Spring 2019 New England Banter and Disco

[tamarack]

34 minutes ago, Angus said:

Roxbury Maine I presume. That area between Rumford and Oquossoc is rural. Just looking at a map...there is a wind farm that parallels rt. 17 now. I've never drive 17 in winter, I imagine one big frost heave!

17 is a fun drive, and in my experience has no worse than average frost heaves.  That said, the average on secondary roads in Maine is pretty bumpy.  Looks like that camp is on Roxbury Pond, which is at 815' according to G.E.  House would be a wee bit higher. 

Rt 17 climbs to 2,300' just north of the "height of land" turnout with its oft-photographed view of Mooselook Lake and the mountains beyond.  Lands managed by our agency on Richardsontown make up much of the non-mountain forest in that view.

[dryslot]

4 minutes ago, tamarack said:

17 is a fun drive, and in my experience has no worse than average frost heaves.  That said, the average on secondary roads in Maine is pretty bumpy.  Looks like that camp is on Roxbury Pond, which is at 815' according to G.E.  House would be a wee bit higher. 

Rte 201 to Jackman is a real treat as well, You want to wear a mouth guard when you travel that road.

[tamarack]

1 minute ago, dryslot said:

Rte 201 to Jackman is a real treat as well, You want to wear a mouth guard when you travel that road.

And the traffic goes a whole lot faster on 201.  That gave birth to the story of a fellow from Quebec who got pulled over for driving almost 100 mph in Maine on the interstate.  "But sir," he protested, "the sign says 95!"  The officer politely told him that was the road number, not the speed limit.  "Oh - I'm glad you didn't see me on 201 south of Jackman."

[#NoPoles]

Full rainbow halo around the sun today. First time i have ever seen a complete halo...also might be the last time because i may have burnt my retinas

[Lava Rock]

Can't see Northfield from here, but I'm sure folks here know that totals can vary across a short distance (both horizontal and vertical.)  On March 10 my pack was 1" taller than at the Farmington co-op.  On March 29 (their data for 30-31 not yet on Climod) I had 11" more.  My place in the woods holds pack well, though most near the house are bare-limbed ash and maple.  The Farmington site is more open, with scattered trees.

Nice clean-looking snowbanks at Roxbury.  Do you know the elevation there?

Not off hand. They are right on Roxbury Pond. I want to say around 700'

Couple pics from last Summer

[dryslot]

Just now, Lava Rock said:

Not off hand. They are right on Roxbury Pond. I want to say around 700'

I went to a wedding there this past fall, Its a nice area, The wedding was outdoors and the temp got down to 30°F in early September, Folks were a little bit under dressed............lol

[tamarack]

32 minutes ago, Lava Rock said:

Not off hand. They are right on Roxbury Pond. I want to say around 700'

Couple pics from last Summer

Lovely pics.  My earlier post noted that Google Earth listed 815' as the elevation of the pond.  Those pics suggest the camp is on the lee shore for NW winds, which would mean a lot of drifting once the ice has caught.

[mreaves]

2 hours ago, dendrite said:

 

Punt it. He's the yellow dot. You can put a little blue dot in for me too below the 2nd "n" in Franklin.

We went over to the outlets in Tilton yesterday. Unless he’s measuring a leftover plow pile, there’s no way he has 10” of snow. 

[Lava Rock]

Lovely pics.  My earlier post noted that Google Earth listed 815' as the elevation of the pond.  Those pics suggest the camp is on the lee shore for NW winds, which would mean a lot of drifting once the ice has caught.

Lol, just a wee bit of drifting

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[wxeyeNH]

 

Fun fact for me.  I have not hit 60F since Oct 17 2018,  about 5 1/2 months.  Got real close on March 15th with a 59.9F and 56F yesterday.  Speaking of snow depth it is so variable right now.  Bare spot at my snow stake but well over a foot in shady areas and woods.  All in all about 70% snow coverage.  How do you measure snow on the ground this time of year when it's so variable from sun and south facing to shade and north facing?  

