We planned to put it up at the end of the summer, when we first finished the new sap barn, but of course, stuff intervened. We wound up heaving this 600-gallon monster steel tank up into the loft only after the first snows had come, making it all the harder and heavier. The opening up [...]

We took down the old greenhouse where we used to keep our main sap tank and its vacuum system, replacing it with the “sap barn,” a two-story affair that Robert and the boys put up in a few weeks over the summer. The barn itself is nice enough, but there are a couple special features [...]

Things get a little punchy in the sugarhouse after a few hours of boiling. It’s not that infrequent that we wind up overfilling our concentrate tank, allowing it to foam over and start dripping down on us from the rafters. Invariably someone is square under it when that happens. But on a hot, 60-degree day [...]

Another reader question:
I am looking for some help in my own attempt at maple sugaring. This is the first time we have ever attempted this, and the syrup we produced has a very off flavor. Almost like rotten fruit? Any tips? -Tara
There are a few things that can cause these off flavors in maple syrup. [...]

We boiled on the new “monster” arch today for the first time, and it was fantastic.
First, though, we tricked a bunch of friends that it would be fun to “take a walk” in the woods. We have very gullible friends, and they found themselves looking for and fixing vacuum leaks. Here is one hapless victim [...]