...in this washer. It failed and I wasn't going to buy the first one I saw and bring someone else's problems home. (Plus some of those available at the time weren't close - that's 60+ miles away when you live in the country).
So during the time it took to find an acceptable replacement friends equipped us to wash clothes the old fashioned way. At first it didn't seem so bad, but that thought only lasted a few moments once I tried doing my own load. A washing machine is a tremendous time saving (and soap saving) invention. (The blue plunger in the right bottom corner was used on clothes in a five gallon bucket as an alternative to the washboards.)
Besides washing in the 1880s way, we also used the device on the right. It worked surprisingly well – adding hot water and sealing the lid pressurizes it which pushes detergent into the clothing. The problem with both methods is that you can’t do large loads (well, you can if you have many hours to dedicate to laundry).
Maple sap collection continues (Squeaky is draining a collection bucket into a transfer bucket).
And the initial production of syrup has been impressive. It has a strong pleasant flavor other than simply being sweet which I haven't tasted in other maple syrups. TJ had the finesse of a lab technician as he further refined his pilot batch in the kitchen.
TJ also makes excellent pizza, the crust is made out of Kamut (an ancient grain), I could use a slice as a write this. (The piece of paper in the bottom left corner is made out of nothing).
And the next item on the todo list: excavation. We'll see how far I get before the next post.
Wow, what a great idea...washing in the bath tub wearing your clothes. The ladies were doing double duty. It looked they were having much too much fun!! How many maple trees was TJ able to tap? How much syrup did he get with the finished product? We will have to remember the next time we want to pizza to have Mr. TJ over:) Those looked like some great pizzas.
ReplyDelete15 trees and 18 taps as of this writing, we are 17 to 24 gallons of sap to 1 gallon of syrup which is exceptionally good (based on my limited understanding of this). The range can go up to 60 sap to 1 gallon syrup.
DeleteThat is really good sap. Have you all tried the syrup yet? If so, how did it taste? I know it won't even come close to that corn syrup stuff they sell in the store:) HAHAHAHA! That sounds different now that I have gone back and read it. I KNOW your syrup will be a million percent better!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, had it this morning for the first time on pancakes, it was excellent, all of us licked the plates clean (literally, we could not let a drop go to waste). After learning more about corn syrup we're going to stay far away from it as if it were depleted uranium rods.
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