Scott's. 312 gallons sap. Made 9 gallons dark amber.

Mar. 29, 2008 - Open house today. Friends and family today. Boiled 3 hours made 3 gallons.

Mar. 30, 2008 - Sunday. Rest.

Mar. 31, 2008 - Hung 200 buckets in woodlot before snow and rain. Miserable day. Scott's pails filling fast.

April 1, 2008 - Hung last 125 buckets at Mike's. Never hung buckets so late. Collected 350 gallons old sap at Scott's. More there. Made 6 gallons. No fooling. Thanks Nate, Gabrielle, and Kenna.

Apr. 2, 2008 - Collected Scott's with Kenna, Pen and I out to our woods first time this year with Dick and Molly. Collected 170 Gallons - Made 5 gallons dark.

Apr. 3, 2008 - Bright. Penny, Keena and I out to woods with Dick and Molly. Pen and I over to Scott's for 290 gallons 2.7 sap. Made another 5 gallons.

Apr. 4, 2008 - Rain. Finished up in sugarhouse. Made another 3 gallons Dark syrup. 50 galons so far.

Apr. 5, 2008 - Rain in the a.m. Rested and went visiting.

Apr. 6, 2008 - Collected Scott's for 100 gallons. Lots of moth's. Good sign it might be finishing up. 150 gallons more in our woods, clean and clear. Much better sap. Horses working hard. Snow rotten but still deep. Made another 5 gallons syrup.

Apr. 7, 2008 - 25 degrees at 6 am. Bright, sunny. Lots of snow in fields. Horses out to woods. One full (190 gal) tank out. Cart fell apart. Pen boiled and I repaired cart. Made 4 gal.dark.

Apr. 8, 2007 - 27 degrees this am. Early out to woods with Keena. Snow frozen on top. Gathering easier. 100 gal. from woodlot. Clean sap. 200 gallons sap at Scott's. Not so clear. Very warm afternoon. Fields clearing fast. Lots left in sugarbush. Pen and I boiled after noon. Made 5 gallon pail dark syrup. Over 60 now.

Apr. 9, 2008 - 23 degrees at 6 am. Collected woods trees. Broke pole on cart with full load of sap. Fixed that. Brought it in. Lost lots of sap.Boiled 120 gallons for 3 gallons syrup.

Apr. 10, 2008 - 34 degrees this am. Collected 240 gallons 2.4 sap. Collected 200 gallons 1.8 sap at Scott's and dumped it. Too weak. May pull pails there soon. Made 5 gallons syrup.

Apr. 11, 2008 - 28 degrees. Cold enough. Rested horses today.Sap running. Field snow mostly gone now.

Apr. 12, 2008 - Pulled pails at Scott's this morning. Started washing. Pushed sap through pans with water and made another couple gallons syrup. Made 72 gallons so far from 2050 gallons at Scot's and 975 gallons from woods trees. That's about 42 to 1. Still have woods buckets up just in case weather returns. Not expecting much. Thank you, Phyllis, for the lovely gift of these sap buckets. They really came in handy.

Apr. 14, 2008 - Lost our old horse tonight. Jenny stopped at the barn door. I led her in. and she wouldn't go in her stall. Just kept looking at me. We tied her out on the barn floor. She laid down and died. Simple as that. Had her a long time. A real long time.

Apr. 16, 2008 - Cleaned out pans. Made a couple gallons B syrup. 73 gallons total for the season, mostly dark. Time to go plowing. See you next year. Thanks for coming.

2007

Jan. 1 2007 - Lost two horses last year. Star and Pearl. One to colic and one to founder. Jenny and Molly left. Went to Mt. Hope, Ohio to horse sale in October and bought two colts. Dick and Dock, 3 and 4 year olds. Working with them to qquiet them down. May take awhile.

Jan. 11, 2007 - Our dark amber syrup won Blue ribbon and Best of Show at Ag show in Augusta.

Jan. 20, 2007 - Cutting wood with Molly. Warm, 29, and sunny.

Jan. 26, 2007 - 6 below. Cold. Windy.

Jan. 29, 2007 - One degree. Hooked colts for fun. Deep snow.

Feb. 2, 2007 - Ground hogs day. Overcast. 0 to 31 degrees. 3 " fresh snow.

Feb. 9, 2007 - Minus 13 at 7 a.m. 22 days below freezing. 16 days below zero at night. Built new 3 bunk sap sled.

Feb. 17, 2007 - 35 degrees. Finally. Hooked colts to firewood.

Feb 24, 2007 - Warm spell. Water running off roof.

Mar. 2, 2007 - 14" sugarsnow. Fine, meally. Hard walking.

Mar. 7, 2007 - Cold snap. Bitter wind chills. Tapped 87 in woods. Next thaw should be real.

Mar. 9, 2007 - Calm. -15 at six. Up to 20's. Tapped another 130 out back.

Mar. 10, 2007 - Caleb, Adrienne, Penny and I Hung 170 buckets. Up in the 40's today.

Mar. 11, 2007 - Sunday. 34 degrees at 7 a.m. Never froze last night. Tapped 107 more. Hung rest of buckets. Woodlot finished. Sap runing well.

