Category: 2015: Season 98 Page 4 of 5

Started the evaporator at 10:30 AM.  By 5:30 PM we were done boiling the 150 gallons of sap we collected yesterday.    And got one batch of syrup into the milk can.  Its not a big batch, maybe 2 gallons, but its something.  Syrup will be dark this season based on the first batch.  Warm weather will cause that.

The weather forecast is for warm weather through Sunday.  And now 60s are forecast too.  Not what we want.  Such a change from just a week ago when the high was 12.  Today was 53.  It did freeze last night as there was ice on the puddles.  But sunny and 53 caused most of the snow to melt.

First collection.  150 gallons.  2 Brix.  Down to about 28 overnight.  Up to 48 maybe 50 during the day.    We have about 4 or 5 of these warm days yet until we return to a more normal weather pattern.

Went out about 3:00 PM to collect.  We were hoping for 200-225 gallons based on our spot checks earlier in the day.  We came up short of that.  However when its this warm its good to get the sap in.  Tomorrow we will start the evaporator.

Last week we were tapping with daily highs of 10 degrees and 5 degrees.  A week later its way above normal.

About 25 overnight and up to 47 during the day and sunny.  A lot of melting.  The snow is disappearing.  The trees are slow to wake up.   They did drip today.  We plan to collect tomorrow.  Some pails had a quart.  But they will drip into the night so there will be more sap tomorrow.  It may hit 50 tomorrow.  That’s starting to get too warm.

Worked on the R/O piping again.  Almost there.  A few more fittings.  Of course once connected we still have to learn to drive it.

Cleaned the syrup building and tanks today.  Washed the evaporator. Swept the floors etc.   If we needed to, we could cook now.   Still have to get finishing and bottling prepared.

Down to 17 overnight but up to 46 today.  It took until Noon before melting started.  The trees are slow to respond yet.  Later in the day they were dripping but not enough to collect yet.  We will check tomorrow, but more likely Tuesday before we need to collect.

The next 5-7 days are 20’s at night and 40’s during the day.  That’s the weather patterns we want.   We hope the trees respond.   This weather pattern is 30 degrees warmer than last week.  Its such an abrupt change too.  The trees may not be ready yet as the ground is still frozen.

Up to 37 today.  Partly Sunny.  The snow became sticky from the warmth.  We got all the taps out: 470.  77 taps in the first batch and 95 in the second batch.  We were done by 12:30.     This afternoon worked on the piping for the R/O.   The piping allows us to either run sap through the R/O or draw both tanks into the evaporator.    Tomorrow we work on the R/O connections.

Even with the warmer day the sap did not run.  It may take a few days for the trees to come out of the dormant state.  The coming week the weather is forecast for the 40’s during the day.  Hopefully that triggers the sap flow.

Down to 5 below overnight, but it warmed  quickly.  By 10:30 AM it was mid-20s.  And later in the afternoon reached 32/33.  But the ground is cold yet so there was no melting even with the sun.  But with warmer temperatures the snow stopped squeaking.  It changed to crunching under foot.  A later in the day even stopped crunching.

Tapped 50 in the morning and 48 in the afternoon.  We ran out of the 5/16” spouts so that why 48 taps instead of 50 taps.  We will switch to the 7/16” stainless steel spouts.  We like the smaller spouts because they make a smaller wound on the tree that heals faster.

Sunny but cold today.  About 10 degrees but much colder with the wind chill.  Doesn’t seem like sappin weather, but it will change.  So out into the woods to start tapping.  50 taps out.  Tonight it drops below 0.  Tomorrow we will be out tapping again.  It should be a little warmer, 15, and not as windy.

As cold as it was, some of the taps were dripping.  Sap is starting to move in some of the trees.  The sun warms the south side of the tree and the tree responds.  Its ways fascinating to look at the trees in the cold, snowy woods standing there.   Seems like nothing is happening.   But drill a small hole and liquid starts to flow out indicating the tree is alive.

We got maybe 1 ½“ of snow.  Not even close to 3-6” just a new white cover of snow.   Plowed the yard later in the day.  Didn’t really need to as we could have driven over the little snow.  But wanted to get back on the tractor and be sure it was ready for the season.

Colder Wednesday and Thursday.  Highs in the teens.  But we still hope to start tapping as the weather pattern starts changing this weekend.

3-4 inches of snow is forecast starting about 4:00 AM tomorrow morning.   Then an Arctic blast returns with lows near 0 for Wednesday and Thursday.  But we do want to start tapping.  The weekend starts to warm and we want to be ready.