Sap production

Day 14 May 21, 2023 Hours today: 2 Total hours: 59.5 Today was busy, we spent most of the morning cleaning and getting ready to leave and head back to campus. Around 10am we went to see Trask because he needed some help. He wanted help moving the cows from one pasture to another. This seemingly simple task was not so easy. The cows were stubborn and they did not like being told where to go. We used food and we tried to look our biggest to force them in the fence. Eventually we were able to back them into a corner and funnel them into the fenced in area.  

  Day 13 May 21, 2023 Hours today: 1.5 Total hours: 57.5 Today was a good day. We took an easier day today and instead of working on the trail we headed up to proctor. The reason we did this is because we are making two signs to mark the progress we have made. This was Trasks idea and we plan to have them done by express fest. Once we got to school we headed to the wood shop where Greg cut us two slabs of wood about 14 inches long and about 6 inches wide. We also sanded down the wood to prepare it for the laser engraver. We completed our design and we plan on laser engraving it tomorrow with Spencer.

 As we continue our time on the ranch I have realized how helpful we have been to Trask. I hope next year another group can come and experience what it’s like to work on a farm. Especially some of the problem skills necessary for dealing with adversity. While nothing disastrous has occurred we have certainly faced difficulties. However, being able to explore the three hundred acre property has been worth it entirely.  This week we spent the majority of our time clearing brush to make a pathway to the highest point on the property. Then after we got to the top we began clearing a large radius. One of the purposes of this is to set up a camping spot for the future. However, more importantly a base spot for the sap production. Most of the maple trees are down the hill and interestingly enough the whole property used to be fields where sheep were.  We are on track to complete our goals. While we may have been over ambitious originally. We have helped a great deal in setting up the eventual

Day 12 May 20, 2023 Hours today: 3 Total hours: 56 Today we got up to the trails around 9. We did more of the same preparing the plateau for Trask to begin his sap extraction process. In the three hours of work we got a lot done. Since we can’t use the chainsaw, the new axe has been super helpful. I cut down around 10 trees and Mia even grabbed the axe and cut down a tree. We also continued to add to the brush pile. It’s getting a lot bigger and will be burnt eventually.  

Day 11 May 19, 2023 Hours today: 8 Total hours: 53 Today was a great day, when we got up to the trail there was a new axe awaiting us. This instantly energized me and I was ready to get going. Because the mule is still broken we had to walk most of the trail. Once we got up there I got right to work. We started clearing trees and made great progress. The view is starting to come in and Trask was exited. We also moved all the brush into one huge pile that will be burned later on. We headed back after Nate and I quickly helped Trask pull the tarp off the pool and grabbed a dog. We headed back for a bite a eat and took the dog to school.  

Day 10 May 18, 2023 Hours today: 3 Total hours: 45 Today we woke up around 8:45 and had a quick breakfast. We went to grab the mule but when we arrived we were met with a nasty surprise. The mule had a flat tire on its front right wheel. This slowed us down a bit as we had to walk the trail now. However when we got up to the clearing we still were able to make great progress. We cleared all the way to the stone wall and made one huge brush pile. We also began taking the lower hanging branches off the bigger trees so we could walk and see further.  

Day 9 May 17, 2023 Hours today: 3 Total hours: 42 We rose early and got right up to the farm. We had to do this because we had our final sports games this Wednesday. We got up to the clearing and began our routine of clearing. First we had to fix the chainsaw. We did this quickly and used it to cut away small brush. Our system was two people cut and two people clear. Our goal is to clear out the top so that there is a nice vein of the surrounding area. Also I hope Trask fixes the axe so I get to use it.  

Day 8 May 16, 2023 Hours today: 8 Total hours: 39 Today we woke up at about 8:30. We went up to the trial and arrived around 9 o’clock. Once we got up to the trail we located the end and began clearing. Most of the trees were small pines. Pines are a “soft” wood so they aren’t to challenging to cut down. However, yet again the head to the axe broke which slowed our progress but we were productive. We headed back for lunch where we had some turkey and cheese sandwiches. After a quick lunch we headed back up and worked for a good 1-2 hours. After we finished up we grabbed a black lab from Mel and brought it to school to acclimate it to people.  

Day 6 May 12, 2023 Hours today: 4.5 Total hours: 31 Today we started around 9:30. Mia had to go to school to give a tour so it was just three of us when we headed up to the trail. We made good progress initially but our axe broke and it hindered our progress. We took a lunch break and headed back up. With our newfound energy and Mia we were moving fast. We cleared all the way to the rock we were aiming for and then Trask came by in the tractor. He plowed through and got all the miscellaneous roots and rocks. Tomorrow we are going to continue to clear the brush but this time we are going to widen it up at the top.

