For the past week the maple sap flow has been on at Pure Water Hollow, and I have been boiling it down for the past 2 days, almost non-stop! We again only used 10 taps in 8 trees, just like we did two years ago. I’ve lost track of the number of gallons of sap we have harvested, but we believe it has been about 60. It has yeilded a gallon of syrup so far, with about 10 gallons of sap still on the range waiting to be finished off! If we are correct in how much sap we have had, we are hitting pretty much on that 50:1 ratio. We discovered before that our sap to syrup ratio here in Kentucky is greater than the 40:1 ratio that New England gets, but sometimes it is a bit better than 50:1. The sap flow pretty much stopped by Thursday because it stayed cold (we got more snow on Wednesday and Thursday).
The cold temps allowed me to do a trick with the sap that I have read that the Indians used to do. I was able to remove a good deal of the water content by taking the ice out of the buckets instead of just boiling it all! The unfrozen part would have a greater concentration of sugar. This helped quite a bit.
I was re-reading my maple syrup posts from the 08 season, which was the first time we attempted maple syrup. After boiling down 50 or so gallons this time around, I feel I should clear up what appeared to be a bit of misinformation. I found this statement from an old post:
"I had read in many places not to boil the sap in doors. At least one source said that all the steam would coat everything in the house with a sticky residue. After letting many gallons of sap boil on our kitchen range, I would now say the sticky residue part is a myth. After thinking about it, it doesn’t make sense that the steam would be sticky since the only thing that is boiling away in the steam is the water content. The tree sap is 98% water and only 2% sugar. About 2/3 of the water needs to be taken out. The remaining solution would be 66-67% sugar and would now be syrup. The only thing that is evaporated into the air is all that water."
Well, that year I didn’t have much trouble in the kitchen at the beginning, but after everything was said and done, Erica and Lisa did complain a bit about a sticky residue that was all over the cabinets and appliances that they had to clean up!
This year I have been doing all the boiling up at the extra house on our property that we use as a school house and storage building. Our kitchen at the house has high, 9 foot ceilings, but this kitchen has a low, 7 foot ceiling. For some reason, the condensation from the steam has been incredible this year! I was using 2 giant 21 quart canning pots, one large stock pot, and two smaller pans on all four burners on the range as well as a hot plate on the counter.
That many gallons of sap boiling all at the same time produced some amazing atmospheric changes in the room! I have had to wear a cap because of the multitude of dripping, yellowish sap droplets from the ceiling! It has been like being in the woods after a great cloud burst with water dripping sporadically all over the place from all the leaves. The walls and cabinets have been covered and discolored by the moisture as well! There are streaks of yellow running down the walls from the moisture. It has really been a mess, and when things dry, everything is sticky and icky. My shooes make a suction/sticky sound when walking across the floor! I would definitely warn folks now to never boil this much sap down in their home!
After the pots got to a roaring boil and before I opened the windows and door, a dense cloud of moisture hung in the top 4 feet of the room! It looked just like I would imagine being in a house fire would look like. The bottom three feet along the floor was clear, but above you could not hardly see your hand in front of your face! One reason for this, I guess, was that we don’t usually heat this building much above freezing, so the air was cool. With the windows and doors open, it stayed pretty cold in there, and I felt like I was in an old fashioned sugar shack that I’ve seen pictures of. The outside of the school house looked pretty cool, too, when I went out to check on the chickens once. When the wind blew the right way, great billows of steam could be seen coming out of the side window! But even with the windows and door open, it did not help the residue droplets that formed everywhere.
I still think what I wrote a couple of years ago sounds correct, in that most of what is evaporated is just H2O, and shouldn’t cause a problem. But I guess I now proved that somehow water content from maple tree sap is indeed tainted with stickiness and can in fact cause all sorts of problems!
It really hasn’t been a great problem for us, since we do not live in this building, but we will have quite a mess to clean up when everything is finished! Someday, I still hope to have a real sugar shack and use wood-burning stoves to boil the sap!
