Thanks for visiting this website where every few days I will document the goings on, on this farm. 20 years ago I moved my family in an old pick-up truck to he hills of Holmes county, Ohio to live a more sustainable life. What an adventure it has been. 20 years later and the kids are grown, the house is empty and the next steps remain.

Well it's maple syrup season here in Ohio and this weekend we gathered the second run of the year. it's a bit earlier than last year when our first boil didn't happen until the beginning of March. 
As of Saturday the 6th we have collected over 3,000 gallons at a sugar content of 2.6%, using the "rule of 86" you divide 86 by the sugar content and that tells you how many gallons of sap will be needed to make a gallon of finished syrup. So.........86/2.6=33.076 our first 2 runs should yield 90 gallons of pure maple goodness. I'll let you know how if we're close.

This year my neighbor, David Miller and his company ,Paint Valley Maple, are doing our boiling. I have maxed out my capacity to boil and without spending thousands on equipment would not be able to keep up with all the taps we've added. New this year also we are experimenting with 3/16 tubing linking up to 55 trees together and running downhill to create a natural vacuum on the trees resulting in higher sap yields without the expense of a pump and releaser. It also simplifies collecting as we just pick up a 250 gallon cube with the tractor.

We will continue to hand gather which I enjoy and occasionally "The Gazelle" can be seen sprinting through our woods. Ask Brett he'll 'splain what I'm talking about.

February 6, 2016