One of the most common places for our mainlines to freeze is at the connection between the mainline and the wet/dry lines. We call these connections “boosters,” a name that comes from the old-style cylinders that were once used to connect mainlines together.

Our property only has about 60 feet of total vertical drop, and some of our taps are more than half a mile from the pumphouse. That means we don’t have much room for error when it comes to maintaining proper slope.

We recently finished upgrading all 25 of our boosters. Check out the pictures comparing the old and new designs. The new setup should help eliminate some of our freeze-ups by separating the ball valve from the tee and, more importantly, adding another 4–8 inches of fall at a very critical point in the line.

We also added a loop saddle that connects the mainline above the ball valve directly to the dry line. This gives us another simple way to check for vacuum leaks. By closing the ball valve, we can watch how air transfers through the lateral line. A tight line with no leaks should produce a nice, slow transfer of air, while even a moderate leak will quickly send bursts of sap through the lateral, often accompanied by an audible hiss.

This setup doesn’t replace our Datacer monitoring system, but it complements it by giving us another quick and easy way to identify leaks in the woods. Between better drainage and easier leak detection, these new boosters should help keep our mainlines flowing more reliably when the temperatures start dropping.

After our last pole barn we promised we wouldn’t add any more buildings, so instead we built a lean-to along the side of our warehouse. It provides covered outdoor parking for our truck, freeing up valuable space inside.

Summer is also the perfect time to catch up on maintenance and tackle smaller projects. This year, we gave all of our aging wooden doors/windows a fresh coat of paint, helping them look great while protecting them for years to come.

People often ask what we do during the nine months of the year when we’re not making maple syrup. While there’s always a long list of maintenance projects, repairs, and improvements to tackle, the majority of our time is spent building inventory for the busy seasons ahead.

To keep up with demand, we process the equivalent of two 40-gallon drums of maple syrup every day. That syrup is transformed into finished products including  jugs of syrup, maple sugar, maple cream, and maple candies.

Most of these products are shipped directly to Amazon fulfillment centers, while about 25% stays here in our refrigerated storage so we can fulfill orders ourselves and keep our shelves stocked during the holiday season and spring sap season.

Below are a few photos from one of our gallon production weeks. Each pallet holds 30 boxes, with four one-gallon jugs per box—that’s 120 gallons of maple syrup per pallet. In total, these pallets represent 1,200 gallons of maple syrup, packaged and ready to head out to customers!