Author: SugarMaster Page 37 of 94

Into the woods by 10:30 AM to start cooking down the remaining sap, about 15 gals, on the propane burner.   Took time.  The evaporator is more efficient.  It was ready by 5:15 PM when it reached 29° Baumé.   Looks like this batch will be 6 ½ to 7 gals.  That will put us over 100 gals for the season.  We will finish and bottle tomorrow.

Also drained and broke down the R/O.   The membrane is already back at the farmhouse in its storage solution.  The R/O comes back tomorrow.

25 overnight.  Sunny and mid 40s today.  The type of day expected in early March.

Tomorrow we have to get water, cleaning solution and a fire under the evaporator.  Then on Wednesday we can clean it.

Back to the farmhouse by 5:30 PM.

Into the woods by 10:30 AM.  The task for the day: all the taps out, all the buckets back to the farmhouse.  By 2:30 PM all the spouts were out and the buckets/covers gathered  to various points close to the trails for pickup.    Hopped on the utility vehicle to pickup the buckets/covers and bring them to the farmhouse.  Arranged the buckets, upside down, in 10 rows by 10 columns so we could get an accurate count.   We had 511 taps out.  Adjusted our “Season @ A Glance” widget from 507 to 511.

6 overnight.  Record cold for April 7.  Sunny and mid 30s during the day.  Some trees still dripping.  There was approx 100 gallons of sap we dumped.  It was mostly ice because at 6 sap does not stay liquid.   Quite possible that producers on vacuum will have additional sap runs.  If we had more time we may have let the buckets out.  Forecast for the week has freeze/thaw cycles.  And frost is still in the ground.

Back to the farmhouse by 6:30 PM.

Into the woods by 8:30 AM to start the burner on the finishing pan.   Bottled at 10:30 AM.  Then we finished and bottled a second milk can at 3:00 PM.

Also started the evaporator to boil down the remaining sap at 8:45 AM.   Took off one batch.   Then let the fire simmer in the afternoon.   Because its getting cold tonight again, we needed to empty the evaporator. Any sap in it would freeze and there is not enough left to start a fire to melt it.   After bottling the second batch we worked on emptying the evaporator.   Got all the sap into 1 ½ milk cans:  approximately 15 gallons to finish.   Took off the pans to rinse and drain.  The evaporator is empty now.  Once we get some warmer weather we need to fill it with water and cleaning solution, the restart a fire to warm it.  Planning cleanup around cold weather is a new step for us.

12 overnight.  Sunny and cold all day.  The sun was warm enough to cause melting but the temperature barely rose above 32.

Back to the farmhouse by 6:00 PM.

Yup, it was absurd today pulling taps while it snowed.

28-30 overnight.  We got about 2” of snow after 2:00 AM.   During the day we continued to get snow squalls with heavy snow.  Got an additional inch.  This afternoon’s squalls were particularly heavy while we pulled taps.  It was absurd pulling taps in the snow.  Don’t recall ever doing that.  There is more snow in the woods now when we pulled the taps then when we put out the taps the end of February.

The next five days the forecast is for temperatures about 20 degrees below normal.  Tonight’s forecast is 14.

Into the woods at 1:00 PM to begin pulling taps.  All the taps to the west of the building are down, about 1/3 of the total.  Picked up 25 gallons of sap along the way.  There was small run.  The 7/16 stainless steel spouts were still running while the 5/16 were mostly dry.  Also started a second wash of the R/O.  Wash tank looked clean this morning.  This second wash should be enough.  Then we break it down and bring it back to the farmhouse.

After 3:00 PM the sky cleared and the sun came out.  Back to the farmhouse by 5:00 PM.

22 overnight. Sunny low 30s most of the day, but warmed to 40 late afternoon.  The sun is warm and melting the snow already.

Started a wash cycle on the R/O.  We are closing down the season.  Also hard to admit that its time, but it is.  We have a week to cleanup.

Snow still forecast for tonight.  Up to 1”.

The weather may be snowy and cold, but the season is likely over.  Its over because the taps are old: 41 days now.  And we are running out of time: return to Washington, DC  April 14.

We saw last week  that even with the freeze/thaw cycle (20s/40s) the sap did not run.  We’ve had a good season.  Above average.  Average would be 75 gals.  We should get close to 95 gals.  We have a little over a week to complete all clean up:  R/O, spouts/buckets/covers down and stowed, evaporator cleaned, all syrup bottled.

A good 6”- 8” of snow.  Because of blowing and drifting its hard to tell exact amount.   22 overnight.  Sunny and breezy today with a high of 30.  Remainder of week is also cold with 1”-2” of snow forecast for Friday.

Our snow storm moved in 12 hours later then forecast.  Forecast had snow starting after 1:00 AM.  At 4:00 AM there was only a dusting.  It was cloudy but did not start snowing until 1:30 PM.  We’ve had 1”-2” already.  Forecast is still for 6”-10”.  Its a slow moving storm.

We have a February weather pattern the reset of the week.  Highs of 30. Lows in 20s.  Mother nature decided to compensate for those 50 degree days in February.  She realized she short changed us on winter.

The 10 days from March 23 to April 1 were the peak of the season.  We collected one day and cooked the next.  Collected 1505 gallons of sap, 38% of the season total, during this time.  We were able to stay on top of the sap because of the R/O.  Without it we would not have finished cooking one day’s  collection before the next one came in.  We would have cooked late into the night and filled all our storage tanks.  We’ve been there.  But we were able to pace this out to very manageable days.

12 overnight.  Sunny this morning with clouds this afternoon.  Temperature reached low 40s.  Checked the trees at Noon.  Some tried to run, but nothing of consequence.  Sap likely moving in the trees but the taps are getting old.

Tonight we get snow.  Forecast calls for 6”-10” or 7”-11”.  We’ll see what the next 24 hours delivers.

Into the woods by 5:45 AM.  We had Noon plans and wanted to finishing cooking yesterday’s pickup of 165 gals.  It was clear and cold: 18 and breezy.  The temperature dropped as the sun rose.  Once the evaporator fire was going we warmed our hands by the stack.  And opening the doors to fire gave a welcome wave of warmth too.

Three batches into the milk can.  First at 7:40 AM.  R/O from 7:00 AM to 8:45 AM.  Delayed starting the R/O wash cycle until we left. Wanted to enjoy the woods without the background din of the pumps.

Sunny and cold today:  33.  Tonight is 18 again.  Tomorrow rain/snow with 2”-3” of snow on Tuesday.  Glad we picked up yesterday because it looks like ice in the buckets most of this week.

Back to the farmhouse by 10:45 AM, an early finish.

Into the woods by 11:15 AM to get syrup into the finishing pan.  Syrup was finished and filtered by 1:00 PM.  Done with bottling and cleanup by 1:50 PM.

Then headed out to collect.  Tonight the forecast is 18.  Any sap will freeze.  Get it while its liquid.  We hoped for a tank full, 225 gal, but ended up with 165 gal.  A few running well, but many are dry.   The taps are out over a month so dry taps are expected.  But with a low of 23 the other night and sunny yesterday we should have more sap.  Since we didn’t its a signal we are coming to the end of the season.   We could be surprised because we get the freeze/thaw pattern this coming week.

Planning to begin cooking early tomorrow.   We have plans for Easter dinner at Noon and want to be done cooking by 11:00 AM.  We should be able to meet that if we get into the woods by 6:00 AM.

No snow last night.  Lite rain started by 8:00 AM this morning.  Cloudy and windy.  Did reach low 40s before the wind shifted to the North and temperature dropped.

Back to the farmhouse by 6:15 PM.