Thread: Maple syrup
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Old 03-02-2007, 01:56 PM posted to alt.home.lawn.garden
Eggs Zachtly Eggs Zachtly is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 846
Default Maple syrup

Steveo said:

wrote:
Steveo said:

wrote:
Steveo said:

Steveo wrote:
"Srgnt Billko" wrote:
No frost in the ground here yet. Wondering what that will do to
our maple syruping.

We've had a very mild go of it so far here in N Ohio too, Sarge, 50
degrees today.

Hey btw, it's colder than a well diggers ass here now.

Yup. I'm about sick of single digits. And, they're just starting.
*sigh*

As strange as it sounds...I'm enjoying it over here, if for no other
reason than insect control.

I heat with firewood/coal air-tights as much as I can.


I have an 8x12 greenhouse that I built this summer that I'm worried about
with these temps. Although, the minimum temp I've registered has been 51
at night. If that's as cold as it'll get inside, well... that's pretty
much perfect. I'm still gonna sweat it this winter, though. =)

That is a bit on the cold side unless you're growing leaf lettuce, eggs.


Actually, for night-time, it's just about right. 70/50 [1] is a pretty good
general temp range. I don't think the Ficus in there has dropped a single
leaf. That's really freakin me out, LOL. I've seen Ficus drop almost all
their leaves, just moving them across a room, heh. Had I not seen a
rootball, I'd swear it was fake. =D

I've only lost one plant, but it was a Cissus discolor that I had untwined
(apparently, not carefully enough) from a wrought iron post. It was quite
happy around that post, and it's a fairly delicate vine. I guess it just
snapped in too many places. *shrug* It's ok, though. I took cuttings from
the remaining one, so next year I'll have one for each porch post, again.
=) Everything else appears to be thriving. Hell, there's Impatiens that I
thought I removed from some wreaths, that are now in full bloom. A couple
other semi-tropicals are also blooming profusely, as well as Hibiscus.
Makes for a nice "getaway" on a cold, brown, winter day. =)


I admire your greenhouse anyhow.


Thanks, man. I'm pretty stoked about it. G It's not finished. I got as
far as getting the benches built before it started getting too cool
outside. I've got to wait until spring, when I can pull everything back out
to get the plumbing for the drip irrigation system, and the electrical
system, installed. It was easier this year to just install two new
breakers, outside GFCI outlets, and run two 5000BTU heaters off extension
cords to those outlets. I'm not a fan of using cords with heaters, but
everything is new, from the service panel to the heaters, and nothing feels
even remotely warm to the touch. Should be fine for one season.

Once the electrical is installed, I then have those two outlets available
(fullfilling a huge need) for Christmas lights. No more blown breakers
WooHoo! =D

Next year, the plan is to line the inside of the polycarb panels with
bubble wrap, for some additional insulation in the winter. If the
calculations I've done are correct, I should be able to then maintain a
much more "friendly" envirionment for winter use of the GH. It'll be a bit
more organized once it's finished, leaving room to give a few veggies a go,
in the winter. =)

Were it not for my new toy, the cold wouldn't bother me in the least. I
much prefer winter to summer. You can keep putting on layers to get/stay
warm, but you can only take off so many, before it becomes illegal.

[1] On a cloudy day. Each heater is on it's own thermostat (not digital),
set to 70. It gets a bit (75-80) warmer on a sunny day, no matter the
ambient temp outside.

--

Eggs

-I went to a seafood disco rave last week.... and pulled a mussel.