Mar. 12, 2007 - Dug out sugarhouse today. Took hour and a half chipping ice to get inside. Put up stack and washed tanks, pans, and so on. All clean, ready. Small leak in front pan.Weather very warm.

Mar. 13, 2007 - Christine, Pen and I tapped and hung 217 at Merrill farm today. Snow finally letting us move about. All tapped out. 541 total. Still warm, overcast. Sap running. Woods buckets Half full. Start collecting tomorrow. Snow shoes and -35 windchills five days ago. 52 degrees in the sun this afternoon.

Mar. 14, 2007 - 56 degrees out. Soldered leaks in front pan. Keena, Pen and I collected with Jenny and Mollie. Hooked colts for last load. Gathered 400 gallons 2.3 sap. First boil, 5:30 till 1:30. Snow fleas.

Mar. 15, 2007 - Very warm. Steady rain. Finished boiling. Made 5 gallons first run medium syrup. Four day old sap.

Mar. 16, 2007 - 19 degrees with wind today. 1.5 inches sap frozen in buckets at Merrill's. Less in woods. Waiting.

Mar. 17, 2007 - ST. PATRICK'S DAY, Nothing green for 1000 miles in any direction. Rain, snow, sleet, hail, wind, we got it all. Hoping for a little snow cover. Be careful what you pray for. 3" snow " in " the sugarhouse. 2" snow "in" the pans.

Mar. 18, 2007 - Sunday. Sunny, cold. No sap today.

Mar. 19, 2007 - Hooked colts to break roads out. Hot (horses) today. Need to be hooked every day if just to stand. Old team, experience, young team, stamina. Brains, brawn. You choose.

Mar. 20, 2007 - Governor's tree tapping this a.m. Warm and sunny. Wind came up at noon. Keena and I collected Scott's for 225 gallons 2.8 sap. Dumped some ice to get that. Cold later. Sugarhouse frozen up. Broken PVC joints. Repaired that. Boiling by 5:30. Finished at 1:30. Second boil. Made 6 1/2 gallons. Dark amber, sweet.

Mar. 21, 2007 - SPRING! Five degrees at dawn. Up to mid thirties, with a wind. Woods pails 2" deep.

Mar. 22, 2007 - Gathered woods trees. Dana, Keena, Pen and I with Jen and Molly. Done by 10. Warm, Sunny, Snow melt. 196 gallons 3.4 sap. (Ice.)

Mar. 23, 2007 - Merrill farm with Pen and Christine. 300 Gallons 2.5 sap made 9.5 gallons dark syrup. Moths and spiders collecting sap now. Boiled 1pm to 10:30.

Mar. 24, 2007 - Caleb and Emily, Pen and I, Molly and Jen. Out to woodlot. Gathered 340 gallons 2.5 sap.Boiled til 11 pm. Hooked colts for fun.

Mar. 25, 2007 - MAINE MAPLE SUNDAY Countless people came to call on us today. Perfect weather. Some picnicking out by the old saphouse. Some to see the horses. Great day. Caleb and I Collected 165 gallons sap before breakfast for the day. Boiled till 5 pm. Made 8 gallons dark. Nice syrup.

Mar. 26, 2007 - Colts, Dick and Dock, out to collect today. Lots of energy. Christine and Penny. Cleaned up woods and Merrill farm. 540 buckets for 240 gallons sap. All cleaned up. Took an afternoon nap and boiled till midnight. Made another 5.5 gallons dark. Just under 50 gallons syrup this year.

Mar. 27, 2007 - Adrienne brought us 100 gallons 2.6 sap. Made another 2.5 gallons dark. Canada Geese heading up.

Mar. 28, 2007 - 32 degrees at dawn. Christine, Keena, Pen Caleb and I gathered with Jen and Mollie. 170 gallons. Made 4 gallons extra dark (B).

Mar. 29, 2007 - 26 degrees this am. Low 30's with strong winds. Robins are back. 75 gallons sap at Scotts. Made 1.5 gallons x-dark.

Mar. 30, 2007 - 20 degres this morning. Mollie, Jenny, Penny , Caleb and Me. 200 gallons sap. 2.3 percent made 5 1//2 gallons.

Mar. 31, 2007 - Caleb, Robin, Pen and I over to Scotts. 225 gallons 2.3 sap. made 4.5 gallons dark amber. Up a grade. Ten straight days of boiling. 2500 gallons sap and 64 gallon syrup so far. Weak sap, poor color, sweet flavor. Hard to figure. Sap still very clean.

Apr. 1, 2007 - Lars, Robin, Pen and I collected woods today. 24 - 54 degrees. Beautiful afternoon. Boiled and cleaned up by 8 pm. 267 gallons 2.1 sap made 6 gallons dark amber syrup.

Apr. 2, 2007 - Rain day. Sleeping in. Horses resting.

Apr. 3, 2007 - Half inch snow and rain all day. 33 degrees low. 37 degrees high. Collected Merrill's 150 gallons sap. Gathered 90 gallons in sap orchard. Made 5 gallons dark amber. Hooked Dick and Dock today. 75 gallons syrup yet. 80 percent dark amber.