Next week, the sap may start flowing again, and we may get to produce more sugar. If we do, I suppose I will just open the windows and keep my hat on in our sugar shack/ school house/ storage building!
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7 comments
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Debbie on February 26, 2010 at 11:02 am
This makes sense because if you fry meat on the stove the same thing happens. You get sticky grease everywhere.
Sounds like fun… Do you save all your syrup or sell it?
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Purewater on February 26, 2010 at 1:55 pm
A comment from Debbie asked about selling the syrup.
We have not tried selling any syrup, but we did give several jars as gifts, with great reviews. I probably could find some folks who would buy all that we make, but since we are doing such a small amount I don't really want to do that. We have enough trees that we could probably run 3 to 4 times as many taps as we are now, but that would also be 3 to 4 times more work! Maybe we will work up to doing more in future years, but for now, this is all I can handle!
We are planning on changing most of this year's syrup into powdered sugar. The syrup we made in 08 has lasted us until now (we still have some jars). We will likely make better use of the product as sugar. I think natural maple sugar should be healthier for us compared to commercial sugar!
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Lyn on February 26, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Hi, we live in TN, and we just ordered equipment to tap our maple trees. Do you think it will be to late to get any syrup this year? We have been wanting to try this for a long time. We finally decided to go for it. Do you tap just sugar maples or all maples? Hope the rest of the season goes well for you.
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Purewater on February 27, 2010 at 12:03 am
Lyn,
I really don't know how the maple sap will be in TN. Many people around here thought we were too far south in KY for maple syrup making, but they were wrong! You will just have to give it a try.
The sap from trees in our area has less sugar content than those in New England, but I believe the syrup that results is as good and sweet as theirs is. It just takes me boiling a bit more sap than they do up north. A friend of mine vacations up in Maine frequently, and she said our syrup was as good as anything she ever gets in New England! I think the further south you go, the less sugar content you will have.
As far as timing, I would guess it may be getting too late for you this year. But if it stays cold long enough, you may still have a chance. Ours flow when we have a string of days in the 40s and nights in the 20s. I think sunshine helps a lot, too. I've read that you will get bitter sap after the trees start budding out, which should begin pretty soon. I think I will have another week or so of sugaring weather here in KY, but as we get on into the middle of March I'm counting on more spring-like weather!
We try to only tap the sugar maples on our property. The books say that all maple varieties can be tapped, but they have different sugar levels. Some day I will experiment with the other maples and see what the difference is. I think they should make good syrup, but we may need more sap to get the same results? When the leaves are on is the only way we can differentiate the sugar maple from the other maples. Two years ago we marked the trees with paint so we could find them in the winter with no leaves.
Good luck with your sugaring endeavor! I'll try to check out your blog to see if you write anything about it. If it doesn't work this year, start being on the watch next year begining in January. I made some good syrup this year in January, but it was not a very heavy sap flow.
God bless,
-Eric
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www.homesteaderbellesblog.blogspot.com on February 27, 2010 at 11:46 pm
Hi Eric,
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving a comment.
I am sorry to hear about all the sticky! It is still worth it though in my opinion.
It really cold here again, so the sap isn't really running right now. I can not wait until the sap flows! Sap collecting and syrup making is so much fun!
I hope you and your family are enjoying the sap season.
Just thought I would drop by, read your post, and wish your sap season well.
Belle @ http://www.homesteaderbellesblog.blogspot.com/
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Schatzi on March 2, 2010 at 6:48 pm
What a great post…I remember way back when my grandparents made maple syrup…for some reason I remember them doing all their boiling outside in a big pot under an open fire…this was a wonderful time for us kids to watch that..and taste the finished product LOL.
Connie
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HerbsandHoney on March 22, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Yes it can be a sticky mess We didn't get trees tapped before the first run this year Will try for a small fall run. Hope you get lots of syrup.
