About 4 over night. Up to 34 late today. Tomorrow up to 40, but then turns colder with highs below 32. This is a slow start to the season.
The local newspaper did have story about our sugarbush and a neighbor’s sugarbush.
Category: 2014: Season 97
About 16. No activity in the woods. Tonight down to 0. Tomorrow maybe 32. Friday’s forecast is for 44 and sunny. So we are still waiting for the trees and weather to turn favorable. Of course cold weather is better then warm weather. Cold weather does not impact the tap hole so keeps the potential of the season viable. Warm weather accelerates the tap hole closing and brings the season to an end.
The warm weather the past two days settled a lot of snow on the fields. The plow rows and corn stalks are starting to appear from under the snow.
Did not freeze overnight. Up to 40 today, but cloudy. The trees are still in hibernation.
We did manage to get one quart of sap from two taps. It measures 2 Brix which is typical sugar content.
A neighbor who was a tool and die maker with a lathe and machine shop made a stainless steel spout for our bottling valve. The spout is about 8” long. The old spout was made of brass. It had fractured and leaked. This new stainless steel spout should last well past our lifetime.
Tomorrow is cold: high around 20.
About 20 overnight but up to 50 during the day with bright sunshine. That got things melting. But the trees are still dormant. Some are tying to drip. The forecast is for another freeze/thaw cycle tonight so maybe tomorrow we get a run.
A lot of melt around the syrup building and that causes a lot of water. With the ground still frozen it can’t be absorbed so it causes puddles. But the snow is settling. And with warmer weather the snow now packs down so that will make it easier to get around the woods.
All the taps are out: 426. Started around 10:00 AM. By noon we had 153 more taps out. It goes much faster when there are more people helping. We started with three then another helper came for four. One drills the hole. Second sets the tap. Third puts on the bucket and fourth puts on the cover. By yourself its four trips to a tree.
This afternoon we opened the building. Shoveled snow from the doors and of the tanks. Swept the floors.
Overnight it was down to 5. Reached 40 today, but there was very little melt because it was cloudy. Forecast calls for upper 40’s and sunny tomorrow. We wait to see if the trees wake up.
Its a quite a workout opening the trails. The H tractor does not have power steering so its all arms. When the front tires turn sideways and snow plow it takes a lot arm strength to steer. It some places its too deep to drive through so the bucket is needed to dig a path. Only one section of trails need opening yet. But we may skip that if we do not tap that section of woods.
103 taps out today. We hope for 125 to 150 more taps. Maybe we can finish tomorrow. We will have help to get the building ready. Weather forecast for the coming week looks promising with freeze/thaw cycles.
100 taps today. The snow was a little better this afternoon because it was warmer today. 18 over night and up to 40 during the day. The warmer temperature helped the snow pack down after walking over it. But even through it was 40 it did not melt much. It was cloudy. We need the warm sun to start melting. The forecast called for a wintery mix of snow/sleet. But nothing came.
There are still trails in the woods that need to be opened. Its a real struggle with the tractor to drive through and open the trails. And it was not packing down either so next time through it was still a struggle. If it warms over the weekend as forecast then we can drive through to pack down the trail.
And we begin season 97.
70 taps out today. Was trying for 100 but feet got wet and cold. The snow is brutal. Its 18” to 20” deep but the depth is not the problem. The snow is very fine. It does not bind or pack. It envelops your feet. Its like walking in very fine sand. Takes a lot of energy to get through.
Got back to Wisconsin Feb 26. Spent the past week washing buckets and spouts. Still trying to get the feel of starting the tractor. During off season we had the electrical completely redone on the H. The wiring was old, bad and incorrect. Now the battery actually holds a charge. And we have head lights! Its been 35-40 years since they worked. Its just a little different feel now to start it that I am still getting used to.
Also fixed the tire on the wagon. That become a problem last season. Fortunately we got through but it was dicey a few times. The wagon uses 15” tires which are had to get used because a lot of people use 15” tires for wagons and trailers.
We had a storm in August that broke off a large limb from a tree. It fell on the electrical wire to the syrup building. It snapped off the power pole. It was just a year ago we put in the 100 amp/220 volt circuit. Repairing that was an unexpected expense.
Its been a very cold winter. Second or third coldest on record. Very deep frost. The East Twin river by us may be frozen solid. Lake Michigan is 89% frozen over. There have been around 50 days of below zero. A few days had wind chills of -50. No major snow storms, but a steady stream of 2”-4” of snow. We have around 60” for the Winter so far.
It was only 25 today. But it was sunny and the sun warms the trees. The sap is starting to move in the trees. Quite a few of the taps were wet. Sunday the weather breaks with highs in the mid 30’s. So its time to get the taps out.