The sweet time of year
Week 9, 2023
The first smoke and steam rolled from the new evaporator in the pavilion this week, and sixteen gallons of the good stuff came from the first two draws. It’s really delicious. This is the first time we’ve made syrup using tubing instead of buckets. Watching the steady trickle of the sap from the main line into the tank feels miraculous. We’re also using a reverse osmosis machine for the first time. This is a high pressure pump that forces the sap through a membrane that will allow pure water but not sugar molecules to pass. Each time the sap goes through, the concentration of the sugar increases, and the amount of time needed to boil it into syrup decreases. Two passes brought the sap from 2% to 8% sugar. The new arch has forced air in the firebox, so it burns like a forge, so hot the fire bricks glow. The boil that ensues is riotous. Today, we have the first 2023 syrup in the share and I can’t wait to hear what you think of it. You might find it lighter and less caramelized than the syrup we made here before these improvements, because the sap is spending less time on the fire. I think the taste is refined but still very maple, and I love it. Thanks to Barbara Lewis for so beautifully photographing all the fun yesterday.
Last night, we celebrated the inaugural boil with a syrup-centric dinner of sourdough pancakes and sausage. The tang of the sourdough went particularly well with the syrup, and I’m always a sucker for the sweet-salt-savory experience of sausage dipped in syrup. This morning I had maple syrup in my tea, and maple syrup on my yogurt for breakfast. Members, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I am. This first batch we are distributing should not be left at room temperature because it was not canned after filtering, and could develop mold on the surface if you leave it out. Refrigerate it, and you’ll be fine. We all know there's a slim chance of this stuff sticking around long enough to mold in any case, but, if that does happen, please do not discard the syrup. You can skim off surface mold, reboil and skim the syrup and it will be as good as new. Ooh one other food note: the purple daikon radishes are perfect right now, and their crunch and spice are antidotes to an overdose of sweetness. I love them as an appetizer sprinkled with salt, or with salt and a little butter. Bethany is a fan of eating them with a schmear of sour cream.
We’re making another run to New York City on March 13th and 14th, and will be taking orders for Winter Box deliveries throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens. We’re adding a stop at the New Paltz Park and Ride this time for anyone in the Hudson Valley that wants to meet the van. That stop is planned for the afternoon of Monday the 13th, sometime between 2:30 and 4pm, with a more precise ETA coming when the van leaves the farm. If you would like to be on the Winter Boxes email list, shoot me a note at essexfarm@gmail.com, subject line Winter Boxes, and I’ll add you. I should have the details finalized and the order form ready by this coming Monday. And, local members, I hope to have details on the share for the rest of 2023 ready for you next week.
Huge and belated thanks to Don Hollingsworth who made the gorgeous new handcrafted wooden sign on the farm store! I love it, and honestly I think we’ve seen an uptick in farm store traffic since he put it up. Thank you, Don! Now it’s time to button up the farm for the big snow storm that’s arriving tonight. Stay safe, everyone. That’s the news from Essex Farm for this big-storm-coming 9th week of 2023. Find us at 518.570.6399, essexfarm@gmail.com, or on the farm, any day but Sunday.
-Kristin & Mark Kimball