Blessings,
Herbs & Honey
Friday, February 26, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Winter History / Annual Snowfalls for Eastern Kentucky / Past Winters At Pure Water Hollow
Meteorologist Jim Caldwell gave this graphic concerning snowfall in our area from 1981 to present. I thought it was fairly interesting, especially since I have not been blogging about total snowfall each year here on homesteadblogger. Our current winter season has just about moved into the number 2 spot, now, and with more snow predicted, Jim thinks we could flirt with the number one spot before Spring gets here for good!
I started this blog during the fall of 2006, and I looked back at some of my posts from that winter when I was lamenting the lack of snow that year. According to Jim Eastern Ky had 12 inches of snow that year, but I’m not sure if we even had that much.
We moved to Pure Water Hollow spring of 1993 right after a 24 inch March snow! So I guess of that 36 inches during 92-93 winter we got 2 feet all at once at the end of the season! Our first official winter here was the 93-94 winter, with the 2nd place snowfall amount that will be beaten this current season!
The most memorable part of that 94 winter for us was the extremely cold temperatures. The historical data for record low temperatures show 1994 as a doozy. 4 days in January of 94 hold the record cold for each individual day. January 15th was 7 below zero, Jan 16th was 6 below zero, Jan 19th was 26 below zero, and Jan 20th was 19 below zero! I’m sure many other days was zero and below, but they didn’t break any records. There we were in a 1930s era coal camp house, with blown glass windows that were very loose in their frames (cutains would actually move by the wind with the windows closed), inadequate insulation, inadequate heat, frozen water pipes for weeks, and a 2 year old and a 4 month old baby to care for! Those were some challenging days!
I found this interesting note from the Kentucky Climate Center website. My homestead was not the only one affected in Kentucky that winter:
"As 1930 is to heat waves, 1994 is now to frigid spells. In January, a blizzard coated the landscape with about an inch of ice and topped it with 6-26 inches of snow. Mason County had the heaviest snow accumulation. All state, interstate, and federal highways were closed for two days. Behind the blizzard came the intrusion of arctic air. This one brought frigid weather to all of Kentucky. The morning of 19 January 1994 saw -31°F at Grayson, -32°F at Somerset, -33°F at Cynthiana, a record breaking -35°F at Gray Hawk, and a record smashing -37°F at Shelbyville. One hopes that this record will last a long time."
This historical data was also posted there which I found facinating. I love to imagine myself back in Daniel Boone’s time, but I’m sure I would not have lasted long. Especially considering this kind of winter:
"Cold spells may have been more memorable than hot ones to early settlers who were less well prepared than modern Kentuckians. Historians record the winter of 1779-1780 as the coldest known to that date. Although records of temperatures aren’t available for that winter, the severity is indicated at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where snow continued on the ground from mid November to mid February. For ten days in December 1796, history records that the Ohio River was frozen over to a thickness of nine inches."
I wonder what things looked like here, where Pure Water Hollow Homestead would one day be located? I guess only the animals knew, because I doubt if the Indians would have come over here in weather like that if they didn’t have to!
Anyway, I guess I have rambled on enough. I’ve always thought that Winter is a pretty interesting time here in eastern Kentucky, but I suppose this post will probably be a bore to many who read it.
I wonder what the reamainder of this current winter will turn out to be? Could we really be in line to get another 14 inches of snow and beat the 1995/96 record? If we do, I will probably record something about it right here!
I started this blog during the fall of 2006, and I looked back at some of my posts from that winter when I was lamenting the lack of snow that year. According to Jim Eastern Ky had 12 inches of snow that year, but I’m not sure if we even had that much.
We moved to Pure Water Hollow spring of 1993 right after a 24 inch March snow! So I guess of that 36 inches during 92-93 winter we got 2 feet all at once at the end of the season! Our first official winter here was the 93-94 winter, with the 2nd place snowfall amount that will be beaten this current season!
