Me And My Son Hanging In The Woods

beanbag

beanbag

Joined
Apr 1, 2009
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Son of Beanbag (that's his forum name over on BCUSA) and I hung out in the woods a couple of weekends ago and we had a great time working on some skills, cooking some dogs and smores, and doing some impromptu birch tree tapping to make our own syrup.

First we took turns splitting logs for fire wood using the method where you sing the axe and log together(I can't remember the name of the technique):

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Son of Beanbag is no fatwood hater. Here he is practicing his firesteel skills with some fatwood shavings:

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We decided to try our hands at hawk throwing using the Dave Canterbury 4 paces, turn and throw method, but had little success. A couple of throws did stick however, and to our surprise sap started gushing from a big old birch tree. Son got excited because ever since he did a tapping project in kindergarten, he's been wanting to try it on his own.

We sprung into action and started collecting:

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Before long we had filled up this can of Mccann's Oatmeal and it was time to head home:

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We did a slow boil on the stove and ended up with about a shot and a half of tasty birch syrup:

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The next morning Son of Beanbag cooked himself up some pancakes.....

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...and enjoyed the fruits of his labor:

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We had a great time, and the best part is now he wants to head right back out for an overnighter to do some bigger volume tapping with hoses and a drill. I know we're a little late to the tapping party, but who cares? We get to have another adventure in the woods.

Edit for obligatory blade shots:

We didn't go too far so we brought a lot of steel with us. Son of Beanbag's absolute favorite blade is the Jarvenpaa Aito Puukko in Birch Bark:

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Looks like a great time. This is what it's all about, getting the kids out in the woods to learn those skills. Thanks for posting.
 
Great stuff Beanbag! You should bring your boy up one of these days!
 
Seeing kids in the out of doors is a great thing in this day and age. Thanks for sharing.
 
tonym said:
Great stuff Beanbag! You should bring your boy up one of these days!
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One of these days we will. You should try getting some weekends off like the rest of the civilized world.:rolleyes:

pitdog said:
Great stuff buddy, harvesting that syrup was very cool !
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That was two Saturdays ago. We went out again for an overnight this last weekend and got at least 5-6xs as much sap. We just finished boiling down tonight. It yielded about 6 oz.:thumbup:
 
nice! i didn't know you can get syrup from birch trees...i learn something new every time i'm here!
 
great stuff Bean.. looks like a nice day out... that syrup looks delicious..:thumbup:
 
Looks like the two of you had a great time out . I to didn't know you could make syrup out of birch sap. Thanks for posting. Can you use any of the birches or just certain ones?
 
The Warrior said:
Looks like a great time. This is what it's all about, getting the kids out in the woods to learn those skills. Thanks for posting.
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TheGame said:
Seeing kids in the out of doors is a great thing in this day and age. Thanks for sharing.
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Yup, I'm lucky I've got kid who seems to love spending time out in the woods almost as much as I do. While he is soaking up the skills and knowledge, I also make sure to keep it fun. On this trip, while we had fun throwing hawks, tapping trees, making a fire and smores. We also went over knife and axe safety and how to collect the right wood for a fire and fire building. This past Saturday I taught him how to shoot a sling shot and he practiced battoning.

JV3 said:
nice! i didn't know you can get syrup from birch trees...i learn something new every time i'm here!
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mtnfolk mike said:
great stuff Bean.. looks like a nice day out... that syrup looks delicious..:thumbup:
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the rat said:
Looks like the two of you had a great time out . I to didn't know you could make syrup out of birch sap. Thanks for posting. Can you use any of the birches or just certain ones?
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The syrup was really quite good. We got the sap from what I always called black birches, but I think some people call them paper birch. You can also tap white birch trees as well. It is my understanding that the sugar content of birch sap is much less than maple, so you need much more birch sap to yield the same amount of syrup that you would get from a maple tree. That, and the fact that maple trees are far more numerous may account for why you don't see much int the way of commercial birch syrup production.
 
100% off topic. but this post got me thinking about what i have to offer.... does you're son have his own knife? i saw him talk about his "favorite"? but is it HIS?
i have a buck 119. with sheath. i would love to fire it down to you. if your boy wants it, or if MAYBE he can get one of his buddies out with you...
you let me know.
it's one of the few "non" customs i have around, so it's no burden here. i just love the story.
seeing a knife that lays in a drawer here, being used by your boy, or a friend of his(or yours) that would put it to work, would make my day.
 
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bean...good stuff...
the syrup is beautiful...
but, i have to ask; why would you split a branch so small that you could simply throw on a/the fire?
it'll burn just the same. around here we do the 'inch worm':) just throw a bunch of logs/branches on the fire and as they burn, you 'inch' them into the fire. no axe or saw needed...
a log will burn just fine without being split...if a log will fit into my woodstove, i don't split it i just throw it in. so why would it be any different for a campfire?
i'm not criticizing you at all. i'm just curious???
the way i see it is "it all burns, one way or the other"...
 
good pics but taking your boy to the woods is a good thing. if more fathers & moms would get their kiddos in the boonies we would see a new generation of environment lovers & protectors of our natural goodies.--denmnis
 
eagle_lake said:
100% off topic. but this post got me thinking about what i have to offer.... does you're son have his own knife? i saw him talk about his "favorite"? but is it HIS?
i have a buck 119. with sheath. i would love to fire it down to you. if your boy wants it, or if MAYBE he can get one of his buddies out with you...
you let me know.
it's one of the few "non" customs i have around, so it's no burden here. i just love the story.
seeing a knife that lays in a drawer here, being used by your boy, or a friend of his(or yours) that would put it to work, would make my day.
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Wow, Eagle Lake, that is an unbelievably generous offer, but I must politely decline. I've got a pretty big knife collection, and we really have all the bases covered. But, many thanks for your kind offer.

bearhunter said:
bean...good stuff...
the syrup is beautiful...
but, i have to ask; why would you split a branch so small that you could simply throw on a/the fire?
it'll burn just the same. around here we do the 'inch worm':) just throw a bunch of logs/branches on the fire and as they burn, you 'inch' them into the fire. no axe or saw needed...
a log will burn just fine without being split...if a log will fit into my woodstove, i don't split it i just throw it in. so why would it be any different for a campfire?
i'm not criticizing you at all. i'm just curious???
the way i see it is "it all burns, one way or the other"...
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The answer to your question is simple-- we were practicing our axe craft skills. I felt the size of the log he was using was appropriate for an 11 year old. IMHO it's best to start out small, build confidence in your skills and move up from there. My son has also learned to batton, but he practices with smaller, more manageable pieces of wood than I do. Another wood processing technique he is fond of is the Southern Cross fulcrum method, but again, he practices with what I'll call "age appropriate" branches.

DennisStrickland said:
good pics but taking your boy to the woods is a good thing. if more fathers & moms would get their kiddos in the boonies we would see a new generation of environment lovers & protectors of our natural goodies.--denmnis
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I couldn't agree more. I think he'll make a fine environmental steward one day.
 
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Great pics, bean. Always cool to see the younger ones out with dad (or mom!) in the woods. Good on you, brother. Also, the birch syrup sounds like it was great. I might have to try that one of these days.

-Nadz
 
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