This is an exciting blog post! We have transitioned from clearing trees to the excavation of the building site. Charla and I took day six off, and then cleared more trees on day seven. On day eight our excavator, Mark Fortin Excavating, arrived. Mark needed to clear some trees and stumps to make his way from the field above the sugarbush to the building site. Mark was driving a small support vehicle and so I thought it was Mark’s dad driving the rather large excavator.
As it turns out, it was Mark’s son, Parker. Parker has a natural ability to work the big machine. We teach our apprentices young in Vermont’s NEK.
Mark and I took a look at the plan I had drawn up which calls for a 34’x50’ flat area with a gravel base and topped with crushed rock. This will provide drainage for the site as springtime in Vermont has an extra season called “mud season”. Mud season is when deep frost, driven down by several days where the temperature goes below 0 degrees Fahrenheit begins to thaw. This frost can go down several feet. As it thaws, it creates a deep muddy paste to the ire of anyone trying to walk or use a vehicle during this time.
Mark has an attachment to this property and was excited to take on this portion of the project. Although never having been at the old sugarhouse, he has heard stories from his father and grandfather. Mark’s father, Marcel Fortin, and I are first cousins. Marcel’s father (Mark’s grandfather), Lucien Fortin and my father were brothers. Lucien grew up on this farm and would have participated heavily in the work needed to gather sap and “boiling” when the “sugaring” season arrived.
Mark explains that he will need to lower parts of the building site by four feet and build up other parts by four feet. As part of the process, he will clear out all the tree stumps. Once the area is level, he will bring in multiple truckloads of gravel to create a solid base that has drainage properties, and then will top this off with multiple truckloads of crushed rock. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue for an excavator, however in our case, the closest a truck capable of hauling the gravel and rock can get, is about 1000’. Mark will be renting a skid steer (and a father) with a bucket loader on the front to haul the gravel and rock from the field above the sugarbush to the building site.
I’ve asked Mark to poke around the old sugarhouse rubble, with the excavator, to see what might have been left in the old building. Most of the sugaring equipment had been removed decades ago, but I remember a small storage section where we kept sap buckets, lids, and spouts that I was hoping to find. This would be nice to have on display in the new sugarhouse.
Mark began by removing some of the tree stumps left from the work Charla and I did. When he got to the eastern edge of the site, he started the “poking” around. He uncovered some old bricks, which puzzled me as I don’t remember where these bricks were. We saved the bricks off to the side and continued. He then found the cement slab that would have been the base of the old evaporator. (I'm sitting on them watching the activities).
Mark was able to bring out the cement slab in two pieces and set them off to the side. I’m not sure what we will do with this in the future, but they will become part of the new operation in some way or another.
Mark then found the old storage section.There we found many lids used on the old sap buckets.The lids would have kept the rain and snow out of the maple sap during the time the buckets were hanging on the trees. On our hands and knees, I found an old sap spout and a couple of old buckets.We set them aside.
As I was putting the video footage together, I noticed at this point that Charla went into the woods a short distance and came out with a sap bucket and an old gathering bucket. The gathering bucket is bigger than the buckets used on the trees, and it has a narrow top. This was to keep the sap from spilling as the gathering bucket was carried from tree to tree and then emptied into the gathering tank.
Satisfied that we had found all that we could, Mark began, in earnest, the work. I have compiled 68 minutes of footage from 14 different videos that we took of Mark and Parker arriving, the efforts to uncover what we could from the rubble of the old sugarhouse and the progress Mark was able to make on the first day and a half. The video can be seen by clicking here. (This will take you to YouTube where I have it stored for people to watch).
Comments