Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[MrsNorthie]

I'm a big, big fan of tree syrup. We live in a place just cool enough to have sap flow a few weeks in January-February. I tap about 6 maple and black walnut trees to see what we get (as you can see, my setup is casual/affordable).

Since the hard freeze let up, the trees are giving 1-2 gallons of sap a day. Of course, 2-3 gallons of sap boil down to under 1/4 c of syrup

View attachment 4039053
View attachment 4039052

It's so much work. Tapping with frozen fingers and numb toes, walking a mile through the woods every day with a heavy backpack full of sap jugs...all for enough syrup for a stack of pancakes It's exquisite, though.

View attachment 4039051

We used to make gallons of the stuff on the farm in VT. Sell the fancy and keep the darker stuff for our own use. My favourite use was homemade maple walnut ice cream, homemade sap and cream from our own lovely cows. That had to be healthy, right?? ;-)

 

[BDutch]

I will have a discussion with Piglet and Pooh (who seem closest) later today.
Calypso is still molting and Tassels lays very few eggs so who knows with her.
Sylvie might surprise me.
I am waiting anxiously.

I have two oldies with red combs, who come to me for a ‘pat’ on the back. Waiting anxiously too.
Hopefully they will surprise me soon with a couple of small creamy white eggs.

 

[RoyalChick]

I'm a big, big fan of tree syrup. We live in a place just cool enough to have sap flow a few weeks in January-February. I tap about 6 maple and black walnut trees to see what we get (as you can see, my setup is casual/affordable).

Since the hard freeze let up, the trees are giving 1-2 gallons of sap a day. Of course, 2-3 gallons of sap boil down to under 1/4 c of syrup

View attachment 4039053
View attachment 4039052

It's so much work. Tapping with frozen fingers and numb toes, walking a mile through the woods every day with a heavy backpack full of sap jugs...all for enough syrup for a stack of pancakes It's exquisite, though.

View attachment 4039051

I have many black walnut trees - I didn't know they produced good sap for syrup. How do you go from sap to syrup?

 

[Shadrach]

Two hours today. 5C. The wind has backed off at last. Everybody came out looking more comfortable than recently.
This picture shows something that I find interesting. Tull, who is with Henry on the right of the picture is the only hen laying. The non layers tend to stay with mum Fret. When it comes to food not only does Henry give priority to the laying hens but the others seem to as well. Tull, who is the most junior behaves more like Sylph did when she was laying. She'll happily snatch food from any of the others and mostly they put up with it. Everybody cooperating to further the genes (?)
She's flat out foraging when she's out on the field.
I did her legs again today. Her legs are in the best condition and I'm trying to keep them that way. Sylph's legs have improved but her feet are still a mess. They're improving but I think treatment is going to be an ongoing task for life.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Yeah, we tap our trees here too. I will never go back to 'fake' syrup! But I agree, it's a lot of work, hence the high price.

We used to make gallons of the stuff on the farm in VT. Sell the fancy and keep the darker stuff for our own use.

Up there in the heart of sugaring country, I bet you all ended up with a whole lot more syrup than we do down here! How long does the sap flow in Vermont and Canada?

I have many black walnut trees - I didn't know they produced good sap for syrup. How do you go from sap to syrup?

You can apparently tap sycamores and birches, too. Our black walnuts are gangbusters this year. Maples are better than they've been, but the last great maple year we had was 2018.

Sap is basically slightly sweet water, and you boil the liquid out of it until it turns to syrup. Takes 8-9 hours to boil down 3 gallons in my hillbilly setup on the porch (gotta do it outside or your whole kitchen will be sticky from the sugar vapor!).

I bet your sap won't flow for, what, another month that far north? If you want to try it, you can get all you need with a few quick internet searches. There are far more efficient setups than mine if you want to spend more.

The nuances between black walnut and maple syrups are akin to the differences between, say, sourwood and tupelo honey. There's certainly a difference, but it's all sweet in the end!

 

[Canadian Wind]

Up there in the heart of sugaring country, I bet you all ended up with a whole lot more syrup than we do down here! How long does the sap flow in Vermont and Canada?

It all depends on the year. Temperatures must be above freezing during the day but below overnight. Last year, we had an extremely long mild weather stretch during late January/early February. So the syrup farmers got a bumper crop.

Usually, those temperatures are reached in March around here. Usually for a few weeks, but again it all depends.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Sugar tax: last week when the sun peeked out for the first time in a long time, and everybirdy got excited about fresh food.

 

[RoyalChick]

It all depends on the year. Temperatures must be above freezing during the day but below overnight. Last year, we had an extremely long mild weather stretch during late January/early February. So the syrup farmers got a bumper crop.

Usually, those temperatures are reached in March around here. Usually for a few weeks, but again it all depends.

Sounds like the perfect time for me is right now! Need to get some equipment asap. As it happens I am nearly out of a big bottle of maple syrup given to me by a Canadian friend so this is very timely.
Thank you all for sharing the knowledge. Perhaps those with black walnuts can also share how to open the nuts!

 

[Canadian Wind]

Here's my tax, Rudy's first egg!

 

[Sally PB]

that if you can't find the ingredient in your cupboard then it is wise to be very carefull about stuffing it down ones greedy burp.

Amen.