My syrup arrived today and I had to brag about it. Pancake supper tonight! I thought the price was good, knowing how much work it takes to produce syrup. We make a bit of birch syrup every spring and man, it takes a lot of sap not to mention firewood. We just reduce it on the woodstove over time so it's not that much extra work. Unfortunately, all our birch trees are sucumbing to the Bronze Birch Borer here in the Northwest.

Support our homesteaders, buy Sunny Slopes Farm Pure Maple Syrup!

-- Tis I (really_tis_i@yahoo.com), March 21, 2002

Answers

Well thanks (blush, blush) I appreciate that. Can you see me taking bows? We think it's great but it's always nice to hear someone else say so. You hadn't told me about the birch syrup. Do you tap the trees like we do for maple? And what is the reduction ratio? Interesting.

-- Rosalie (Dee) in IN (deatline@globalsite.netq), March 21, 2002.

Doubtful, I use a brace and half inch bit to bore the trees and four inch garden hose sections for taps, gallon plastic milk jugs for sap buckets and used plastic baling twine to tie the jugs to the trees. I don't know what the reduction ratio is but it must be somewhere between 80 and 100 to 1. Like I said we do it on the wood stove in stainless steel stock pots. Sometimes it starts to look like a sauna in here, but a sweet smelling sauna.

You can see its a whole lot of work for very little return, but it helps to cure spring fever.

-- Tis I (really_tis_i@yahoo.com), March 21, 2002.

I made maple syrup for the first time this year. I only got a pint of the finished product but man is it ever good. I plan to make more next year. Does Sunny Slopes Farm have a web site?

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), March 22, 2002.

No website. I wish but we're not that "advanced" I guess. Actually, I don't know how to do one. We just do the syrup and get the word out whenever and wherever we can. We are listed on Local Harvest http://www.localharvest.org/index.jsp tho. We're very involved in the Indiana Maple Syrup Association as PR persons so we spend a lot of time helping new syrup-makers with information, etc.

-- Rosalie (Dee) in IN (deatline@globalsite.net), March 22, 2002.

Barb, a couple of websites you might like are, the Indiana Maple Syrup Association's site at http://ipad.mcsc.k12.in.us/isma/#anchor124327 and also you can access the entire USDA American Maple Journal at HTTP://ohioline.AG.ohio-state.edu then go to Bulletins and at the bottom line chose go to bulletins and use 856. The whole thing is there to either read or download all or parts.

-- Rosalie (Dee) in IN (deatline@globalsite.net), March 22, 2002.

Thanks Rosalie!

-- Barb in Ky (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), March 22, 2002.