Apr. 4, 2007 - 31 degrees to 34 degrees. Wet snow all day. No sap to speak of. Caleb called from So. Dakota. Headed to Oregon. Good luck, bud.

Apr. 5, 2007 - 29 - 41 degrees. 14" wet heavy snow. SUGAR SNOW. Sap started running late in the day.

Apr. 6, 2007 - 26 - 38 degrees. Gathered Scottt's pails. Andrew and Peter to help. 150 gallons 2.0 sapmade 3 gallons B syrup.

Apr. 7, 2007 - 26 - 42 degrees. Did woods. Running over. Collected half way around. Kenny and Adrienne helping out. 365 gallons 1.8 sap. Made 6 gallons dark .

Apr. 8, 2007 - EASTER SUNDAY. Rested today. No work. Family day.

Apr. 9, 2007 - Did Scott's alone today. Gathered 377 gallons ( 1.73 gallons sap per bucket) 2.1 sap Really running well now. Boiled 4-10 pm. Made 6 more gallons dark syrup. Still 100 gallons left in tank to boil. More sap tomorrow. Made 90 gallons so far from 4000 gallons sap. 43 to 1.

Apr. 10, 2007 - Scott and Ken helped collect woods buckets.330 gallons 2.0 sap made 8 gallons dark amber syrup. Wood road falling apart quickly. Hard on the horses.

Apr. 11, 2007 - 19 degrees this am. Ground hard. Gathered 75 gallons at Scott's. 1.5 sugar. Close to quitting. Made 2.75 gallons B syrup.

Apr. 12, 2007 - 26 degrees. Cleaned up sugarhouse today with thoughts of quitting. Never so clean. Tanks, pans, ash, Finishers, pumps, etc. Good clean hot water off evaporator. Water and cider vinegar in pans.Snowing hard by 3 pm. Strange time to start stopping. Roads in woods gone. Firewood gone. Made 103 gallons. Collected 4426 gallons sap. Boiled 19 out of 28 days( 11 days in a row ). Fairly steady. Best sugaring now at the end.

Apr. 13, 2007- FRIDAY. Pulled Scott's pails. Dumped 100 gallons 2.0 sap. Dozie firewood. Season feels like it's over. Woods buckets must be running over.

Apr. 15, 2007 - Sunday. Big storm coming. Setting plenty of water aside. Hooked colts to drag lane into house. Light drizzle, warm breeze, bird songs. Seems very spring now. Some green in the fields. No peepers.

Apr. 21, 2007 - Rain all week. Beautiful day out. 32 degrees up to 63 degrees at noon. Lots of wood down in woodlot. Cutting same for next year. Frost not out yet in woods. Single horse only.

2006

Jan. 15, 2006 - Warm.48 degrees. Strange winter.

Feb. 2, 2006 - Ground hogs day. 51 degrees. Cutting wood. Warm for about a week now. Resisting urge to tap a few.

Feb. 27, 2006 - Cold and clear. Time to start.

Feb 28, 2006 - Cutting next years sap wood. Lots of blowdowns. Roads littered. Pulled down tubing.

Mar. 1, 2006 - Cleaned up sugarhouse. Washed out tanks. Still cold.

Mar. 2, 2006 - Cold. Clear. Cutting more wood.

Mar. 3, 2006 - Cold. More wood.

Mar. 4, 2006 - Cutting new roadways for horses thru sugarbush. Pulling down most of tubing and hanging buckets instead.

Mar. 5, 2006 - More wood. Tapped 17 on tubing. Small hillside in sugarbush. No sap.

Mar. 6, 2006 - Monday. Still cold. Warming to afternoon. Hung 153 pails. Sap weeping.

Mar. 7 - 11, 2006 - Mt. hope, Ohio. Horse and equipment auction. Bought a walking plow and some collars. 1200 horses sold.

Mar. 12, 2006 - Collected. Gathered 250 gallons 3 day old sap. Boiled 4 hours. No syrup.

Mar. 13, 2006 - Tapped another 121 taps. Running slowly.

Mar. 14, 2006 - Raining. Warm. Cleaned Pans. Made 5 gallons dark syrup*.

Mar. 15, 2006 - Good day. Hung another 221 pails, and collected 280 gallons 2.2 sap. Boiled till midnight.

Mar. 16, 2006 - Not so gooda day. Snapped valve on collecting tank. Lost lo ts of sap. Saved 100 gallons 3.1 sap. Sweet due to ice in sap.. Lost gas pump. Fixed that, and pumped up sap.Started boiling about 6 and finished at 8:30. Made another 41/2 gallons dark*. Good flavor.

Mar. 17, 2006 - Happy Irish. Rested up and repairing today. Cold No sap running. Found 9 trees I'd missed tapping. That makes 504 buckets and 17 on tubing.

Mar. 18, 2006 - Saturday. Teen's to mid 30's. Too cold to run.

Mar. 19, 2006 - Still cold. Sap freezing in pails.

