It has been far too long since this blog saw an update! But I’m glad to announce we’ve got a fresh batch of containers ready to be filled with sweet ‘Adirondack Gold’ this season.
Out in the sugarbush, the lines are in good shape, and a good chunk of the new droplines have been made. (Droplines are short stretches of tubing affixed with a tap, which are replaced each season to avoid bacteria build-up.) We’ll be cleaning up some larger trees with the chainsaw soon, which came down in some heavy wind last week, but all-in-all things looks good.
Last year’s drought in much of New York may result in a lower concentration of sugar in the sap, but time will tell how our trees will be affected. Sap is normally about 2% sugar – you need to boil down about 40 gallons of sap at this level to make 1 gallon of syrup. If the sugar content of the sap falls to 1%, it will take 80 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup – in other words, a LOT more time and energy! Here’s hoping we stay around the 2% mark.
With this warm spell, I’m also about ready to go jump into my garden. This year’s mantra is ‘mulch, mulch, mulch’ as opposed to last year’s, which went something like ‘how did all these weeds get here!?’
Beane Hill Farm 