Maple Sugaring Apprentice - Week One

Elias Stegeman is working as an Apprentice at Red Gate Farm. He is focusing on maple sugaring, and is immersing himself in all aspects of the farm’s small operation. Throughout the season he is keeping a journal of his days and activities to share with our community.

My first two days on the farm were exciting and really interesting. It was really special to get to meet all the staff at Red Gate, and get a tour of the farm to get to know it better on the first day. Monday was spent walking through the sugarbush, and taking notes on what needs to happen for the line to be cleared. This past year, a large amount of trees and branches have fallen over the line or obstructed it in some way, and it is necessary to remove them before the sugaring season starts. I got a tour of both sugarbushes, and we walked along the main lines to determine what needs to get cleared. 

As a related project, we found a wooden crate near one of the sap collecting tanks, that has been used in years past for the kids to stand on to look into the sap container. It was old and rotten and unsafe, so Sydney and I brought it out of the woods and worked on cutting and measuring wood to make a new crate that will last longer.

Tuesday was mainly splitting and stacking firewood for the furnace. I got to work with the wood splitter in the upper field, and we split and stacked what I would estimate to be about 1 cord of firewood. I learned that white ash can be burned shortly after being felled, unlike other hardwoods that need to age before they get burned. After the logs were bucked up with a chainsaw, multiple people helped roll them up to the road where I then used the wood splitter to split them into furnace sized pieces. Then they were loaded into the truck and driven down to the furnace which heats both the farmhouse and the program building. We then stacked the ash on to pallets and covered them with tarps to keep the snow and rain out.

Lastly at 4:00 both days this week I got to work with Cody, feeding the animals. I really loved working with the oxen especially, but it was really neat to do the daily farm chores, from collecting eggs, to feeding the pregnant ewes, and watching Abby the goat. I'm really happy about how this week went and I'm really looking forward to what's to come. It may be cold but spring is definitely in the air, and I'm super excited to start the sugaring operation in the weeks to come.