The most memorable part of that 94 winter for us was the extremely cold temperatures. The historical data for record low temperatures show 1994 as a doozy. 4 days in January of 94 hold the record cold for each individual day. January 15th was 7 below zero, Jan 16th was 6 below zero, Jan 19th was 26 below zero, and Jan 20th was 19 below zero! I’m sure many other days was zero and below, but they didn’t break any records. There we were in a 1930s era coal camp house, with blown glass windows that were very loose in their frames (cutains would actually move by the wind with the windows closed), inadequate insulation, inadequate heat, frozen water pipes for weeks, and a 2 year old and a 4 month old baby to care for! Those were some challenging days!
I found this interesting note from the Kentucky Climate Center website. My homestead was not the only one affected in Kentucky that winter:
"As 1930 is to heat waves, 1994 is now to frigid spells. In January, a blizzard coated the landscape with about an inch of ice and topped it with 6-26 inches of snow. Mason County had the heaviest snow accumulation. All state, interstate, and federal highways were closed for two days. Behind the blizzard came the intrusion of arctic air. This one brought frigid weather to all of Kentucky. The morning of 19 January 1994 saw -31°F at Grayson, -32°F at Somerset, -33°F at Cynthiana, a record breaking -35°F at Gray Hawk, and a record smashing -37°F at Shelbyville. One hopes that this record will last a long time."
This historical data was also posted there which I found facinating. I love to imagine myself back in Daniel Boone’s time, but I’m sure I would not have lasted long. Especially considering this kind of winter:
"Cold spells may have been more memorable than hot ones to early settlers who were less well prepared than modern Kentuckians. Historians record the winter of 1779-1780 as the coldest known to that date. Although records of temperatures aren’t available for that winter, the severity is indicated at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where snow continued on the ground from mid November to mid February. For ten days in December 1796, history records that the Ohio River was frozen over to a thickness of nine inches."
I wonder what things looked like here, where Pure Water Hollow Homestead would one day be located? I guess only the animals knew, because I doubt if the Indians would have come over here in weather like that if they didn’t have to!
Anyway, I guess I have rambled on enough. I’ve always thought that Winter is a pretty interesting time here in eastern Kentucky, but I suppose this post will probably be a bore to many who read it.
I wonder what the reamainder of this current winter will turn out to be? Could we really be in line to get another 14 inches of snow and beat the 1995/96 record? If we do, I will probably record something about it right here!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
3rd Snowiest on Record So Far
I thought this was interesting. According to the weather man in Hazard, this winter has been one for the history books! He said their data only goes back to the early 80s, but according to their records, this current winter comes in third for snowfall in Eastern Kentucky, with a good chance of moving to number 2 after the next system hits this Sunday!
These numbers are especially interesting to me considering we moved to Pure Water Hollow Spring of 93, just in time to get in on the two snowiest winters they have on record!
Here are the numbers Jim Caldwell gives:
These numbers are especially interesting to me considering we moved to Pure Water Hollow Spring of 93, just in time to get in on the two snowiest winters they have on record!
Here are the numbers Jim Caldwell gives:
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Our 4th Winter Storm of the Season: Life Goes On
Here at Pure Water Hollow we are experiencing our 4th good snow of this winter! I haven’t written anything since November, so I thought I would update a little bit about the winter of 09/10.
The first big storm hit eastern Kentucky back on December 18th and 19th when we got about 6 inches of snow and ice here at our home. During this storm we left Pure Water Hollow to visit my mother for the holidays. This was another one of those wet snows that took down trees and power lines! We were only without power for a day or so (which didn’t affect us much since we were out of town) but some of our neighbors were without power through Christmas Day! Other areas were hit even harder and there were reports of students being stranded at their school in Harlan when the snow hit so quickly and it was not possible to get out. Some of those students actually had to stay the night at school!
We got some snow on December 30th and 31st but the next big storm was on January 4th and 5th when we had 5 to 6 inches of snow. During this time was very cold, with tempertures staying below freezing for 2 consecutive weeks. We saw huge ice bergs floating in our river, so if the cold snap had lasted much longer, the river may have frozen over like it did back in 94. But the cold didn’t hold on, and the lows never got below zero like it did in 94.
