Collected 340 gallons of sap today. Started at 1:00 pm. Finished up by 4:30 pm. We had trouble with the pump again. Its getting old, over 20 years already. Fortunately we got it running again, but we may need to replace it.
And we bottled 12 more quarts of syrup today.
Things went better today. We were successful getting the pipes on the storage tank thawed. Then we boiled down the sap and emptied the storage tanks. Worked on the tractor and got it running again. Then we could get water. Today is Friday the 13th, but it sure seemed like yesterday was with everything going wrong.
It stated warming up today. We expect sap this weekend again. And we bottled 11 more quarts.
Today’s Count
11 quarts 1 pint of syrup bottled.
Into the woods about 4:00 am again. There is still sap in the 150 gallon storage tank. But it was cold overnight. And the pipes froze. Or maybe there are just plugged up with twigs. Tried a small torch to thaw the pipes without luck. Needed sap in the evaporator as it was running low. Tried to pump from the storage tanks to the evaporator, but the pump did not work either. And the tractor would not start. Tomorrow is supposed to be Friday the 13th, not today. Some days things just don’t go right. By 1:00 pm we gave up and went back to the house. It had already been a long day.
Went into the woods about 4:00 am to starting boiling down what we collected yesterday. The temperate had dropped and was already freezing everything. And it continued to drop to 12 degrees around 8:00 am. Tonight it could reach 0. As hard as it was collecting yesterday, it would have been a waste for all that sap to freeze in the buckets.
By 9:30 am we had a batch of syrup finished. Got that bottled. And kept working on getting the sap boiled through. We actually bottled two more times during the day. Stayed until 9:00 pm to empty the large 250 gallon storage tank.
Today’s Count
38 quarts, 1 pint of syrup bottled.
When the sap is ready to run, it will run. Today was rain, drizzle and fog. But it did get up to 37 degrees. Yesterday after the snow storm the sap started to dip a little because it was sunny. It did not get very cold over night and the sap must have run over night. We collected 450 gallons of sap. And we were not expecting to collect.
We did not check the woods in the morning. We went out for a leisure lunch and did not get back until about 3:00 pm. Went to look at the buckets, but did not expect there would be sap to collect. Wrong. Half to three quarters full with some running over. So get the tractor and head into the woods. It was still drizzling and foggy. No sun, but it was about 37. The snow we had on Sunday made walking in the woods very difficult. While walking from one tree to the next there were a lot of places we encountered knee deep snow. Now carry two five gallons pails of sap. It gets real difficult. We were able to get one person to come help which was wonderful.
Night was approaching and we still had trees to visit. But the collecting tank was full again so we had to go back to empty it. While waiting for the collecting tank we filled all the five gallon pails we had so when the tractor came back we would have another section of woods collected. It was about 8:00 pm and dark when we finished collecting from the last tree. But we still had to empty the collecting tank. We topped off the storage tanks then filled four milk cans yet.
And finally we had to prepare for colder weather moving in. By morning its forecast to be 20 degrees or even colder. We had to setup heating tapes and heat lamps on the pipes from the storage tanks to keep them from freezing. It was about 9:00 pm when we finally got back into the house. That was a hard six hours.
Today’s Count
450 Gallons of sap
The snow stopped around 10:00 pm last night. But it continued to blow and drift. The temperature dropped to about 10 degrees overnight. This morning broke sunny and cold. And the work of digging out began. The fields were bare and brown yesterday. Today they are again white with snow cover.
No activity in the woods today. The maple trees were not dripping, they don’t like storms, although by the end of the day it warmed enough that the spouts were wet. After five days of hard work in the woods it felt strange not doing anything today.
Tonight another storm is forecast. This time its pretty clear we will be on the warm side of the storm and freezing rain and rain is expected to begin after midnight. So its going to get sloppy. But then the rest of the week turns colder.
Today’s Count
6-8 inches of snow
Started the evaporator at 5:15 am. By 10:15 the large tank as empty. By 1:30 pm or so we had our first syrup of this season bottled. Total bottled was 14 quarts and 1 pint. By 6:00 pm all the tanks were empty and we were back in the house.
But….at 11:30 am it started snowing. We only had a brief period of sleet, so the line of cold air was farther south then expected. Yesterday’s forecasts gave us a longer period of sleet and rain until late afternoon before turning to snow. But we had just about all snow. The wind picked up too. We were snug and warm in the syrup building boiling away. We had to go out to get wood and occasionally check the level of sap in the tanks. But mostly we were warm and content. When we came out of the woods we realized it was quite a storm. The roads were drifting over. Visibility was low because of blowing and drifting snow. It looks like we will end up with 6-8 inches.
Today’s count
14 quarts, 1 pint of finished syrup
6-8 inches snow
There was sap today. We picked up two tanks of 200 gallons, 400 gallons total. If we would have been fully tapped by Wednesday the 4th we would have had a lot more sap. We got the storage tanks ready and the evaporator too. We actually started the evaporator about 3:00 pm to start boiling the sap we collected.
The snow is still a challenge. Its so loose. The tractor struggles to get traction. We put the tractor into 2nd gear, gun the throttle and hang on for rough ride. Its a good thing we can steer using the brakes. Each of the back wheels is independent so we can break the right wheel to turn right or the left wheel to turn left. When the front wheels start snow plowing they are useless for steering and we must rely on the brakes. As long as the tractor is inching forward we don’t stop. If we stopped the tractor would get stuck. Wrestling with the tractor is more work then collecting sap.
The weather forecast is unsettled. Precipitation is coming, but if its rain, snow or a snow/rain mix is still unknown. It will depend on where the warm air and cold air meet. We have heard 3-5 inches, 6-8 inches and even 8-10 inches. It seems we won’t know until it happens.
Today’s Count
400 gallons of sap
Completed tapping. We put up 101 taps in the morning. This afternoon we put up 40. That should give up 416 taps, give our take 5. Its a good thing we don’t have to be accurate with our tap count as we always seem to loose track. The sap was running today again. The taps we put out on Wednesday and Thursday have 3-5 quarts. We are planning to collect tomorrow.
Today as sunny and warm. Up to 47. Its supposed to freeze tonight. Tomorrow is forecast to start sunny, then clouds and maybe rain in the afternoon. But the forecast is changing rapidly. A snow storm is now forecast for Sunday: maybe 6” of snow depending on where the storm tracks. Cold air is pushing down from the North and warm moist air pushing up from the the South. Depending on where those air masses meet will determine how much snow we end up with.
The snow in the woods has been hard to walk in. With temperatures in the 40s the snow gets soft and wet. And usually that will cause the snow to pack down when we drive the tractor over it. But is staying loose and graining, more like sand. The tractor has a difficult time getting traction. The front wheels stop rotating and act as a plow.
Today’s count
141 new taps
416 total taps
Today stated sunny, but by 9:00 am it was getting cloudy. Earlier in the week rain was forecast for today, but that didn’t happen. We tapped 100 this morning and another 100 this afternoon.
We even managed to tap an Ash tree. Ash and Maple have similar bark. As you move through the woods you can mix them up if you are not looking carefully. Now we very familiar with most of the maple trees in the woods and know where they are. But we were tapping in section of the woods we have not tapped for a decade or more. So the bark looked like a Maple and we did not check the crown of the tree. The difference between the Ash and the Maple is the branches. On an Ash the branches come out opposite each while on the Maple they alternate.
Ash Maple
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Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and in the 40s. Should be a good sap day. We may even collect. Especially since the weekend is forecast to be sloppy with rain and rain/snow mix.
Today’s count
200 tapped
1 Ash tapped
275 total tapped
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