Category: 2022: Season 105 Page 1 of 6

In May of 2020 we transplanted 20 maple trees in front of the syrup building. We expected some would die. But last year we still had 10. Seven more died over the 2021-2022 winter leaving three. We were hopeful that after two years the remainder would make it and disappointed to see the die off.

Also, a tree we transplanted in fall of 2012 thrived for nine years but declined this winter. The crown died off. In early spring it appeared the entire tree died. But some leaves are sprouting from the trunk now. Its wait-and-see if the tree survives but its growth is stunted.

Worse, many young maple trees of 4’ to 7’ died off. There were groves of young maples grouped together. When grouped together, they compete for sun and other resources. Some won’t make it. But all the trees in the grove dying off at the same time is unusual.

We aren’t aware of any disease that accounts for the die off of young maples unlike ash which have the Emerald Ash Borer killing many ash trees of all ages. We attribute this die off to the deep frost from the past winter which also delayed syrup season.

We did transplant a 4′ maple tree to the area around the gate. Both of the 2020 transplanted died there. After the leaves are out isn’t usually considered a good time to transplant trees. But we tried anyway. In 2005 or 2006 we transplanted a 10′ maple in July. Most the root ball fell away exposing bare roots. The tree is thriving and close to 25′ now.

We’ll continue to monitor tree health.

Variable weather during syrup season is expected. We’ve waited out cold spells or warm spells in past seasons. Rain. Snow. Sleet. Fog. And perfect sap weather. If you do any agricultural activity, you better be an optimist. But this season was still an outlier. Even when we had freezing nights and sunny days with the tree pressure ranging from -10 PSI to 20 PSI, we still didn’t have sap runs. Until the last week in March, it looked like it would be an historically poor season. The frost was deep because there wasn’t much snow cover this winter. When it warmed above freezing we had rain followed by below 0 temperatures, driving the frost deep. The trees didn’t run until the frost came out.

Researchers at the University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center cite several reasons why sap may not flow even when weather conditions are favorable.
1.) Thermal inertia. Trees are big and it takes time for them to warm
2.) Depleted moisture after prolonged cold. Until there is a good thaw followed by freezing conditions to recharge the moisture in the system, sap flows will be weak.
3.) Uneven warming in trees. Sunny sides warm and produce sap runs while shady sides stay cold.

Point 2 seems most applicable to this season. Any moisture in the ground was frozen and not available to the tree. We got sap March 30 and March 31 as the frost depth receded. The frost came out completely between Noon and 3 :00 PM on March 31. We know this because at Noon when we left the woods there was 2” of water on sidewalk by the syrup building. At 3:00 PM when we returned to collect, the water had soaked into the ground. Big sap run after that on April 2.

Here are pictures of the bottom of flue pan before cleaning and after cleaning.

Glad we could use the R/O. Feels like cheating especially when we see neighbors steaming away all day for several days in a row. Burned 2.3 cords of wood in the evaporator.

In the end, we had an above average season. With 500 taps we would have had 100 gallons of syrup. We are happy with the season.

Into the woods by 8:00 AM to finish cleanup. Washed the floor. Brought in the tanks. Took equipment back. Disconnected the propane tank. Brought the R/O into the farmhouse.

Disconnected the radio. Took down the clock. Out of the woods at noon.

Into the woods by 8:15 AM. The evaporator is clean. The pans cleaned easily. We did well with cleaning solution in the flue pan. The nitre brushed off with very little scrubbing. Swept the ash from the evaporator. Put the pans upside-down on the evaporator base. The finishing pan and bottling pan also cleaned easily. Those pans are also upside-down on the evaporator base.

Washed out the storage tanks and collecting tank.

Nice weather today. Sunny and 60. Too many times we’ve cleaned the pans in the cold and rain.

Tomorrow we bring back equipment including the R/O. And wash out pipes with a bleach solution. We should finish all cleanup tomorrow.

Back to the farmhouse by 3:00 PM.

From the sap collected and Brix we can project the amount of finished syrup. The projected finished syrup was 39 gallons.

We actually made 42 gallons so we either under counted sap collected or under counted the Brix of the sap. Or a combination of both.

42 gallons is 334 pints giving us 1.65 pint/tap.

Syrup yield is usually expressed in pounds/tap. We think that is left over from when maple sugar was the primary product and producers were paid by the pound for sugar.
1 gallon of syrup is 11 lbs
1 pint is 1.375 lbs (11/8)
1.375 lbs/pint X 1.65 pint/tap = 2.26 lbs/tap = 2.3 lbs/tap

Syrup producers on vacuum typically get between 5 lbs/tap and 6 lbs/tap.

Need to clean the evaporator, finishing and bottling pans yet. Hope to complete cleanup this weekend. The season isn’t over until all cleanup is done.

Starting labeling bottles. Hope to complete before returning to DC.

Into the woods by 5:00 AM to bottle. Cleaned up while the syrup was finishing. Returned unused wood back to the woodshed. Took down the pipes to the storage tanks. The heat gun failed and we couldn’t remove two hoses from the R/O. Fortunately all the major hoses were already removed.

Started bottling at 7:15 AM. 4 gallons and 3 pints. That gives us 41 gallons and 3 quarts total for the season. Round up to 42 gallons. If we had 500 buckets out we would have over 100 gallons for syrup.

Still some cleanup to finish. In the end, it was a good season. When you do any type of agricultural activity, you better be an optimist.

Back to the farmhouse by 8:00 AM.

Disconnected R/O hoses this morning. Late this afternoon disconnected remaining hoses and took out the membrane and brought it back to farmhouse. The R/O is draining now. We’ll bring it into the farmhouse in a few days.

Plan to bottle tomorrow.

Snow started around 4:00 AM. No accumulation but everything is white again. Changed to rain around 1:00 PM.

Into the woods by 8:00 AM. Snow still forecast to start before dawn tomorrow morning. Wanted to get all the buckets and covers in because they don’t need to get wet again. Completed by 9:30 AM.

28 overnight. Cloudy this morning with sun and 42 after Noon.