Mar. 20, 2006 - Cold. Windy. Pails quarter full frozen sap. Hooked Mollie and Pearl and yarded some firewood. Should warm up soon.

Mar. 21, 2006 - Warmer today. Field buckets loosening up. Collected 90 gallons sap and 90 gallons ice. Sap tested 5.3 % ( 17 to 1 ). Ice tested 0%. Boiled sap, dumped ice. One and half hour boiling. Made 3 gallons dark syrup*.

Mar. 22, 2006 - High 38 degrees. Woods pails showing sap. Hooked Jenny and Star. Drove over old pulp hook in woodlot. Tire shot, rim rusted through, and bearing, well. Three junkyards later, all fixed, daylight gone. Have to get it tomorrow. Sap running free now. May have to race a little. The good news is it was the tire and not the Horse.

Mar. 23, 2006 - Thursday. Mild. 33 degrees at 6 a.m. Lots of help today. Collected our woods 300 taps 440 gallons 2.8 sap. Collected one tank ( 120 gallons ) at Merrill farm. Boiled till 11 p.m. 200 gallons left to boil tommorrow, and lots to gather. Made 11 gallons Medium syrup*. Putting a dent in the woodpile.

Mar. 24, 2006 - Back over to Merrill's farm.Picked up 285 gallons 2.8 sap. Boiled 8-8. Made 10.5 gallons Medium*. Woods trees running.

Mar. 25, 2006 - Two teams out today to collect woods. Frost coming out. Trails tough on animals. Caleb, Susanna, Zack, Keena, and Kenny. What a crew. Collected 425 Gallons 2.3 sap Still running. Made 5.5 gallons Medium*.

Mar. 26, 2006 - 26 degrees at 6 a.m. Dana, Zack, Kenna and I over to Merrill's for one tank sap. Gathered 155 gallons for MAINE MAPLE SUNDAY. Boiled 10 - 6. Made 9.5 gallons Dark*. Lots of folks visited today. More than ever before. Ran out of everything. Great day. Thanks a million.

Mar. 27, 2006 - Back over to Merrill farm to clean up. Very warm out. Gathered 153 gallons sap. Took hours to boil. 2.2% sap. Dozy wood. Made 4.5 gallons dark syrup*.

Mar. 28, 2006 - 19 degrees at 6 a.m. Up in the 50's. Gathered with Jenny and Star. 390 gallons 2.4 sap. Woods trees running better and sweeter than field trees.Cleaned pans, inside and out. Picked through wood. Boiling quicker now, but not great. 50 gallons per hour. Made 7 gallons dark*. Still running well. No trees drying up yet. Buds hard. Very warm days.

Mar. 29, 2006 - 18 - 60 degrees, 72 in the sun. Still running. 242 gallons 2.2 at Merrills. Made 7.5 gallons dark*.

Mar. 30, 2006 - 23 degrees at 6. Leaking tanks. Collected with Horses. 420 gallons 2.4 sap. Good in the woods yet. High's in the 70's. Crew laying around the sugarhouse like a bunch of housecats. Lazy day. Boiled 'til 9 p.m. Made 10 gallons dark*( 78 gallons total).

Mar. 31, 2006 - 23 degrees this a.m. High's 70's. 91 degrees in the sap house at 1 p.m. Collected 240 gallons 1.9 sap at Merrills farm. Weak and cloudy. Making high dark syrup still. Going through the woodpile. Pulled in a cord of ash wood last night. Fit it up today. Burns well green. Made 6.5 gallons dark*. Christine Baker of Stone Soup Institute aprenticing with us this year. Thank you, Chris.

Apr. 1, 2006 - 31 degrees at 6 a.m. Collected 240 gallons out back with Kenny and Keena. Made 4 gallons dark syrup*.

April 2, 2006 - Sunday. 33 degrees this morning. Too warm. Dumped sap at Merrill's. Not much. Low Impact Forestry group met here tonight's April meeting.

Apr. 3, 2006 - 21 degrees this 6 a.m. Rar out. Split 2 cord popple for next spring's sugarwood.

Apr. 4, 2006 - Not much going on. Rain. Bottled syrup. Stacked wood. Cleaned up ground plows.

Apr. 5, 2006 - Snow. 27 degrees. Up to 40's. Sap ran. Collected 225 gallons 2.0 sap. Getting weak. Made 5.5 gallons B (extra- dark) syrup*.

Apr. 6, 2006 - 27 degrees at 6. Went over to pull spiles at Merrills. Buckets half full of 2.4 sap. Collected around and broke valve off tank. Spilt alot of sap. Saved some. Boiled 1 hour. Made 1 gallon B (extra-dark ) syrup*. 93.5 gallons total. Started to run again.

Apr. 7, 2006 - Cold again. High 20's. Pushed syrup through pans with water. Made 4 more gallons extra-dark* syrup. Still haven't made 100 gallons yet.

Apr. 8, 2006 - Saturday. Warm night. May be over. Pulled down (221 taps) pails at Merrill's. Soaking in stock tanks. Nice afternoon nap.

Apr. 9, 2006 - 21 degrees and frozen ground. Small sap run. Collected 300 woods buckets for 163 gallons 2.0 percent sap. Boiled it down. Maybe a few more days.

