Jim Koehler

Any recommendations on a decent hand pump? I see a lot of Chinese knock offs, just don't know how reliable or serviceable they are.  I'm looking to set a wedgewire sleave into the spring with a deck over it, and hand pump out of that. Currently we dunk jugs from a culvert ring around the spring.

Another source not mentioned is collecting the water from a dehumidifier. Keep the reservoir clean otherwise it can get funky. I store mine in barrels instead of dumping it down the drain. A humid midwest summer produces a lot of water!

I've carved spoons with both dry and green wood. As mentioned above, if you've got a power carver dry wood is great. But if you're carving with only hand tools green wood is the way to go. My trick to limit cracking is to wet it down with mineral oil, especially if I don't finish it right away. (keeps it easier to carve) Never had one crack, only a chip due to poor choice of location in the wood. I do this with bowls too, sometimes they don't finished for a while and the oil keeps them solid.

I can remember the mcgriddle but never had one, like their burgers, I  imagine homemade looks and tastes a lot better.
Now I wish this season was producing the sand to play with some of these ideas. Hopefully the university ag extension will have more insight into what it actually is.

This comes off their large wood fired evaporator but I don't know at what point. When the specific gravity is reached, it's drained into a large container that they bottle from. Maybe it settles out in that?

It's sweet maple flavored but a tan paste, fine texture. We used the sample I had last year in ice-cream and coffee. Didn't really try much else, banking on there being more this year.

If it just needs a  timer see if a wall timer like folks use for lights would work. Could be a nice rainy day backup.

Not trying to hijack the thread but can't find this anywhere else. Does anyone have any experience with the sugar sand byproduct of maple syrup? I'm trying to find out if there's a use for it or if  there's a method to extract the syrup from the sediment. (Like using a centrifuge)
We've got Amish neighbors that tap our trees and last year there was a lot of the sand but they just dump it.

I just rendered most of a 5 gal bucket of organ fat from helping butcher a cow. We just keep a jar on the counter for most cooking, especially for fried eggs and for popcorn. We alternate between tallow and lard. Just trying to stay clear of the manufactured cooking oils.

Safety Hoist is a company that makes a commercial version of this exact ladder lift. They're designed for the roofing industry but we use them for moving ice cores. The issue with a DIY lift is the transition on an extension ladder, how is that addressed? Pretty handy item to have for a lot of projects.