27 overnight. A small layer of ice formed in the buckets. We needed a freeze to stimulate sap flow. Sunny and high 40s today. Late this afternoon we reached low 50s. Overall, it was a good weather for maple.
Into the woods by 9:00 AM. Letting the syrup pan sit overnight in the cleaning solution made is much easier to clean because the solution loosened the nitre. The cleaning solution needs time to act.
Worked on assembling new equipment. We’ll write more about that later.
Sap ran well today and supplemented the sap run from yesterday. We collected at 3:00 PM. Picked up 470 gallons. We’ve collected 1785 gallons so far this season.
We’re using a strainer with the collecting tank to catch twigs, bark, leaves, bugs and other debris that gets into the buckets. It works well. Another small change that makes the operation better. Too bad we didn’t think of it years ago.
Back to the farmhouse by 5:30 PM.