Apr. 10, 2006 - 22 degrees. Crisp. Sap started late. Split pine.

Apr. 11, 2006 - 25 degrees this am. Gathered woods buckets. 313 gallons 2.2 sap. Made 4.5 gallons x-dark*. Good flavor still. Buds tight. Plowed a few furrows with Mollie and Pearl. Ground very wet.

Apr. 12, 2006 - 26 degrees. Collected 70 gallons sap. Taps starting to heal. Decided to quit today. Ran water in back pan and pushed syrup through. Collected 4479 gallons sap over 31 days, and made 106 gallons syrup. 1/4 medium, 1/2 dark, 1/4 B syrup. About 43 to 1. 2.23 pounds sugar per tap.

Apr. 13, 2006 - Warm and rainy. Split some wood and pulled some pails. Lots of clean-up. Hope to see you next year, and thank you for visiting.

F.Y.I. We have been keeping records for the last 18 years, Tapped between 440 and 710 taps, no year the same. Over that period, 1996 stands out with the most taps, 710, most sap 7379 gallons, most syrup 183.5 gallons, and most sap per tap 10.39 gallons. 2005 had the least sap 2852 gallons and least syrup 77.5 gallons. 1997 had the most syrup per tap 1.06 quarts. 1994 was the sweetest sap 2.41 % or 35.67 gallons sap to one gallon syrup. 1993 had the weaket sap 1.78 % sugar or 48.28 gallons sap per one gallon syrup. 1998, the ice storm, gave us the least sap per tap 5.25 gallons and syrup .54 quarts pr tap. Last year we made the least syrup 77.5 gallons. but 90% of it was light or medium or the best ever. No year is ever the same, nor can it be predicted.

2005

Jan. 13, 2005 - 31 degrees, freezing rain. Ag show in Augusta. Blue ribbons in Medium and Extra Dark syrup

Jan. 19, 2005 - Working outside this winter. Timberframe house in Bowdoinham. -15.4 at 7am. Cold and clear.

Jan. 21, 2005 - Cold and clear. -20.4 at 7am.

Jan. 22, 2005 - Northwest wind 20-25. -24.7 at 7am. High 9.9 degrees. Cold day.

Jan 23, 2005 - 2 degrees. Northeast. 12-14 " wet heavy snow.

Jan 30, 2005 - Third day in 40's. Trying to ignore weather.

Feb. 2, 2005 - Back in the deepfreeze like it should be.

Feb. 20, 2005 - Back from 5 days to Mt. hope, Ohio. Bought harrows and harness bits for new horses ( Mollie and Pearl) . New bridals. Weather sugarlike while I was gone.

Feb. 25, 2005 - Finished House frame today. Started sugaring officially today at noon. Tapped and strung 116 taps on tubing out back.

Feb. 26, 2005 - Penny and I finished tubing today. Tapped and strung 35 more. Tightened mainline. Put up stack in sugarhouse. Boiled spiles for buckets. Weather below freezing but sun is strong. Sugarhouse needs a cleaning. Looks like snow coming.

Mar.1, 2005 - N.E. 9 degrees. High 21. 8 " Heavy snow.

Mar. 6, 2005 - Cold. Clear. New horses arrived today. Mollie and Pearl. 13 yearolds from Ohio. Didn't like the new barn.

Mar. 8, 2005 - Freezing rain. Wet, heavy snow expected. New team in the barn now. Settling in.

Mar.9, 2005 - 10 " heavy drifted snow through the night. Tough digging out. Soldering pans, fixing leaks today.

Mar. 10, 2005 - 18 below this am. Got up to 34 in sun by 2.

Mar 11, 2005 - Minus 10 this morning. Clear. Threw flue pan in truck and went to see Bill Mason. Fixed a bad leak. Snow on the drive home.

Mar. 12, 2005 - 30 degrees at day break. Town meeting. Buried in snow. We broke out and went. Voted to have it another day. Still snowing. Set up pans. Should boil some water in pans and clean tanks. Snow three feet drifted to five of in sugarbush. Tubing buried. Pasture fence buried. Hay only thing keeping horses in.

Mar. 13, 2005 - Set up pans, washed down tanks, and boiled water for about 20 minutes. Used hot water to wash down. All set to go.

Mar. 14, 2005 - 8 degrees at dawn, up to 44. Still cold in the woods. Trying to break roads. Got across fields and into woods.

Mar. 15, 2005 - 29 degrees all night. 38 high. Snow settled in fields to seat on harrow. 28 ". Deeper in woods. Took two hours to go 100 ' with JD 2150. Try horses again tomorrow.

Mar. 16, 2005 - Warm night. 31 degrees. Up to 39. Half past noon, snow lost, tractor won. Roads all broken out. Hang buckets tomorrow. Sap running.

Mar. 17, 2005 - Perfect sugar weather. 12 to 42 degrees. Twelve hours of sunshine Hung 140 buckets today slogging through waist deep snow. Sap pouring. 225 more buckets to go.

Mar. 18, 2005 - Bad day. Everything stuck or broke. Tractors suck.