 This week was eye opening to understanding how a small family business operates and is maintained. We did three main things on the farm this week, we cleared land for the dogs to roam, created a space to start a Christmas tree business and cleared a path through the woods to help Trask start his sap production. While these tasks may not seem very entertaining in theory, in practice talking with Trask and understanding all the things he has to do on a daily basis creates a deep appreciation for all of the small farmers out there. Clearing the land for the dogs was rewarding because work that took four teenagers a day to do would have taken Trask 4 times the amount of time to do the same task. This project was quite quick in comparison to the sapling project but it was a good intro project to the ranch. The sapling project took up most of our time this week it was challenging physically, there were bugs, it was hot and we were tired but mentally staying focused when we didn’t want to wo

Day 6 May 12, 2023 Hours today: 2 Total hours: 26.5  We hopped out of bed and enjoyed some eggo waffles. After our nutritious breakfast we headed up to trail and began to clear. Trask had done some work the day prior and he had a big tractor that was plowing a path through the brush. We had a saw, clippers and an axe and began hacking at the brush. I chose the saw and quickly got into a good rhythm. We were only able to work for a couple hours but we made great progress on the trail. After lots of blisters and bug bites we called it a day at the trail. We had to leave earlier than we liked because we had an early lacrosse practice.  

Day 5 May 12, 2023 Hours today: 4 Total hours: 24.5   After a hearty breakfast we began our final day of planting the Christmas tree saplings. We had already created a bunch of holes to put the saplings in so we were primarily planting today. After we finished we were introduced a new task. Our goal is to create a pathway for the mule through the woods so we can identify maple trees and better navigate the forest. Trask showed us around the woods and we got lost several time trying to find the highest point of the property. We will use chainsaws, hatchets and whatever else we need to clear the brush. The bugs were quite irritating so we headed back and had lunch. We had hot dogs and hash browns. We took the puppy to school again and everyone was exited to see her again.

Day 4 May 11, 2023 Hours today: 9 Total hours: 20.5 We woke up grabbed a bite to eat and got to work by 9. As we were driving the mule to the Christmas tree plot we ran across pigs and goats running across the lawn. This was because the pigs had pushed the water trough against the fence and knocked it over. After we organized ourselves we lured the animals into their pens with food. This unexpected turn of events was both entertaining and time consuming. We got to work on the Christmas tree plot and I landed nearly 30 saplings. It took longer than expected because much of the land we are working on is rocky and we spent a huge amount of time simply clearing it. We had to get supplies to clear the rubble and we ran over to a nearby farm supply store. We worked until about 2pm where Mel asked if we wanted to take a puppy with us to school. We agreed and wandered around proctor for hours trying to see if anyone wanted to buy her. We were unsuccessful but she got a lot of attention.  

Day 3 May 10, 2023 Hours today: 3 Total hours: 11.5 We began the day at 8:30. We got up a little earlier because we had an early lacrosse game today. We continued our project from the day before, planting saplings. However it was more challenging today because the further up we moved the more bugs and the rockier it was. We plan on finishing up the project tomorrow. We worked for a solid three hours and developed a good rhythm of measuring, marking, digging and planting. It takes time but in 10 years we can come back and cut down Christmas trees. We also saw some pointer puppies today and plan on seeing them more in the future.

Day 2 May 9, 2023 Hours Today: 4 Total hours: 8.5  At 8:30 my alarm went off, I met my other group members in the kitchen and had a bowl of cereal. We met with Trask and he outlined our project for the day. We were to remove saplings from the ground and replant them in the plot of land that we cleared yesterday. Me and Malo removed the saplings; Mia and Nate got the dirt off, separated them and placed them in the back of the mule. We did this until we had removed 250 or so saplings from the ground. Then we drove the saplings to the site where we began planting them. We spaced each sapling about 6 feet apart and dug each hole about 12-16 inches to put the saplings in. This took a long time because of how many roots and rocks were in the soil. We planted about 40 saplings today. We will continue this task tomorrow. We got a bite of food and cleaned up around the house after we worked for several hours

Day 1 May 8, 2023 Hours: 4.5 We woke up at 8:45, grabbed a bite of food and met Trask (our mentor) outside the kennel. We were advised on our tasks for the day and promptly got to work. We began by clearing a large fenced area of sticks and debris. The goal of this was to create a space for the dogs to roam outside. We used an extended chain saw to get branches that were out of our reach. This task took several hours and when we finished we took a quick break and went to see the puppies that had recently been birthed. We met back up with Trask and navigated the trails to a clearing beside the road. In the future this clearing will be where Christmas trees are grown but it was covered with small saplings and debris. There was a lot of work to be done. We cut down the saplings and stacked all the wood parallel to one another. After we made a pile large enough Trask would scoop up the branches with his tractor and bring it to a wood pile up the trail. We did this several times. After the