March Update: From Backyard Sugarer to Commercial Syrup Production
March 11.
Good News!
Doug Munroe received news that he has been awarded a grant from the Tobacco Community Reinvestment Fund to jump start his project.
This resource is offered by the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI). Here's a link to the current grant recipient projects (2009)...Doug's effort will be right at home!!:
This means it's official. Doug will be able to move forward with putting in place the infrastructure needed to shift to full scale syrup production. This is exciting. This effort will serve as a very strong example of how a nearby land owners may make a living by sustainably harvesting natural resources on their land. This project will provide details of how to make the transition. There are plans to provide demonstrations and/or seminars for other farmers in the area, using Doug's effort as an example. Details on the timing of these small events will be shared as they are scheduled.
Bad News!
Because of the recent rise in popularity of syrup production it appears North Carolina will begin regulating maple syrup production and sale. Up until recently, one could make syrup in the backyard and sell it at the local market without regulation. It appears this will no longer be the case. What does this mean for Doug and other farmers making the transition? ...added costs for the farmer. Doug's plans for the sugar house will probably have to change. He may be required to have a certified kitchen (including water heater, stainless steel equipment, pipes, etc.) which will increase his cost substantially. Doug has been informed that regulations have already been put in place!! It is probable that the effort to bring greater awareness to local sustainability brought about this change. An article in "Our State Magazine" featured the maple syrup farmer. The word is getting out. Too bad increased popularity means increased regulations.
This year's harvest was modest.
On the side of that mountain, two feet of snow and 3-4 foot drifts has made getting around a bit of a challenge. Doug exclaimed," I haven't seen snow and cold like this since the 1970's!". Even with the recent influx of warmth, on Tuesday he still reported 6 inches of snow in the open fields.
On Sunday Doug hauled 80 gallons of sap to the cooker. By Tuesday (at the time of the interview for this article) he
had collected 20 additional gallons. This year's snowy and cold February only produced 1 quart of maple syrup. So far March has produced 1.5 gallons. The adverse weather has caused a very late sap drop. Doug still cooks his sap over burning wood, all of which is gathered from the forest floor around his house. I remember how challenging it was to gather this wood last year! This year, Doug dealt with deep snow and did wood collection without the large group of wood-gathering volunteers! Believe it or not, he is hoping for another spell of very cold weather. It is the cold night and subsequent warm day that brings more sap!
All Photographs in this posting taken by Patrick Considine
Links to prior articles:
Introduction 2009
November update, 2009
December update, 2009
February update, 2010
Summer Update, 2010
Icebergs in Virginia's Blue Ridge?
Here's a glimpse of what is probably a very uncommon wintertime event in Virginia.
Story and photographs from the New River Highlands of SW Virginia:
"We have been watching the ice form for several weeks since the record breaking cold snap... 5 straight days below 20 and then 12'' of very wet snow (in which the moisture ratio equivalent makes it more like 20''). The ice was so thick that A and E walked across with the New River raging under them...
A few days later we had heavy rains and it appears that the water washed over the ice to form layers of clear and blue slabs of ice, some 10' thick. As the run off swelled the river, this powerful force lifted the ice and deposited it on the banks, stripping the bark off all the trees along the river. Heavy equipment was brought in to remove the ice from the road at the Round House [an historic structure
adjacent
to the river]."
"...the old timers say they have never seen this before. "
-
Mike Floyd
Location:
Along the New River in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. Photos by Jane and Mike Floyd:
I consider these images to be vessels for time-travel!... a brief glimpse into the distant past, to a time closer to the last ice age, when the New River must have been churning with chunks of ice all through the winter up there in the Blue Ridge. And if you would like to stretch the imagination a bit further, try and imagine Taiga forests (fir, spruce, and birch dominated) covering the landscape behind the
ice blocks
, and a Tundra-capped Mount Rogers area in the distance...with herds of
and
roaming open areas, and
and
lurking in the shadows.
- devin floyd
More images of the ice phenomenon, taken along a tributary of the New River:
November Update: From Backyard Sugarer to Commercial Syrup Production
November 1, 2009
Doug has graded the yard behind his house in preparation for building a syrup processing house. The building will be constructed from timber
harvested from his land during recent thinning. This thinning was done by
out of Todd, North Carolina using sustainable and low-impact techniques. The wood will be milled at a local mill this winter so it will be ready for construction next year. In addition to using the wood from his property for construction needs, a large recycled greenhouse frame will be incorporated.
Doug is currently planning to install tubing to the trees down slope from his house. He is plotting the main line of tubing using string. This main line will connect nearly 100 taps and plotting its path has been a challenge because of the steep and varied slopes. The line must run consistently uphill while hitting as many trees as possible. The tubes will create an airtight system and thus a vacuum. This greatly increases sap flow as it draws the liquid from the trees. He expects the output to be significantly more this coming winter. A 100 gallon tank will be placed at the bottom of this tubing run and the sap will be transported to the site of production further up the hill after the sap has dropped...saving lots of time and sweat. Last year small buckets and jugs of sap were muscled up the hill to be processed!
Links to other updates:
November
, 2010
From Backyard Sugarer to Commercial Syrup Production
Introduction to the Project:
BRDC’s Doug Munroe of Warrensville, North Carolina lives along the northwest edge of the Amphibolite Mountains. He has worked this rocky slope for 34 years and currently operates a tree nursery there. The land rests at an elevation of about 3,400 feet upon very rich amphibolite soils. The mountain directly behind his house climbs to a height of 4,600 feet, a transition that happens in less than a half a mile. Very rich soils, very high rainfall amounts, and high elevations have created a forest dominated by yellow poplar and sugar maple. Selectively cutting the poplars is increasing the already dominate presence of Sugar Maple trees. It is Doug's hope to soon utilize this forest of Sugar Maples for commercial maple syrup production. With some simple improvements to techniques of harvesting and processing sap he plans to produce about 15 gallons of syrup this coming year.
Doug is seeking a grant from the Tobacco Community Reinvestment Fund to jump start this project. This resource is offered by the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI). RAFI "cultivates markets, policies and communities that support thriving, socially just and environmentally sound family farms" (see link to website below). It is hoped that this grant will cover the costs of purchasing an evaporator, a tube cleaner and a 750 gallon sap tank. The evaporator will allow for syrup production to increase 3-fold above the current capacity.
Links:
Doug is seeking a grant offered by:
(Specific information about the reinvestment fund :
www.rafiusa.org/programs/tobacco/tobacco.html
)
Links to other updates:
Introduction
, 2010
Brilliant Yellow!
The children and I were riding home in the car the other day and there, on the side of the road, was the most brilliant color of yellow I have seen in a long time. I just had to stop and take a picture of it. The closer I got I was able to discover that it was a cluster of mushrooms. Now I had never seen this mushroom before and the people in the house must of thought I was crazy but there I stood taking picture after picture. Once we arrived at home I took out the ole trusty Audubon Field Guide of North American Mushrooms and looked it up. Found out it is an edible mushroom in the Chanterelles family. It is in fact the Canterellus cibarius. How I wish it grew in my yard, I would have loved to try it. They say that they smell like sweet apricots and taste sweet as well. Without being able to get real close to see the underside of the mushroom I didn't dare pick it (not only because it wasn't in my yard but because of the fakers that try to resemble it that are poisonous.) Maybe you can tell if it is in fact the edible species.
-Cindy