Two days ago we boiled a gallon of maple syrup. It took around 8 hours. That is one pint an hour!!
Our three-pan setup.
With a total surface area of 900 square inches, we let the boil roil! That was a key to getting the mix of hardwood and Pine coals to keep a nice steady heat. The first pan catches the cold sap and quickly brings it to temperature. The second two pans boil the sap, and we add to them from the first. We finish the syrup on a small soup pot over the propane flame.
Here’s my new haircut, but it does not make sap boil.
Today we have around 30 gallons of sap to boil. Eight hours at 1 pint and hour = 50 gallons of sap. So 30 gallons of sap is a little more than four hours of boiling or one-half gallon. Wish us luck.
Mo in the steamMy mom, Betsy, and family friend Kobe enjoy the Three-Seater bench The dogs, Bizzle and Bella, being split up. They were just playin’
The other morning I was out painting a scene I’ve already posted. Well, having not seen anyone on the trail that morning, I decided to practice connecting with trees.
Painting of the Wild Marsh
Having just read the “Trees” section of Heaven is a Garden,” by Jan Johnson, I decided to test the ideas she put forward about tree energy. Pines offer clarity, and to connect with this energy you must sit under, or put two hands on the tree. Think of your dilemmas, and let you mind go blank. Whether something comes to you or not, remember to thank the tree.
Here, Maurice is conjuring the maple to produce good flavors from its sap to boil into maple syrup.
While I was touching the tree, I had the subtle idea to go down to the marsh further up the trail. I thanked the tree, and walked to the marsh. Upon facing the treeless expanse, I saw a white creature walking around. “A sheep,” I thought to myself. And processed it’s low squat as that of a domesticated animal. It didn’t make sense, though, as I saw white tails flipping up and around the white sheep. It was a herd of White Tailed Deer. This cannot be a sheep. It must be an albino deer.
Dark marsh, white deer.
Pretty cool. I was moved by the service the tree meditation played, I was also relieved to see an animal in pure white// it was like seeing a unicorn. I decided to sit and paint the scene, as shown above. I have not added the white deer, but I did add White Birch to the scene, which actually existed throughout the marsh.
White Birch grows almost anywhere, including sandy slopes and marshes.
Hiking in Durham years ago, I found an extension of College Woods. As I am rediscovering Durham, I went to go check it out.
That’s me back there, getting a visual for scale.
Red Pines, naturally found on dry, rocky slopes, were once planted as a replacement for the Eastern White Pine. A fungal blight between 1930 – 1960 prompted plantations of Red Pine to crop up throughout the state (Wessels, 31).
I started with a feel for the tree stand I admired.
The pine trees themselves are impressive: standing 50 – 60’ high, they stand as high or higher than the nearby Pine and Hemlocks. What more impressive, is they are so straight. Western sun struck by the grove and cut their colors in half, and it also covered the forest floor with light.
I made a sketch of the site to catch the human activity there.
There’s a ton of recreation activity in this half of College Woods. I see people running, hiking, and biking regularly there. The Downeaster train runs nearby! Whether I capture the scene or it’s activity remains to be seen.
I am hesitant to add people to an already busy scene, but may need to to complete it!
The afternoon crowd is pretty busy here. I wonder if it’s the same for the morning…
Chadd G Hippensteel 