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.