MapleAcres

Into the woods by 8:00 AM to cook the sap from the evaporator.  It was only 25 gallons but took about 7 hours.  The front syrup pan does not boil as much as the flue pan.    It was frustrating waiting for it to cook.   We slowly tapered off the heat so we could empty the pan with just about no fire under it.  The final batch will be 20-24 quarts.  More then we expected.  Back to the house by 6:00 PM.

Started the day by taking off the flue pan to rise out the big stuff.  The evaporator is actually not that bad.   The R/O removes a lot of the sugar sand so it does not accumulate.

Got the tractor to get a tank of water.   After the tank was full, the tractor did not start.   Used a smaller cart to get the tank to the woods.   The ground was frozen because it was 20 last night otherwise that cart couldn’t pull it.  The tractor is still outside in  the yard.  Tried the battery charger too.  No success.  It doesn’t even turn over.   Same as the problem from February 27.  We’ll call the mechanic in the morning.   

The outside faucet we use to fill the tank was frozen.    Used our new paint striper to melt the ice in the pipe.

Green sprouts are starting to push up in the woods.  Spring is coming and plants are retuning to life.  But it was cold this morning.  About 25 with a cold wind when we went into the woods..  Everything was white from yesterday.  Put on the insulated coveralls.    Snow squalls most of the day again.  By the end of the day the sun briefly appeared.   It did reach 42 but tonight it drops to 25 again.

Into the woods by 8:00 AM get syrup on the finishing pan.    While it heated we returned to the buckets.   Finished taking down all the buckets and spouts by 3:00 PM however there was a break of several hours for bottling.   The buckets and covers are still in the woods up side down to dry.  We’re hoping for a window of dry weather the next few days so we can get them all in and stored for next season.

Syrup was ready by 10:30.  Bottled 17 quarts and  1 pint.    Its darker but sill looks nice. 

We had snow squalls all day.  A few minutes of intense snow then sunshine again.    Nothing accumulated.  But right now it snowing hard with ¼ to ½ inch accumulation.  Everything is white again.  Won’t last.

Once all the buckets were down we turned out attention to the evaporator.   Took out about 15 gallons of sap.  Expecting 2-3 gallons of syrup from it.   Tomorrow we get a tank of water and start the fire to clean the pan while we finishing the remaining sap.

Back to house by 4:30 PM.

Started taking down buckets and pulling spouts today.  25% to 30% are down already.  We’ll see what the weather is like tomorrow before continuing.  Snow is forecast and we may not want to take down buckets with snow on the ground because the buckets won’t dry out.

Bottled a milk can of syrup:  27 quarts.  Into the woods by 11:30 AM to get the syrup on the finishing pan.  Then started taking down buckets.  Syrup was ready by 2:30 PM for bottling.  Back to the house by 3:30 PM.

The past two years we got caught in the rain during cleanup.   We hope to avoid the rain this year.  We should have a few more days for cleanup so we can plan around rainy days.

It rained today.  Over the weekend we may get snow again as a colder weather pattern returns. 

Made some calls to find out the best way to wash the membrane for storage.  It should get two soap wash cycles.  Still have to decide if we want to use SMBS.  It would help keep the membrane clean and bacteria free but it would require a soap wash to start the season next year.  The challenge with a soap wash is we would not have R/O water that is mineral free.  We would have to use well water.  Our well water is pretty good but not as pure as R/O water.

Cloudy all day.  Light showers this afternoon, but didn’t amount to anything.  Did not freeze overnight.     Trees not producing any sap that we can harvest. 

We have to get into clean up mode next.

Into the woods by 7:00 AM to cook.  Cleaned syrup pan.  Prepared the R/O.    R/O running by 8:05 AM done at 1:00 PM.  Setup an extra 100 gallon tank for R/O water.  We’ll need that for cleaning the R/O.  Five batches of syrup in the milk can.  Finished cooking by 3:00 PM.  Back to the house by 3:30 PM.

28 overnight.  Sunny and 45 today.  Trees not running.  This is the end.  We’ll start taking down the buckets after the rain on Wednesday and Thursday.  We don’t have complete totals yet but we’ll end up below average.

Between Saturday and today we had a run.    Collected 400 gallons.  Some pails were empty with others were full.  But its getting less sweet.  About 1.8 degrees Brix.   A sign we are reaching the end.     

Into the woods by 1:15 PM to check buckets.   It was clear we needed to collect.  Washed tanks and set out by 2:30 PM.   With the muddy trails we couldn’t drive out normal route.  That meant more walking with full collecting pails.  But better to carry then get the tractor stuck in the mud.   One helper arrived by 3:15 PM.  Finished up by 5:30 PM.  Tomorrow we cook.

We’ve had freezing night and warm days, but no real sap runs.   The taps have been out 4 weeks.   We are coming to the close of the season.  The warm weather hurt us.  A few days of warm weather we can recover from but almost two weeks is pushing it.   Likely one last pass through the woods to get whatever sap may be there, then pull the taps and get into clean up mode.

Raining now.  Today is Easter.  Early this year.

24 overnight.  Sunny and 42 today. Taps wet but not dripping much.   That warm weather hurt us. The taps are no longer fresh and not likely to produce much more sap.   We’ll try for a few more days, but the season is likely ending.   Producers on vacuum tubing are likely doing okay.

9 overnight.  Sunny and up to 37 today.  After the storm moved out last night the sky cleared and the full moon illuminated everything outside because it reflected off the new snow. 

Into the woods by 7:15 AM to cook Wednesday’s 140 gallons.  The pipe from the storage tank to the R/O was frozen.  Had to take it off to thaw it over the evaporator.  Had the R/O going by 9:30. It finished by 11:00.   Done cooking by 12:30.   Three batches into the milk can.

Put a milk can on the finishing pan at 11:30.     Bottled 29 quarts.  

The trees seem confused by the weather.  Even with the freezing night and sunny day they did not drip.

Back to the house by 3:30 PM.