Neighbor Bill, Wolfie, Dana & Kevin Karcher having a boil party
A big part of the fun of making syrup is standing around visiting with friends as the sap boils. With 100 gallons of sap to boil yesterday, that meant about 10 hours of boiling. While boiling is a relaxing and productive way to spend an entire day, it is much more fun when friends stop by to visit. Dad always has a pot of hot sassafras tea sitting on the evaporator (made with sap, of course).
Neighbor Bill, Wolfie, and the Karchers came by and visited for a couple hours. Kevin insisted on being the first paying customer, so we agreed to sell him a jug for half-price, since our intention was to give them a freebie jug anyway. He agreed to meet us in the middle.
We aren't intending to do syrup for a profit because making something to sell usually takes the fun out of a hobby. But, since getting good equipment to make the hobby more enjoyable isn't cheap, we've decided to sell just enough to pay for our equipment upgrades. If we sell 50 jugs for $5 apiece, we'll almost pay for half of the new pan. Next year, we'll sell enough to pay for the other half...and the $230 dad spent building a new evaporator top to replace the wrecked one.
Be sure to stop by and visit anytime you see steam - enjoyment and samples are free, 1/2 pint jugs are $5 :)
Kevin and Dana
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