I just did a cleanup of some files on my computer though and I found some old ones I forgot to post. Matt is from a SUPER tiny town about an hour and a half outside of Halifax and usually once a month we will go up to visit his family. Well one time we were up I brought my old Rebel with me and I let his mom borrow it. She really enjoys taking photographs and I thought she might like to play with an dSLR instead of her point and shoot. When explaining how to control aperture and shutter speed and all that jazz I took some photos to emphasize my points. Here are the results.. :)
We also just happened to be up there also last weekend and I got some more photos. I am warning you, you will be seeing lots of these in the next few weeks. Matt's dad's side of the family runs a tiny "sugar camp" where they make maple syrup. I have NEVER been to one of these camps so it's been a real treat to see how it works. Unfortunately we couldn't get up there the weekend they were fixing all of the lines to the trees but we did get up in time to do the tapping. Basically you have a few teams of 2-3 people and you walk up all the different lines (fix any more that need fixing on the way) and you drill holes in the trees, take the little plastic thingy (technical, I know) and hammer it into the whole. The little plastic thingy is connected to a connecting line which is connected to another line for that grouping of trees, which is connected to the main line and the main line goes into the BIG tank down by the cabin/camp.
There are some rules in tapping though that I didn't know before I went. Like you should tap within a few inches of above a previous hole because above that hole kind of dies. Also you should always try to tap on the Southern side of the tree because that is the side that gets the most sun. Now, what would the importance of sun be you might ask? Well (I probably won't explain this right but...) in order to get a consistent and good supply of sap running to the tank you have to have very cold nights so the sap will freeze and very warm days so it can thaw and flow up the tree. I'm guessing (so please don't quote me on this) that when the tree stops getting super cold and freezing it knows the seasons are changing and once it gets warm it stops sending sap up to the branches and that's not good when you are trying to harvest the sap.
Well, enough talking eh? Here are some photos from the adventure. Next weekend we will be heading up again and this time we will actually be making the syrup :) Yummmmmmy!
Matt's dad tapping some trees.
This is the little plastic thingy that goes in the tree. Understand what I'm talking about now?
This is the lobster.. Explanation below..
I have never actually seen the workings of a wood pecker. Poor tree!
Matt <3
Fixing the line. Once the season is over they clean out the lines but sometimes sap will get on them and animals such as squirrels will eat through the line.
Oh god. Give me a break! It was cold outside and I wasn't planning on being in any photos! Jeesh people. ;)
Ok, so everyone, this is the lobster.. Lobster, this is everyone. Basically the lobster has 3 functions, it can cut the line, stretch the ends of the line and put connectors in the line. Questions?
We happened to go up one of the lines that was buried in snow/ice for about 10 feet. The boys dug it out while I laid down and stared into the sky. Lucky me :)
We stayed at Matt's mom's place and she had these really pretty tulips :)
And also a lot of antique items, including this scale.
There are some rules in tapping though that I didn't know before I went. Like you should tap within a few inches of above a previous hole because above that hole kind of dies. Also you should always try to tap on the Southern side of the tree because that is the side that gets the most sun. Now, what would the importance of sun be you might ask? Well (I probably won't explain this right but...) in order to get a consistent and good supply of sap running to the tank you have to have very cold nights so the sap will freeze and very warm days so it can thaw and flow up the tree. I'm guessing (so please don't quote me on this) that when the tree stops getting super cold and freezing it knows the seasons are changing and once it gets warm it stops sending sap up to the branches and that's not good when you are trying to harvest the sap.
Well, enough talking eh? Here are some photos from the adventure. Next weekend we will be heading up again and this time we will actually be making the syrup :) Yummmmmmy!
Matt's dad tapping some trees.
This is the little plastic thingy that goes in the tree. Understand what I'm talking about now?
This is the lobster.. Explanation below..
I have never actually seen the workings of a wood pecker. Poor tree!
Matt <3
Fixing the line. Once the season is over they clean out the lines but sometimes sap will get on them and animals such as squirrels will eat through the line.
Oh god. Give me a break! It was cold outside and I wasn't planning on being in any photos! Jeesh people. ;)
Ok, so everyone, this is the lobster.. Lobster, this is everyone. Basically the lobster has 3 functions, it can cut the line, stretch the ends of the line and put connectors in the line. Questions?
We happened to go up one of the lines that was buried in snow/ice for about 10 feet. The boys dug it out while I laid down and stared into the sky. Lucky me :)
We stayed at Matt's mom's place and she had these really pretty tulips :)
And also a lot of antique items, including this scale.
Happy late Thursday/early Friday everyone! Maybe this will be a two post day?
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