The radio and TV anchors and weather forecasters sound so happy about announcing this glorious warm weather. Highs in the 50s. Sunny. No freezing nights. Mean while us maple sugar makers are thinking how awful this weather is because its not cold enough at night and too warm during the day. Its March 15. Winter can sill bite here in Wisconsin. We are certainly hoping for a return to normal weather patterns so we can salvage something from this season.
Category: 2010: Season 93 Page 3 of 4
Sunny, windy and warm today. About 50. Nothing is happening in the woods. The forecast is for a few more days of warmer then normal weather, but then maybe a return to normal, colder weather.
The sun made an appearance today. It was about 2:00 PM when it emerged. The fog lifted, the clouds broke and the sky cleared. And we saw a sunset. The day did start foggy again. And it did not freeze last night. No sap. The forecast for the coming days is sunny with highs around 50. It may or may not freeze at night.
This is a difficult weather pattern. It seems too early to think about the season ending. Yet without a return to freezing nights we are facing that possibility. If it does end, it would be the worst season in decades. Its sobering to think of that. But we can not control mother nature.
We may look into ways we might freshen the taps after a long warm period like this. The tap hole is a wound to the tree. And a healthy tree will try to heal the wound. The first part of healing is to stop the bleeding; sap dripping from a spout is the tree bleeding. Micro organisms start to seal off the cut veins in the wood. It forms a layer in the tap hole (think scab) that protects the tree. And also stops the sap flow. Colder weather delays the onset of micro organisms thus keeping the sap flowing.
We are willing to wait it out for a week or so yet. Because you have to be an optimist to do any type of agriculture.
Foggy and warm again today. Went into the wood about 9:30 AM. The state inspector was coming today. They look over the operation for food safety issues. Of course with all the boiling that is done, maple syrup is not a very good vector for food borne illnesses.
We had a batch of syrup from the other day to finish and bottle. That came out to 13 quarts and 1 pint. We are up to 75 quarts and 1 pint total syrup for the year.
We also boiled down that last 50 gallons of sap. All storage tanks are empty. We were done with everything by 5:00 PM. Now we wait for better weather. The weather is forecast to change on Sunday.
Didn’t freeze last night. Today started foggy; then rain moved in. There is a large slow moving low pressure system in the middle of the country that is pulling warm air to the north. Its dominating our weather now and will until about Sunday. Its brining cloudy, warm days of 45 or so, nights that don’t freeze, and drizzle or rain. Maybe even a thunder storm.
It was 10:30 AM before we went into the woods. Since we have a spell of warmer weather we decided to make a run though the woods to pick up any sap there. It won’t keep with the warmer weather so better to pick it up. And this may be a season where we have to fight for every quart of finished maple syrup. There was not a lot of sap in the buckets. A few with a quart of sap. Many with only a cup. A few full, but those were most likely missed in the prior collection. In end we collected 50 gallons of sap: enough to make five quarts of maple syrup.
When the warm air hits the cold snow a foggy mist forms as the snow melts. It rises from the snow in the woods and looks almost ghostly. It was rainy and warm today. Up to 47. Last year at this time were we fighting with the cold.
Into the woods by 7:30 AM to start boiling. By 10:30 AM a batch was ready to come off the evaporator. Added it to the batch from Monday. Then we finished and bottled. 25 more quarts. Up to 62 quarts total now. Took one more batch off the evaporator about 6:30 PM. Watched carefully so the batch would be ready but there would still be enough sap to shutdown the evaporator but still empty the storage tanks.
The forecast is still warm and rainy. That is disappointing for maple syrup makers.
The next four or five days we are forecast to have warmer weather and rain showers. Its not going to freeze at night which is not good for us. Its likely going to be slower in the woods.
We were out collecting today. Picked up another 300 gallons of sap. We also boiled tonight for a few hours which will help make tomorrow a shorter day.
We cleaned the syrup pan on the evaporator today before collecting. It had a surprising amount of sugar sand burned tight already.
Tomorrow is another day of boiling. The goal is to stay in the woods until the storage tanks are empty.
We also placed our order with the printer for labels, a maple syrup themed cook book, and business cards.
Sunny days and freezing nights are supposed to give sap flows. We are getting some sap but not as much as hoped given the weather pattern. Something else besides just sunny day and freezing night must be needed for sap flows. It was not as cold last night. Only into the low 20s. And up to about 50 during the day. Again it was sunny. The sap moved, but not enough to collect. There was a quart to two quarts in most pails. We plan to collect tomorrow.
We did boil today. And bottled again. We started boiling at 7:30 AM with the goal of emptying the storage tanks. That meant pushing through 300 gallons of sap. By 11:30 AM we took off the first batch of syrup. By 3:30 PM the second batch was ready. We finished and bottle both batches together which gave us 26 quarts and 1 pint.
We didn’t expect any more syrup but by 8:00 PM another batch was ready. We took it off the evaporator but did not finish and bottle it.
By 10: 00 PM we were back in the house. So it was a 14 ½ hour day.
It was down to 18 again last night. By 9:00 AM it was already above freezing which was good. It eventually got up to 44. We are getting sunny days and freezing night, but its getting too cold to run well. We had help lined up to collect today. But we had wait until it warmed and the trees could drip before we collected. We started collecting at 2:30 PM. We thought we might get only 150 gallons of sap but we were surprised to collect 300 gallons.
We cleaned out the syrup pan on the evaporator. Better to clean it often then wait for the sugar sand to burn on. We also had some electrical work done. We now have a light that points into the wood shed and another light that points behind the building by the tanks. Both areas were dark before.
Tomorrow we will boil.
Into the woods by 7:30 AM to start the evaporator. It was cold again last night. It was down to 10 at 6:30 AM. The tanks did not freeze. But the pipes to the evaporator did. No liquid was in the pipes overnight. We think as the sap from the tanks hit the cold, smaller pipes that it froze. We took the pipes apart and warmed them the gas burner. That worked to get them open. It was 9:30 AM before we had a fire going under the evaporator.
It was nice sunny day. It got up to 44. The sap started to run, but again it was so cold over night that it takes time for the sun to do its magic. There was not enough sap in the buckets to collect today. We hope to collect tomorrow.
We did cook through the 300 gallons of sap from yesterday. Ended up the first 10 quarts of maple syrup for the season.
A few visitors today. We were able to get both parents into the woods. Mother, who is 82, was tasting the partially finished sap from the evaporator and commented “That’s the good stuff.”
This is the “good stuff.” Beautiful spring day. Sunny and nice in the woods. The wonderful aroma of cooking maple syrup. And family with us.