[dendrite]

6 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

 

Fun fact for me.  I have not hit 60F since Oct 17 2018,  about 5 1/2 months.  Got real close on March 15th with a 59.9F and 56F yesterday.  Speaking of snow depth it is so variable right now.  Bare spot at my snow stake but well over a foot in shady areas and woods.  All in all about 70% snow coverage.  How do you measure snow on the ground this time of year when it's so variable from sun and south facing to shade and north facing?  

An average. So bare spots plus a legit measuring spot of say 6" (not an old drift or snow bank) would be a depth of 3".

[backedgeapproaching]

3 hours ago, dendrite said:

An average. So bare spots plus a legit measuring spot of say 6" (not an old drift or snow bank) would be a depth of 3".

Meh--I'm submitting this as a 6" depth tomorrow on my cocorahs report.  Slant-depth.

[powderfreak]

Must be an error in the formatting...p-type and temp look weird.

Saturday...Snow likely. Highs around 50. Chance of snow 60 percent.

[alex]

This mornings snow put us just over last year's total snowfall at 180.3". So now it can officially stop and switch to spring

[Ginx snewx]

30 minutes ago, alex said:

This mornings snow put us just over last year's total snowfall at 180.3". So now it can officially stop and switch to spring

You wish

[mreaves]

This is the clubhouse at my golf course, taken Saturday. Probably not opening soon. 

[CapturedNature]

17 hours ago, Sugarloaf1989 said:

Do you have a vinyl setup?

Yes, I mainly using tubing.  I have a couple of buckets but mostly for show.  I don't use a vacuum pump but I do use the newer 3/16" tubing that creates a vacuum on its own.

17 hours ago, dendrite said:

It's been terrible up here. Coworker hasn't gotten much and it's still a darker amber.

 

17 hours ago, dendrite said:

My 6" soil has been stuck at 31-32F since Jan. Usually it's 33-34F by now. I was up at Just Maple in Tilton last weekend and they said it has been slow for them too...and they have one of those big vacuum setups.

That's what happened to me.  I think the ground was frozen deeper than normal down here due to lack of snow and once the ground thawed, I had a flood of sap.  It helped that we had a good snowfall as that was happening so the timing was good.

Most of my syrup has been dark.  I might have a small drum of medium from when I first started but I had a two week gap when everything was all frozen.  That's OK though - it has a better maple flavor IMHO and my customers seem to prefer that.

[dendrite]

4 minutes ago, MetHerb said:

Yes, I mainly using tubing.  I have a couple of buckets but mostly for show.  I don't use a vacuum pump but I do use the newer 3/16" tubing that creates a vacuum on its own.

 

That's what happened to me.  I think the ground was frozen deeper than normal down here due to lack of snow and once the ground thawed, I had a flood of sap.  It helped that we had a good snowfall as that was happening so the timing was good.

Most of my syrup has been dark.  I might have a small drum of medium from when I first started but I had a two week gap when everything was all frozen.  That's OK though - it has a better maple flavor IMHO and my customers seem to prefer that.

That’s what I prefer too. I’m always looking for the very dark, strong graded syrup, but it’s hard to find. The more flavor the more I like it. If I could get some of the old version grade C syrup I’d use that. 

[CapturedNature]

3 minutes ago, dendrite said:

That’s what I prefer too. I’m always looking for the very dark, strong graded syrup, but it’s hard to find. The more flavor the more I like it. If I could get some of the old version grade C syrup I’d use that. 

Under the new grading system you might want Very Dark.  The reason it's hard to find is that many producers sell their very dark to larger packers who blend it with other syrup.  That means there isn't much on the retail market.

Dark is a span of what was Dark Amber and Grade B.  Very Dark is a span of what was Grade B and Commercial (some people call it Grade C).  I always get a batch of that at the end of the season by taking off the sweet from my evaporator and boiling it in my finisher.  That extra step just makes the syrup darker.