Mar. 19, 2005 - Saturday. Town meeting day. Went. Collected with horses afternoon. Keena helped . Harness broke. Mended it with baling twine. Snow still deep. Horses rule. Collected a few hundred gallons 2.7 sap. First boil this year. No syrup yet.

Mar. 20, 2005 - 15 degrees at 7 am. Palm sunday, first day of spring. Caleb, Ken, Dana and I off to Merrill farm, hung 201 buckets in 2 1/2 hours. Snow still deep, but disappearing.. Collected with horses for 250 gal. 2.9 sap. Boiled sap, made 8 gal. medium, and finished by 10:30. Good day.

Mar. 21, 2005 - 13 degrees at dawn. High 39. Slow run. Collected Merrill farm. 250 gallons 2.8 sap. Done by 9 P.M. Made another 7 gallons medium. Better syrup.

Mar. 22, 2005 - 15 degrees at daybreak. High's 44. Clear and sunny. Slow and steady sap run. Collected 290 gallons in woodlot today. Tested 2.7. Eight gallons close to light syrup.Finished up at 11 P.M. Lots of snow yet in woods. 14 to 16" left in fields. Our old tired evaporator made its 1500th gallon tonight.

Mar. 23, 2005 - 15 - 46 degrees. Sunny. Collected 288 gal. 2.8 sap.Boiled till 10. Easy night.

Mar. 24, 2005 - 28 - 40 degrees. Warm night. Overcast. Wind sou'west. Poor run. Collected woods for 215 gallons of 2.7 sap. 34 gallons good medium syrup so far.

Mar. 25, 2005 - 20 - 50 degrees. Cool. Northerly. Slow steady run. 118 gal 2.6 sap made 4 gallons medium syrup.

Mar. 26, 2005 - Saturday. 12 - 41 degrees. 59 in sun. North wind. Sunny. Running slowly. Collected woods for 200 gallons 2.9 sap ( dumped ice ). Lots of help collecting. Kenna and Zack, Nicole, Elmer, and Rip. Thanks guys. Made 5 gallons better medium. 43 gallons medium total.

Mar. 27, 2005 - Easter sunday. Maine Maple Sunday. Dana, Caleb and I collected 160 gal. at Merrill's to boil. 2- 250 guests slogged down the lane to visit and help us boil. Thanks for coming. Did you get enough to eat? Please come again when you can. Family came at 4 for supper.Good day.

Mar. 28, 2005 - Grey monday. 27 degrees. High humidity. Wet heavy snow change to rain all day.

Mar. 29, 2005 - Rainy start. Overcast. 36 - 45 degrees. No sap run. Gathered Merrill's for 260 gallons 2.6 sap. Brook over her banks. Try to get into woods tomorrow. Made 7.5 gallons medium syrup.

Mar. 30, 2005 - Warm. Sunny. 36 - 46 degrees. Northerly. Snow disappearing fast in fields. Still deep in woods. Not much new sap. Horses out to ford swollen brook to collect 330 gallons 4 day old 2.4 % sap. Granvil and Hunter helped us gather. Boiling rainwater tonight.

Mar. 31, 2005 - Warm. Sunny. 24 degrees at daybreak. No sap run early. Pushed water through pans and made another 7 gallons medium amber syrup. 70 Gallons so far. Cleaned up sugarhouse and drained pans. Rain coming. Hope our bridge holds.

Apr. 1, 2005 - 33 degrees last night. Wind southerly. No sap run. Collected 150 gallons 2.6% at Merrill's. Boiled two hours. Cleaned up. No syrup today. Field half clear of snow. Lots left in woods.

Apr. 2, 2005 - 35 degrees to 47 degrees. 1.5 inches rain. No sap.

Apr. 3, 2005 - 34 to 48 degrees. More rain. 3.7 inches so far. Bridge under water. Don't know if it's there.No sap.

Apr. 4, 2005 - 34 - 49 degrees. Overcast and calm. Water down and bridge made it through. Penny and I dumped all pails and reset covers. Dumped tanks. Start fresh if it goes again. Still 6 - 8 " snow in woods. No sap run. Buds tight. Need weather. Boiled sap and cleaned out evaporator. Made 4 gallons first dark syrup. Waiting.

Apr 5, 2005 - 29 degrees and crisp. Up into the high 50's. Sap dribbling. Back to work steel roofing.

Apr. 6, 2005 - 32 degrees. Sunny. No sap.

Apr. 7, 2005 - 32 degrees. Overcast. Rain predicted. Still no sap. Still time for one more run.

Apr. 8, 2005 - 35 degrees. Warn and sunny. Looks like it's over.

Apr. 9, 2005 - 23 degrees this a.m. Sap running.

Apr. 10, 2005 - 24 degrees - 64 degrees. Merrill's farm too warm. Dumped 150 gallons milky sap. Small morning run out in our woodlot in buckets. Tubing not running. Hooked horses and collected pails. Threw out poor sap but saved 125 gallons 2.2 % sap. Boiled and thickened it up. Need some cooler days. Not done yet.

Apr. 11, 2005 - 21 degrees.

