Into the woods by 6:45 AM. R/O going by 7:45 AM. 6 Brix. R/O finished by 10:10 AM. Four batches into the milk can.
Slightly different aroma in the syrup building. The maple aroma is mixed with a steamy aroma. Not sure how else to describe. In place of delicate maple aroma is a wet maple aroma where steam mixes more with the maple aroma. This happens at the end of the season. The chemistry of the sap changes. Likely due to a higher bacteria load.
Projecting 90-92 gallons of finished syrup.
Next up: cleanup mode. Cook out the last of the sap in the evaporator. Pull the spouts and get in the buckets. Clean the R/O. Clean the evaporator. We still have three milk cans to bottle.
Originally scheduled to leave April 14. But COVID-19 caused non-essential places to close. Virginia is in a mandatory stay home order until June 10. Should have time for clean up. Then move on to transplant maple trees to the area between the syrup building and the road.
35 overnight. Cloudy, 37, northeast wind all day. Between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM we had drizzle.
Back to the farmhouse by 2:00 PM.