44 overnight. Sunny and 58 today. Snow disappeared. Collected at 4:00 PM. Picked up 75 gallons. More than we anticipated. When it’s warm the sap doesn’t keep so better to collect it. Tomorrow is cooler and snow/rain possible. The ground is warming. Hoping that gets the sap moving.
Spoke with another small producer. They put out fresh taps and report those taps aren’t running. So we wait.
Into the woods at 4:45 AM to accommodate a change in work schedule. With an earlier start we can finish cooking earlier to have most of the work day. Today were were done cooking by 9:45 AM and back at the farmhouse by 10:00 AM.
Pumped the collecting tank into the storage tank. After filling the evaporator we had 9 1/2” in the storage tank to cook. Evaporator going by 5:15 AM with a boil by 6:00 AM. First batch of the season into the milk can by 9:45 AM. Then we stopped firing because we had only 1” left in the tank.
Upper 20’s overnight: ice on the puddles and snow/ground crunchy. Sunny and 52 today. Tree pressure -6 PSI overnight indicating the trees are suctioning up sap, but we aren’t getting runs. The ground is still frozen and cold. Maybe that’s why Mother Nature isn’t providing sap runs even though we get 15 to 18 PSI on the tree during the day.
Enjoyed warm cups of partially cooked syrup from the evaporator. It’s a delicious reminder of why we do this.
Warm tomorrow again. Chance of snow on Friday.
Froze overnight. Up to 45 today but cloudy until 2:30 PM. The ground is still very cold.
Into the woods to check buckets at Noon. Tree PSI at 17 but again not much dripping from the spout. But enough sap accumulated over the past several days to collect. Started collecting at 3:00 PM. Picked up 110 gallons. Sap was 3 Brix but we dumped ice, nature’s R/O.
Start cooking tomorrow. Tomorrow’s forecast is 50’s.
Tree pressure up to 20 PSI at 1:00 PM, but no sap at the spout. Not sure why we aren’t getting sap. It’s moving in the tree. The taps are still fresh; cold weather prevents the healing process.
Froze overnight. Likely in the upper 20s. But it was already 33 at 4:00 AM. Cloudy and up to low 40s. Temperatures forecast for 50s later this week.
Into the woods by 10:00 AM. Setup the R/O valve panel and connected hoses from the permeate tank to the R/O. Also brought a tank of water from the farmhouse for the permeate tank. We need 200 gallons of water for the initial rinse of the membrane. We have to start with well water because we don’t have permeate water from the sap yet.
Now that we have water in the tank we had to setup the tank heater and heating tape for the exposed hoses. In past years we were always rushed to setup the R/O and tanks because we had sap to process. It’s nice to have time this year.
18 overnight. Snow this morning. 1 ½ inches. Sun came out by 10:00 AM and it started to warm. Up to 38. Not much melt yet because the ground is cold.
Sap is moving in the trees. Pressure gauge on our tree reached 18 PSI. Internally sap is moving, but we didn’t see sap at the spout. Likely the wood around the tap hole is frozen yet. Until it thaws we won’t get sap runs. The spouts are exposed to the air so cold can penetrate into the tree around the tap hole. The pressure gauge is on tubing and sealed so cold doesn’t penetrate into the tap.
4 overnight. Sunny and 15 today with a cold wind chill. This picture summarizes our season so far.
Tomorrow’s forecast is low 40s. We plan to get the building ready. Next week warms and we expect sap.
8 overnight. Sunny and 26 today. We did get snow showers at 12:30 PM. Came in fast. Within 15 minutes it went from sunny to show showers. Cleared by 2:00 PM.
Down to 5 tonight with wind chills below zero. Tomorrow possible snow again. Sunday’s forecast is 45.
14 overnight. Sunny and 25 today. Too cold for the trees.
We did wash top cap for the R/O today. Expected it to be routine but discovered water was restricted from flowing through the top connection. Its a 1/2” tube. After investigation, we discovered a blob of plastic obstructing the tube. It was 80% blocked. Wondering how long that’s been in there. Would be problematic for R/O operation.
15 overnight. Sunny and 35 today. Trees trying to wake up but the ground is still cold.
Into the woods by 6:15 AM. Fixed firebrick in the evaporator. Put the pans on the evaporator. Its still too cold to bring a tank of water for R/O initial wash. We could bring a tank of water, but would have to setup the tank heater to keep it from freezing. Back to the farmhouse by 7:30 AM.
Tree pressure -5 PSI overnight. Then up to 8 PSI late in the day.
16 overnight. Sunny and 36 today. But when it starts so cold it takes time to warm up. Trees dripping slowly. Tree pressure up to 8 PSI. Taps out for a week now without sap to collect.
Into the woods by 5:45 AM to move tanks and start evaporator setup. Got the 325 gallon permeate tank setup with hose connected. Then got pans off of the evaporator so we can add back the fire brick we removed to weld the patch. Back to the farmhouse by 7:30 AM.
Tomorrow’s forecast is 40. Then colder the rest of the week. Long range forecast looks promising, but any forecast beyond 2-3 days is not reliable.
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