MapleAcres

37 and rain overnight. Rain and 42 today. No woods activity.

Exchanged email with our equipment dealer in central Wisconsin. He also reports a poor season so far. Southern part of the state is done. Northern part of the state hasn’t had any runs yet. In central Wisconsin they had one run. Tomorrow is a call with producers from all across the US and Canada. Curious to find out how their season is going.

Into the woods at 4:45 AM to cook. Two batches into the milk can. Done by 9:30 AM.

Noticed the bottom row of wood in the woodshed is still frozen to the ground. The frost is still in the ground. Maybe when it comes out we get sap runs. But this is an odd season. Only trivial amounts of sap on what should have been good sap days based on the weather. Taps out three weeks now.

37 overnight. Cloudy with some rain today. Rain forecast overnight.

35 overnight. Cloudy, with some rain, most of the day with temperature up to 55. That’s not sap weather.

Getting reports that other local syrup producers are experiencing the same conditions. Its good to know its not just us, but leaves us wondering what’s happening.

Into the woods at 3:00 PM to collect. Picked up what was there. 75 gallons.

Forecast for the next few days is rain and cooler.

25 overnight. Sunny and 55 today. Anticipated a sap run. A little, but not as much as we anticipated or hoped for. What is mother nature doing? Today is the first day of Spring.

Connected the gas tank. Connected all the hoses on the R/O. Now we just need sap.

35 overnight. Cloudy and mid-40s most of the day with temperature rising to 50 late afternoon. No snow. Some rain overnight. Tonight’s forecast down to freezing. Maybe that kicks off sap runs.

Into the woods by 4:45 AM. 38 overnight. Cloudy all day. Temperature dropped during the day to 34. Snow still forecast for tonight with some locations getting 1-3 inches.

Tree pressure was -8 PSI. The trees are moving sap. Not clear why we aren’t getting runs.

One batch into the milk can at 7:00 AM. The other at 8:30 AM. Back to the farmhouse by 9:00 AM.

44 overnight. Sunny and 58 today. Snow disappeared. Collected at 4:00 PM. Picked up 75 gallons. More than we anticipated. When it’s warm the sap doesn’t keep so better to collect it. Tomorrow is cooler and snow/rain possible. The ground is warming. Hoping that gets the sap moving.

Spoke with another small producer. They put out fresh taps and report those taps aren’t running. So we wait.

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.

Froze overnight. Up to 45 today but cloudy until 2:30 PM. The ground is still very cold.

Into the woods to check buckets at Noon. Tree PSI at 17 but again not much dripping from the spout. But enough sap accumulated over the past several days to collect. Started collecting at 3:00 PM. Picked up 110 gallons. Sap was 3 Brix but we dumped ice, nature’s R/O.

Start cooking tomorrow. Tomorrow’s forecast is 50’s.

Tree pressure up to 20 PSI at 1:00 PM, but no sap at the spout. Not sure why we aren’t getting sap. It’s moving in the tree. The taps are still fresh; cold weather prevents the healing process.

Froze overnight. Likely in the upper 20s. But it was already 33 at 4:00 AM. Cloudy and up to low 40s. Temperatures forecast for 50s later this week.