Apr. 12, 2005 - 27 degrees. Cold. Not much sap.

Apr. 13, 2005 - 29 degrees. Pulled pails at Merrill farm.

Apr. 14, 2005 - 26 degrees. Very warm days.Collected with horses in woods. Still running. 2.1% sap. Made 4.5 gallons B. We're done.Pulling taps tomorrow.

Made 78 gallons syrup from 490 taps. 1.74 lb. sugar per tap. Very poor. Collected 2852 gallons sap, or 5.82 gallons per tap. Not a good year. 90 % medium amber, 4.2 % dark amber, and 5.8 % extra dark. Good quality. 63 % of a normal crop. Time to plow and plant.

Apr. 20, 2005 - Plowing gardens with horses. Buckets on the lawn to wash. Cleaning up the sugarhouse for summer. Rain coming. Should have peas, lettuce, spinach in. Don't.

2004

Feb. 2, 2004 - Cutting firewood for next year. Making new road around sap lines. Intend on replacing tubing end lines with buckets... Lost our farm dog last year. He was my shadow for twelve years and the woods seem a little lonely without him.

Feb.14, 2004 - Stretching main lines and hanging new drops. Down to 132 on tubing. Ready to tap

Feb 24, 2004 - Warm out. Still lots of frost in ground. Could be a long season. May hang one bucket to see what's up.Resisting the urge to tap.

Feb.26,2004 - Tapped 132 woods trees on tubing with 5/16 spiles. No sap run. Hung 5 roadside buckets on 7/16 spiles. Some sap. Looks like good weather coming. Still lots of work to be done in the sugarhouse.

Feb. 27, 2004 - Started working in sugarhouse today cleaning up. Stack to evaporator rotten and finally gave up the ghost. 11" is an odd size so have to order it from Grimm. Be here Monday. Building a large barn in brunswick, so am dividing my time yet.

Feb. 28, 2004 - Saturday. Still warm. Penny and I did final tighten up on sap lines. Lines slightly filling with fresh sap. Still cold enough in shade to stop flow.Cut some more sapwood for next year.Got 3 gallons sweet sap from buckets and boiled in the house. Looks like time to start hanging buckets.

Feb. 29, 2004 - Leap year. Pen and I hung 100 woods buckets on 7/16 spiles. Moderate sap flow.

Mar. 1, 2004 - Hung 101 more buckets on 7/16 spiles and 76 on 5/16 inch (health) spiles. Mainline snapped, sap gushing out. No stack yet.

Mar. 2, 2004 - Repaired mainline and washed tanks. Hung 60 more buckets on health spiles. Stack showed up. Showery, overcast. Still running.

Mar. 3, 2004 - Took morning to stand stack and guy it off. Boiled water in pans. Pin hole in preheater. Soldered same. Cleaned tanks, finishing rigs, etc. All set to go. No sap run today. Very warm. Buckets half full of 3 day old sap. Collect tomorrow and catch up. Should be dark. Done at Brunswick barn till April.

Mar. 4, 2004 - Collected 201 buckets for 210 gallons 4 day old sap at merrills. Boiled and pushed with water. Got 3 gallons dark syrup. with good flavor. Cleaned tanks.

Mar. 5, 2004 - Shod horses today. Cold and rainy. No sap.

Mar. 6, 2004 - Fog, drizzle. Waiting. Still have a hundred buckets to hang yet. Waiting for a sign.

Mar. 7, 2004 - Nice day. Hooked horses and collected 268 taps for 175 gallons of 2.2 % sap out in woods. Boiled for two hours and cleaned up sugarhouse. No syrup.

Mar. 8, 2004 - 26 this morning. high's 36. Not enough.

Mar. 9, 2004 - 20 low. 35 high. Dribbles. Ice.

Mar. 10, 2004 - 19 degrees out. Warmed up into 40's. Good sap run. Collected 180 gallons sap and dumped lots of ice. Sugar content 3.2 %. Made 4 gallons dark syrup. Need a good two day run to clean out pails and evaporator. Off horse a touch lame. Favoring one foot. New shoes. She's also twenty years old. I know how she feels.

Mar. 11, 2004 - Everyonce in a while I remember why it is we do this. Today was one of those times. Star's leg mended and the horses fell right back into sugaring like they never stopped. Working their way through the sugarbush while we collect. Find me a tractor that does that. Collected 245 gallons in our sugarbush, and 230 gallons a Merrills farm. Tested 3 %. Boiled late Didn't finish. Will finish tomorrow. Made 9 gallons dark. Can't get ahead of this color.

Mar. 12, 2004 - Ran most of the night.Hooked horses and collected 350 gallons sap. Woods trees ran the best. Buckets in the sun ran less. Buckets beat tubing. Boiled ten hours and cleaned up. Made 17.5 gallons syrup. Good color, excellent flavor.

Mar. 13, 2004 - No sap run. Raw, and cold. NW wind, sharp. Hung 25 more buckets on Card's brook and 9 on Yeatons rock. That brings us to 508 taps. Fewest in ten years. Downsizing.

