Sweet Sap

I just came across this nifty little chart that measures water-use for things like a 16oz. soda and one (1) pound of beef, along with alternatives that save quite a bit of water....interesting! Ch-ch-ch-check it!! About to head up to an Easter Sunday Pot Luck and then to the Purple Fiddle for some tribal-fused electronica from National Hotel....a new one for them, as far as I know!

A few weeks ago the sweet maple sap was flowing steady. Mr. Karl, Ty, Benny and Mo capitalized on the moment and spent some dedicated energy to collecting and boiling sap, filtering and bottling syrup, and putting it out to market! After a big boil I collected some last bits of sap (probably about 50 gallons…) and with help from Mo, Max, and Sheena, was able to make some super dark grade B syrup.

Thanks to Max’s ingeniousness, we sped up the process by placing a long metal pipe into the fire and used Mo’s forging blower to crank out the heat! It worked superbly and I got to finish up and hit the hay by midnight instead of a few hours later!

Mo melting into the sky, soon to crank the blower!

Fire box and a warping pan...

Karl should still have some syrup at for sale Hellbender Burritos (which is the only place in the county, perhaps most counties, maybe the state (?) that makes their own seitan! You guys rock!). Buy Local and Feel Good about it!

Karl’s big brother, Nick Waite, is in town with the honey and some friends. His blog is pretty darn fun to check out as he has been a bike messenger in Manhattan for a while now. ALERT! If you want to see him, perhaps he will be at the show tonight….MORE reasons to come out to Thomas. Oh yeah, Nick gave me full permission to advertise his TC appearance….no reservations required…and it’s FREE!

Happy Holiday now!

A shot looking west from the south side of Canaan Valley....oh to truly enjoy nature.