Syrup was ready at 45 minute intervals today.  That was a first.  There is not time to do much in between batches.  A few cycles of fire, check pumps, adjust sap level in pan then take off another batch.  It keeps you very busy.  12 batches into the milk can.  All 625 gallons cooked through.    With the temperature reaching the 50s we wanted to get all the sap cooked.  Sap doesn’t keep well when it gets warm.

Into the woods by 6:00 AM.  R/O going by 7:05 AM.  It ran 7 ½ hours today.  Served us well.  Went to 6° Brix.  Pressure held at 400 PSI.  Had good boils.  But nitre was going to drive the day:  if we get too much of a nite build up in the syrup pan we can’t boil hard.  By batch 6 we had fair amount of nitre but boiling was still good.  Nitre continued to accumulate, but boils stayed good so pushed on until done.

Batches of Syrup into the Milk Can
1   7:35
2   8:30
3   9:15
4  10:00
5  10:40
6  11:25
7  12:25
8   1:50
9   2:35  R/O also finished
10  3:20
11  4:10
12  5:05

We now have four milk cans of syrup waiting for bottling.

Warm weather pattern the next few days.  The snow is disappearing fast.  We need colder weather for more sap.  47 overnight.  55 today.   Cloudy with a few rays of sun.

Back to the farmhouse by 6:00 PM.