[weatherwiz]

Anyone who follows aviation...during the historic outbreak days in April of 2011 were there significant aviation impacts as a result? (Like delays, cancellations, re-routing, etc). 

[tamarack]

18 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Must be an error in the formatting...p-type and temp look weird.

Saturday...Snow likely. Highs around 50. Chance of snow 60 percent.

Unlikely but not impossible in late season.  Reminds me of the March 21-22 storm many (55) years ago.  I was babysitting 5 neighbor kids the evening before as the anticipated late storm was just futzing around.  Put the kids to bed and watched for real snow, but it didn't start accumulating until after midnight.  Parents got home about 1:30, which was the plan, and had encountered problems driving up the hill to their place.  I drove home in dense S+ with 1-2" down, got to bed about 3 AM.  That storm dumped almost 5" at central Park and briefly was the record for 3/22.  Woke up around 11, saw bright sun and already 50°, looked for snow and only a few patches in the shade revealed it had ever snowed at all.  Weenie disappointment. 

[wxeyeNH]

Nice snow melt today even with high clouds.  Slowly the pastures reappear.  Not a moment too soon.  13 deer trying to eat our bushes around the house last night.  

[Ginx snewx]

My windshield this morning 

[Ginx snewx]

8 hours ago, dendrite said:

That’s what I prefer too. I’m always looking for the very dark, strong graded syrup, but it’s hard to find. The more flavor the more I like it. If I could get some of the old version grade C syrup I’d use that. 

Need pancakes now! Thanks

[powderfreak]

We are down to probably 12-14" here along the river in town.  Bare spots showing up on south facing and sunny spots, while some shaded yards are probably still 20" or even more.  

Call it 0-24" but I think 12-14" is good for level ground without excessive sun or shade.

The dog struggles mightily leaving the Rec Path as the snow is getting that isothermal punchy thing going where the ice layers have broken down.  Not supportable to walk on anymore.

[dendrite]

8 hours ago, MetHerb said:

Under the new grading system you might want Very Dark.  The reason it's hard to find is that many producers sell their very dark to larger packers who blend it with other syrup.  That means there isn't much on the retail market.

Dark is a span of what was Dark Amber and Grade B.  Very Dark is a span of what was Grade B and Commercial (some people call it Grade C).  I always get a batch of that at the end of the season by taking off the sweet from my evaporator and boiling it in my finisher.  That extra step just makes the syrup darker.

OK then...so they very dark is the darkest you can get. I wasn't sure if there was a "new" grade B below the grade A very dark that tappers produce to sell to commercial companies. So when I buy the very dark I'm getting the same thing essentially?

[wxeyeNH]

Took the drone up this evening for a look.  Around the house and pastures, most of the snow is gone.  Both snow stakes are snow free.  Our pastures are like a snow free oasis.  Total area except for them is snowcovered, much of it deep.  That is why if I had to report snow depth it would be so hard as 1500 feet around the house is basically snow free.

19 deer grazing in the fields.  No wonder I'm the only food source.

Picture attached.  Blue line is our 15 acres.  Yellow line is the webcam view.

[Lava Rock]

Meanwhile in Valin, Que


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[CapturedNature]

2 hours ago, dendrite said:

OK then...so they very dark is the darkest you can get. I wasn't sure if there was a "new" grade B below the grade A very dark that tappers produce to sell to commercial companies. So when I buy the very dark I'm getting the same thing essentially?

The very dark will be what they used to call Grade B.  In a pinch, try the dark.  Like I said, it spans what was dark amber and Grade B.  Not only is it about flavor it's about light transmittance.  That's how it's graded, not just flavor.  There is a "processing grade" beyond very dark, but allows for off flavors like buddy or metabolism - both are not good.  It can be mixed which is why commercial buyers will also buy that and blend it.

I have some very dark but in bulk containers.  When I pack it in some smaller containers I'll PM you if you are interested.

[scoob40]

1 hour ago, Lava Rock said:

Meanwhile in Valin, Que


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Ginx' kinda town.