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Author Topic: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?  (Read 15355 times)

Offline divemaster1963

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #40 on: December 10, 2015, 07:33:40 pm »
Will I just picked up my SAP pan I had made. Bartered for it. Now I have bees in summer and SAP in winter. I can use this for trade and barter. One thing that won't go away real quick is peoples sweet tooth. Now to get my green house done. 30 foot long with heated raised beds. So can grow veg all winter long.

John

Offline Dallasbeek

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #41 on: December 10, 2015, 08:01:44 pm »
Will I just picked up my SAP pan I had made. Bartered for it. Now I have bees in summer and SAP in winter. I can use this for trade and barter. One thing that won't go away real quick is peoples sweet tooth. Now to get my green house done. 30 foot long with heated raised beds. So can grow veg all winter long.

John

Duhhhhh.  What is a SAP pan?  You have sugar maples there or something?
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Offline divemaster1963

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #42 on: December 11, 2015, 07:43:24 pm »
We do have some maples but none big enough to tap. We do have very large sycamore trees that I plan to tap. Same as doing maples. The syrup made from it has two flavors. Early season syrup taste similar to honey. Late season syrup has a butterscotch flavor . I love the late season syrup. My grandmother made it when I was a child. You can get 1-10 gals SAP per tree per day during good run. Takes about 40 to 60 gals SAP to make one gal syrup depending upon the sugar content.

John

Offline GSF

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #43 on: December 11, 2015, 09:08:28 pm »
John I didn't know that about the sycamore trees.
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Offline Dallasbeek

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #44 on: December 11, 2015, 10:50:18 pm »
John, that's very interesting.  My wife is from Connecticut and her fsther used to tap maple trees there.  My understanding is it takes 28-30 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup, so it must be thicker to start than sap from a sycamore.  You learn so much good stuff on this forum!
"Liberty lives in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no laws, no court can save it." - Judge Learned Hand, 1944

Offline divemaster1963

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #45 on: December 12, 2015, 06:29:06 pm »
John, that's very interesting.  My wife is from Connecticut and her fsther used to tap maple trees there.  My understanding is it takes 28-30 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup, so it must be thicker to start than sap from a sycamore.  You learn so much good stuff on this forum!

 Maple has 4-7 percent sugar depending on several variables. Sycamore have between 3-6 percent.

John

Offline gww

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #46 on: December 12, 2015, 07:31:09 pm »
I also find the sycamore thing interesting.
Cheers
gww

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #47 on: December 13, 2015, 07:59:18 am »
John,
How big do the sycamores need to be to tap them? I have 4 of them in my back yard that are around 1 foot in diameter or bigger. Is that large enough?
Jim
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Offline divemaster1963

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #48 on: December 13, 2015, 10:30:59 pm »
John,
How big do the sycamores need to be to tap them? I have 4 of them in my back yard that are around 1 foot in diameter or bigger. Is that large enough?
Jim

That size you could easily tap them with 2-3 taps each. Space about 10-12 inches apart. Make sure that you have a root arm under the taps for greater draw. Come up about 3-4 feet off the ground. I hoping for some cold nights near freezing with days in the 40-50 so the tap will flow. Due this before the start to bud in your area. Back in the homesteddays people used sycamore trees for a pure ssource of water. When you collect the SAP you need to freeze it and pull the top layer of ice off  don't let it freeze completely  this will help consetrate the sugar. SAP will only last 5 days before turning cloudy and spoiling if you don't have enough to boil down after you concetrate it then freeze it solid till you have enough.


John

P.s. cook it down outside or you will be cleaning and painting your whole house inside. When you do it outside look for the neighbors kids coming thinking your making peanutbrittle.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #49 on: December 14, 2015, 12:32:14 pm »
Thanks John.
I think I saw the taps at our local brew it, wine making store when I was there last year. I will have to stop by and see if I can get a dozen. What months do you tap the trees.
I cannot do it right now, still trying to get my workshop and the fence around the new house at the farm finished. But I definitely want to try this. It is now on my bucket list.  :cheesy:
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline divemaster1963

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #50 on: December 14, 2015, 02:18:34 pm »
No. its starts normally in late dec or Jan. look for nights near freezing and day time highs around 40-50/ that's when the sap starts heading up to get the trees ready for budding out. I'm looking for closer to jan. due to the warm weather we are having here in the south.

john

Offline gww

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #51 on: December 14, 2015, 02:37:49 pm »
How often do you have to move the taps to keep the tree from attaching to them?
Cheers
gww

Offline herbhome

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #52 on: December 14, 2015, 04:26:30 pm »
This is fascinating to me. We have several huge old sycamores and few large old maples. Hoping to get into it in the next spring.
Neill

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #53 on: December 14, 2015, 06:16:30 pm »
Thanks John
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline divemaster1963

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #54 on: December 15, 2015, 12:31:28 am »
How often do you have to move the taps to keep the tree from attaching to them?
Cheers
gww

You don't move the taps till after they bud. Then you tap a tree every other year to give it time to heal. Then never in the  same spot. You only drill in about two inches on angle up. So you never hit heart wood.  Wish I had maples big enough. You can tap red maples, blackwalnut, any sugar maple, I don't like birch. To bitter.

John

Offline gww

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #55 on: December 15, 2015, 12:46:00 am »
divemaster
Thanks for answering the question and also the added information.
gww

Offline herbhome

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #56 on: December 15, 2015, 01:41:38 pm »
Where is the best place to get taps, etc...?
Neill

Offline divemaster1963

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Re: So, SHTF are you ready to bug-out or hunker down?
« Reply #57 on: December 15, 2015, 07:40:23 pm »
Online or at Lowes,home depot. I use 1/2 inch plastic hose barbs . the ones they use for misters on patios. Then get some tees and water lines to fit. Then some j hook screws to hang buckets from then run lines into top of buckets. Check them daily. They may fill fast.

John

 

anything