Today started with snow flakes. We got another dusting of snow. By 10:30 it cleared and the sun came out. Warmed to 46. Then the wind picked up about 3:30. The trees dripped some but not enough to collect. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and in the 40s. That is sap weather.

We spoke with a large producer in the central Wisconsin. We purchase our supplies from them. They have no sap yet. They tapped the end of February, but haven’t had any runs. Its been too cold and snowy. They are hopeful but it will be a late season for them. And for us too. A year ago it was 76 and that pretty much ended our season.

We us a special machine to filter the syrup. It has a hand pump which creates pressure to force the finished syrup through the filter to remove the sugar sand and any other impurities. We were finishing a batch of syrup today when the hand pump broke. So we did not bottle any syrup today. There is about 20 – 24 quarts close but has to be filtered. We should get the part we need by Thursday.

Today’s count
0 quarts syrup bottled
1 visitor
1 broken filter press
1 found candy thermometer