Maple Syrup: Nature's Spring Tonic. -- Since 1918

Category: 2023: Season 106 Page 1 of 5

A Remarkable Season

2023 was a remarkable season. We had the best quality and highest yield we ever recall. We made three milk cans of Grade A Golden, Delicate Taste syrup. The rest of the crop was just over the Golden standard at the higher end of the Grade A, Rich Taste scale. No dark syrup. We didn’t do anything different for processing, so mother nature had her own reasons for the quality. Before March, we had an open winter with little snow. We had good weather patterns for sap in March, but nothing exceptional so weather patterns don’t explain the better quality either.

The yield of 2 pints per tap was exceptional. We could have made more syrup, but once the Brix dropped to 1 or below it’s a lot of processing for a few gallons of syrup. The R/O makes it possible to cook, because we can get 5 or 6 Brix before cooking, but it’s still a lot of processing. It was unsettling to dump full buckets of sap like we did on March 28, but the sap was 1 Brix or below. While we tapped the end of February, sap likely flowed much of February due to favorable weather patterns. So by the end of March the sugar the trees had stored was depleted even through there was water available to make sap: with less sugar available, the sap had lower Brix. We can mitigate that by tapping earlier.

The R/O was a problem again this season. The impeller on the feed pump breaking was unfortunate, but once we saw the impeller was plastic, breaking was inevitable because bark or other matter does get into the sap and will damage the impeller. While the new feed pump it all stainless steel and tougher, it feeds a larger volume of sap into the R/O causing temperature problems during the wash cycle because the larger volume of water passes through before friction heats it. We’ll see La Pierre, the R/O manufacturer, in October at the NAMSC annual meeting in MA and ask about how to mitigate the heat loss during the wash cycle. We’ll likely need to try an insulation wrap around the wash tank and a cover. The wash tank is open to the air and could radiate a lot of heat.

Hopefully only more more season on buckets. Planning for upgrades to a vacuum system and new evaporator by 2025.

85 Today

Sunny and warm today. Temperature up to 85. We’re in a 3-4 day warm spell. Average for April 12 is 50. We’re memorializing it to draw attention to climate change. Unexpected and large changes in temperature, both up and down, are signs of climate change. By the weekend it turns cooler with possible snow flurries.

Finished Cleanup

Into the woods by 8:00 AM to finish cleanup. Washed the floor. Got all the tanks in the building. Brought equipment back to the farmhouse. Done in the woods by 1:30 PM. Then put away equipment at the farmhouse and washed milk cans and pails. Finished by 2:45 PM.

Cleanup stretches over almost two weeks because we can’t focus the entire day on it because of our other work. Cleanup can be completed in 3-4 days if we dedicate the days to it. Next year we should be able to dedicate the days to it.

We’ll write a reflection piece on the season in a few days.

The Evaporator Is Clean

Into the woods by 8:00 AM to clean the evaporator. It cleaned up without much effort. Pans done by 1:00 PM. After lunch cleared the firebox, then the finishing and bottling pan.

Tomorrow clean the floor, bring tanks into the building, clean the milk cans and bring all equipment back to the farmhouse.

A coating to 1” of snow was forecast for overnight, but we didn’t get any snow or rain. 40 overnight. Cloudy and cold this morning. Sun appeared around 1:00 PM. Temperature up to low 50s.

Back to the farmhouse by 3:00 PM.

Used 6.9 Cords Of Wood

Into the woods at 12:30 PM to bring in the R/O. Later in the afternoon we prepared the membrane for off-season by adding SMBS to the storage canister. We’ll send the membrane out for cleaning again.

Measured the empty space in the woodshed. We burned 6.9 cords of wood. That’s the consequence of the failed R/O feed pump.

Tomorrow we clean the evaporator.

Tanks And R/O Lines

Into the woods at 4:00 PM. Washed storage tanks. Brought R/O lines to the farmhouse. Washed with bleach solution to sanitize for off-season storage. Also took down the pressure gauge on the tree.

32 overnight, but cold wind at dawn caused ice on puddles. Sunny, windy and 50 today.

First Syrup And Last Syrup Of 2023

First Syrup and Last Syrup of 2023

On the left, first syrup of the season. On the right last syrup of the season. As the picture shows, we had outstanding quality all season. Too many seasons the “Last Syrup” is how the season starts or very soon after the season starts. No dark syrup this season.

Into the woods by 5:00 AM to finish and bottle the last half milk can of syrup. Just over 4 gallons. Season total: 56 gallons, 3 quarts. Rounding up to 57 gallons. Kept track of the total during bottling because if we bottled 3.5 gallons, we would achieve 2 pints/tap (1 quart/tap.) That’s the highest yield we’ve ever had.

Finished bottling and cleanup and back to the farmhouse by 7:45 AM.

Mid 40s overnight. Rained. By 7:15 AM we had another downpour. Rain subsided by 7:30 AM. Cloudy most of the day but sun appeared after 4:00 PM.

Back into the woods by 4:00 PM to disconnect the R/O. All lines disconnected. The R/O is draining now. Plan to bring it back the farmhouse on Friday.

Back to the farmhouse by 5:00 PM.

Bottled At Dawn

Into the woods by 5:00 AM. Half milk can into the finishing pan. Returned wood to the wood shed while waiting for the syrup to finish. Filtering by 6:00 AM. 4 gallons and 6 pints. Completed clean up. Back to the farmhouse by 7:45 AM.

Repeat this tomorrow with the final half milk can of syrup and get the season’s total syrup crop.

All Buckets And Covers Are In

Into the woods at 3:45 PM to collect buckets and covers. It was a nice day. Sunny and up to 58. Clouds moved in by 4:00 PM, but still nice. Got all the buckets and covers in while there were dry. Too many years we’ve had rain and the buckets took too long to dry.

Back to the farmhouse by 4:45 PM.

Bottled Another Milk Can Of Syrup

25 overnight. Cloudy. 42 today.

Dumped a milk can into finishing pan at 7:30 AM. Then into the woods at 11:45 AM to finish and bottle another milk can of syrup. A little darker, but still Grade A, Amber color, Rich taste. Very nice syrup.

Two more half milk cans of syrup to finish and bottle. We’ll bottle them early in the morning this coming week.

Back to the farmhouse by 3:00 PM.

Page 1 of 5

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén

Hide picture