Mar. 14, 2004 - Sunday. Day off. No sap run. Cleaned up sugarhouse and split wood for next year.

Mar. 15, 2004 - Ides. Woke to 2" snow. Gone by noon. Weak run. 135 gallons at Merrill's. Collected and boiled. Made 3 gallons.

Mar. 16, 2004 - Hooked horses and collected woods trees for 245 gallons of 2.9 sap. Boiled and pushed water through and wrung out 9 gallons. Cleaned out pans.

Mar. 17, 2004 - St. Patrick's day. 4" snow fall. Cold sharp wind. No sap.Went to chipping timbers.

Mar. 18, 2004 - No sap. Cutting frames.

Mar. 19, 2004 - No sap. Cutting frames.

Mar. 20, 2004 - Saturday. Our gathering tank sprung another leak, so off to Bascom's to see what they had. Up at 4:45 and on the road. Broke a belt, lost temp. and alt. Found a garage and patched her up, and back on the road. Bascom's stuff wasn't as good as ours, so back home 13 hours later with nothing to show. Will patch tank tomorrow. Expect a run. Still need that gathering tank (5-6 barrel). Call if you have one to spare.

Mar. 21, 2004 - Warm out today for a couple hours. Taps had the dribbles today. Not enough to collect. Frozen in buckets.

Mar. 22 2004 - Back at the sawmill cutting 24' x 36' timberframe. Sap frozen in pails. More dribbles.

Mar. 23, 2004 - Chipped timbers today. Waiting. Sap building up in pails. Still frozen. Plan to collect tomorrow with some strong sun.

Mar. 24, 2004 - Cut firewood in sugarbush this morning. Sap still frozen in pails. Went to Merrill's after noon. Collected 155 gallons 4 % sap. Saved ice. Boiled late afternoon. Made 2 gallons..

Mar. 25, 2004 - Collected 355 gallons 3.1 sap in woodlot. Boiled tll supper. Made 8 gallons good syrup.Star a little lame again. Horses getting old like their teamster. Collected sap with them for twelve seasons now. That's about 58,000 gallons of sap. At a pint a pound, thats 250 ton or 500,000 lbs. Best horses in the State of Maine.

Mar. 26, 2004 - Pails full. Collected Merrills for 337 gallons sap and boiled. Made another 9 gallons. Woods buckets full. Gave Star the day off with Bute. We'll get it tomorrow. Made about 65 gallons so far with 2500 gallons of sap.Thats half a season. Don't look good.

Mar. 27, 2004 - Horses out to woodlot. Lots of sap. Gatering tank finally Let go. Broke a corner out of it. Finished with Plastic truck tank. Collected 415 gallons Boiled a few hours. Saved sap for tomorrow.

Mar. 28, 2004 - MAINE MAPLE SUNDAY. Great weather. Many hundreds of friends, family and guests. Boiled for five hours and made6-7 gallons syrup.Thanks to all who made it a fine day.

Mar. 29, 2004 - Cold and crisp. Ice on the lane. Collected Mrrills for181 gallons sap and boiled it up.

Mar. 30, 2004 - Horses back out to woods.Woods roads still ice and snow. Still winter out there. 280 Gallons sap. 2.5 %. Making dark amber still. Pretty sweet yet. Made just undr 90 gallons so far from 3500 gallons sap. Everyone pooched.

Mar. 31, 2004 - Cleaned up merrill's buckets. Collected 140 gallons 2.6 sap. Made 5 gallons syrup Horse really lame today.Didn't collect woods.

Apr. 1, 2004 - .Collected all around today and got 900 gallons 5 % sap. Horse collapsed near end and had to shoot her. Boiled till 3 a.m. and made 22 gallons Fancy syrup (april fool). Horse fine. Pulled her shoe and dug out an abcess. Finished boiling up what's in evaporator and made 4.5 gallons syrup Looks like it may be the end.

Apr. 2, 2004 - No sap today. Soaked Star's forefoot epsom salts.

Apr. 3, 2004 - No sap again. Horse back to normal. Had to shoot Penny and put her down. Just kiddin'.

Apr. 4, 2004 - No sap.

Apr. 5, 2004 - No sap

Apr. 6, 2004 - Cold night. Ice on the drive. Wait and see.

Apr. 7, 2004 - Best run this year. 185 gallons at Merrill's, 135 on tubing and 225 in woods buckets. Tested 2.3. Not that sweet. Horses healthy. Made 4 gallons dark.Tasted better than the sap. Quit around 10 p. m. Around 100 gallons syrup so far.

Apr. 8, 2004 - 19 degrees this a.m. Collected 95 gallons cloudy sap at Merrill's and pulled pails. Woods taps still clear. Collected 150 gallons 2.4 sap from tubing. Tanks full. Still boiling.

Apr. 9, 2004 - Collected 205 gallons sap. 2.3 %. Made 6 gallons B syrup.

Apr. 12, 2004 - Pushed water through pans and made 5 gallons B syrup. Done. Collected 4638 gallons sap (9.15 gal / tap ). Made 120 gallons syrup from 508 taps. 2.598 lbs. sugar per tap. Pretty good year.

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