OK, so it's been since last season that I posted anything, and even then I didn't keep up. Hopefully I can do a better job this year. This is a pre-sesason post, I guess. This is the time of year we start thinking about getting things ready for next season, and time for the Indiana Maple Syrup Association annual meeting. There are usually a couple of speakers there and several vendors so you can check out equipment and other sugaring stuff up close instead of just looking in a catalog or online.

Last year ended up being really great, we made over 40 gallons of syrup which was about 7 gallons more than we had ever made. We ran out of containers and had to use every mason jar we had around from when we first started.

Since the cost of LP has gone up so much we're going back to wood...that means we need to invest in some firebricks and doors for the evaporator, but the total cost should be less than the cost of gas was last year. Hopefully we can keep making about the same amount of syrup.

Unlike past years we have decided not to increase the number of taps we're using...we'll see what happens.