Into the woods by 7:00 AM to bottle. Finished bottling by 10:30 AM. Then cleaned the syrup pans and tanks. Also cleaned the concentrate hose on the R/O. And cleared the transfer pump because leaves got into it on Saturday. But didn’t clean it well enough and had to take apart again because it didn’t work when we tried to empty the collecting tank. The impellers are stainless steel, but they are very thin with tight tolerances. They don’t like debris like leaves, twigs and bark.
45 overnight. Sunny and up to 50 before clouds moved in after Noon. We noticed a good amount sap in buckets so decided to collect. This was unexpected. The trees dripped slowly yesterday and all night. Rain was forecast to start between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM. We started collecting at 3:00 PM and finished by 4:00 PM just as it started to sprinkle. We need the rain. It’s dry. The rain may recharge the groundwater the trees need for sap.
We have a few cold nights forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday so hoping there is another run. With this collection we will approach 70 gallons for the season. Or target is 75 gallons.
Back to the farmhouse by 4:30 PM.