During this storm, we almost got snowed in at Harlan, KY because that was where our brake line broke as we were on our way home from a fantastic vacation in the Carribean. The brake-line stranded us the night before the storm, just three hours from home! We got it fixed and drove home the next day while the snow was still accumulating! The following days saw us wind down from the trip and get things unpacked and back to normal.
We had a couple of mild, warmer weeks when the maple sap began to flow and I was able to make a couple of jars of maple syrup, but then we had a huge 6-8 inch dry snow on January 29th and 30th. I only measured 6 on the ground here, (with some 10inch drifts) but other areas of our county reported 8 inches on the ground. This was the weekend we decided to butcher one of our hogs, which was cold, but made for a pretty setting also. We did everything ourselves again in our side yard, with Matthew doing the main work. From this 360 pound pig we got several good roasts, made the tenderloin into about 62 delicious thick slices, and are curing about 50 pounds of ham. Lisa also rendered out about 30 pounds of lard which we hope to use some of to make soap. The big success this time has been the sausage, which we wanted to make a lot of if Lisa could get it tasting right. Using sage, pepper, and maple syrup she found the perfect blend! We ended up hand cranking out about 60 pounds of wonderfully delicious mild sausage for the freezer! We have already enjoyed several wonderful meals with the sausage and tenderloin! We have a couple more hogs to butcher that we may do this weekend that we hope to make into more market cuts and less sausage.
Over this past weekend of Feb. 5th – 7th a big snow had been predicted (with possible 6 – 8 inches of white for our area) but it all turned into just rain, which resulted in some minor flodding around here.
Now here we are on February 9th in the midst of our next true winter storm. So far we only have about an inch of snow/ice but the national weather service has issued a winter storm warning for us through tomorrow night with another 3 to 5 inches expected! If the temps cooperate this week, I may be able to boil down some more maple syrup. Yesterday was above freezing and today is expected to rise also as the precipitation changes to rain/freezing rain and then wind chills near zero for tonight, with another warmer day tomorrow. Will it make for a good sap flow? I love it when we can get things done in the middle of winter storms! It makes the storms so much more exciting and enjoyable! (Maybe I’m a bit strange?)
My thoughts and prayers go out to the folks in the DC area, though, who are really getting hammered. I’ve heard that they got about 3 feet of snow from that weekend system and are bracing for another 10 inches from this current system.
Here at Pure Water Hollow, God has been very good to us, and we have been enjoying our winter (more or less). God bless everyone!
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3 comments
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jrejhkids on February 9, 2010 at 8:55 am
We haven't butchered our own hogs yet. Maybe someday. We have butchered some goats and put in the freezer. It is work to do your own meat.
I enjoyed reading your entry. My son left Berea before that last big storm. He spent the week between short term and spring term with his aunt and uncle in Fort Mitchell, KY. He said when he got back that there were huge piles on snow in the parking lots.
We have been getting more snow than we usually do out here. We have had 13 1/2 inches, when we normally get 4-5 inches of snow. We have also had a lot of rain. Hopefully we get more in the mountains so that we have water to irrigate this year.
~Cheryl
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sassyfras on February 9, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Always glad to read your posts, we also have and are having snow. The good thing is around here the more snow we have in Feb. the better the mushroom hunting. I'm not sure as to why but it always happens. Hope you and your family stay well. sherry
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Schatzi on February 9, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Wow…what a crazy winter you are all having. We have had no snow this year…and it's a year for the Olympics here…just bizarre that's for sure.
Thankful you all are fine.
Blessings,
Connie
The first big storm hit eastern Kentucky back on December 18th and 19th when we got about 6 inches of snow and ice here at our home. During this storm we left Pure Water Hollow to visit my mother for the holidays. This was another one of those wet snows that took down trees and power lines! We were only without power for a day or so (which didn’t affect us much since we were out of town) but some of our neighbors were without power through Christmas Day! Other areas were hit even harder and there were reports of students being stranded at their school in Harlan when the snow hit so quickly and it was not possible to get out. Some of those students actually had to stay the night at school!
