Those of you with a first hand awareness of a certain NC high school
principal will know this title phrase refers to more than maple trees.
In this case it also purports more than sap, but does in part refer to
maple sap. At the suggestion and tap provision by our friend Aaron, we have tapped a large sugar maple in our back yard. I have always held a fondness and fascination with maple syrup, but have never actually tapped a tree. It will be interesting to see what we get from this tree. It was really flowing when we tapped it. I have visions of 30-40 taped maple trees in our back forested property. However, we seem to have pert-near every tree possible, except maples. Maybe we will get enough for a pint of syrup.
Other activities worth reporting is the ongoing life-cycle of our dead barn. The barn is nearly disassembled (thanks again to some hard work on Aaron's part). We have been able to save a lot of good materials and recycled others. I took a trailer load of scrap metal to the scrap yard last week and walked away with over $120. There is much more to go, including some rather large pieces of aluminum. During this process I have discovered that I have major hoarding instincts when it comes to pieces of metal and wood. I've had to make some hard calls on scraping some metal versus saving it for future welding projects. The fact that the scrap yard is paying over $200 per ton has helped me with some tough decisions. I will, however, hang on to most of a pile of angle iron we uncovered. That will be the frame to the new brewing system. We also found some interesting things that will either be sold to someone interested, or become part of something interested in the future shop. For example, this really interesting emblem from a Buick was discovered. I think it is from the 20s. We also found a floor pump for an old Ford.
It has taken WAY longer than we had anticipated, but we are closing in on the new building and retail shop. Looks like it is going to be a busy, but fun and productive spring. After all, that is what risin' sap is all about!