We got some snow on December 30th and 31st but the next big storm was on January 4th and 5th when we had 5 to 6 inches of snow. During this time was very cold, with tempertures staying below freezing for 2 consecutive weeks. We saw huge ice bergs floating in our river, so if the cold snap had lasted much longer, the river may have frozen over like it did back in 94. But the cold didn’t hold on, and the lows never got below zero like it did in 94.
During this storm, we almost got snowed in at Harlan, KY because that was where our brake line broke as we were on our way home from a fantastic vacation in the Carribean. The brake-line stranded us the night before the storm, just three hours from home! We got it fixed and drove home the next day while the snow was still accumulating! The following days saw us wind down from the trip and get things unpacked and back to normal.
We had a couple of mild, warmer weeks when the maple sap began to flow and I was able to make a couple of jars of maple syrup, but then we had a huge 6-8 inch dry snow on January 29th and 30th. I only measured 6 on the ground here, (with some 10inch drifts) but other areas of our county reported 8 inches on the ground. This was the weekend we decided to butcher one of our hogs, which was cold, but made for a pretty setting also. We did everything ourselves again in our side yard, with Matthew doing the main work. From this 360 pound pig we got several good roasts, made the tenderloin into about 62 delicious thick slices, and are curing about 50 pounds of ham. Lisa also rendered out about 30 pounds of lard which we hope to use some of to make soap. The big success this time has been the sausage, which we wanted to make a lot of if Lisa could get it tasting right. Using sage, pepper, and maple syrup she found the perfect blend! We ended up hand cranking out about 60 pounds of wonderfully delicious mild sausage for the freezer! We have already enjoyed several wonderful meals with the sausage and tenderloin! We have a couple more hogs to butcher that we may do this weekend that we hope to make into more market cuts and less sausage.
Over this past weekend of Feb. 5th – 7th a big snow had been predicted (with possible 6 – 8 inches of white for our area) but it all turned into just rain, which resulted in some minor flodding around here.
Now here we are on February 9th in the midst of our next true winter storm. So far we only have about an inch of snow/ice but the national weather service has issued a winter storm warning for us through tomorrow night with another 3 to 5 inches expected! If the temps cooperate this week, I may be able to boil down some more maple syrup. Yesterday was above freezing and today is expected to rise also as the precipitation changes to rain/freezing rain and then wind chills near zero for tonight, with another warmer day tomorrow. Will it make for a good sap flow? I love it when we can get things done in the middle of winter storms! It makes the storms so much more exciting and enjoyable! (Maybe I’m a bit strange?)
My thoughts and prayers go out to the folks in the DC area, though, who are really getting hammered. I’ve heard that they got about 3 feet of snow from that weekend system and are bracing for another 10 inches from this current system.
Here at Pure Water Hollow, God has been very good to us, and we have been enjoying our winter (more or less). God bless everyone!
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3 comments
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jrejhkids on February 9, 2010 at 8:55 am
We haven't butchered our own hogs yet. Maybe someday. We have butchered some goats and put in the freezer. It is work to do your own meat.
I enjoyed reading your entry. My son left Berea before that last big storm. He spent the week between short term and spring term with his aunt and uncle in Fort Mitchell, KY. He said when he got back that there were huge piles on snow in the parking lots.
We have been getting more snow than we usually do out here. We have had 13 1/2 inches, when we normally get 4-5 inches of snow. We have also had a lot of rain. Hopefully we get more in the mountains so that we have water to irrigate this year.
~Cheryl
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sassyfras on February 9, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Always glad to read your posts, we also have and are having snow. The good thing is around here the more snow we have in Feb. the better the mushroom hunting. I'm not sure as to why but it always happens. Hope you and your family stay well. sherry
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Schatzi on February 9, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Wow…what a crazy winter you are all having. We have had no snow this year…and it's a year for the Olympics here…just bizarre that's for sure.
Thankful you all are fine.
Blessings,
Connie
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