MapleAcres

We got maybe 1 ½“ of snow.  Not even close to 3-6” just a new white cover of snow.   Plowed the yard later in the day.  Didn’t really need to as we could have driven over the little snow.  But wanted to get back on the tractor and be sure it was ready for the season.

Colder Wednesday and Thursday.  Highs in the teens.  But we still hope to start tapping as the weather pattern starts changing this weekend.

3-4 inches of snow is forecast starting about 4:00 AM tomorrow morning.   Then an Arctic blast returns with lows near 0 for Wednesday and Thursday.  But we do want to start tapping.  The weekend starts to warm and we want to be ready.

Back in WI preparing for season 98.  Arrived here Feb 27.  February has been very cold: averaging 20 degrees below normal.  January was milder.  Not much snow this winter. 6″-8″ in the woods. Should be easy to get around.   But with the light snow the frost is deep.  May take  the trees some time to wake up.

Buckets and spouts are washed.  We plan to tap this coming week. Snow expected Tuesday, so we may wait until Wednesday and Thursday.  Its time.  Even if it stays cold a little longer the taps will be fine.

Again.  Just like last season.  Cleaned the evaporator during a cold, hard rain. With thunder and lighting too.   It started raining around 11:00 AM and didn’t stop until around 7:00 PM.  But the evaporator had to be cleaned so you do it in the rain.   By 2:00 PM it was clean.

Into the woods by 8:00 AM.  Back to the house by 7:30 PM.  All the spouts were pulled and the buckets and covers in before the rain started.  That was huge.

After the evaporator was cleaned we had a final milk can of syrup to bottle.  That was ready around 6:00 PM.  After clean up we were done and back the house.

Season 97 comes to a close.   Total syrup:  60 gallons.

Song of the Season:  Let It Go (from Disney’s Frozen)  Idina Menzel

Tomorrow we fly back.

Push to finish now.  Every hour, every task counts now as time is not our friend. We must be done by tomorrow.  Sunday we fly back.

Got a tank of water this morning.  Emptied all the sap from the evaporator.  About 16 gallons.   Filled the big pan with water and cleaning solution.  Sap in the front.  Light the fire to cook the sap and warm the water with the cleaning solution.  In between we picked up buckets and covers and took spouts.  About 75 buckets and covers remain to pickup.  And about 150 of the blue 5/16” spouts need to come out yet.  Those spouts are harder to remove.  They grip the hole tightly and will break if you are not very careful and patient removing them.

After dusk we stayed to finish and bottle the sap we cooked down from the evaporator.  It was warm so it was fast.  Small batch of 2 gallons.  Grade B syrup.  Tomorrow we have a milk can full to finish and bottle yet.

Into the woods by 8:00 AM.  Back to the house by 9:15 PM.

To finish tomorrow.
Clean evaporator
Finish and bottle last milk can of syrup
Get all the buckets, covers and spouts in

Into the woods by 8:00 AM.  Back to the house by 9:00 PM.  Done cooking.   Finished by 4:30 PM.  Then simmered to reduce the sap in the evaporator to make emptying it easier.   Around 20-30 gallons of sap remains in the evaporator to cook out.   Tomorrow we consolidate all that into the front pan.  The bigger back pan gets filled with water and cleaning solution.  Then we light the fire.   The back pan cleans while the front pan finishes off the sap.

Took down the pipes from the storage tanks to the evaporator.  Started pulling taps too.

It was about 60 today.

Into the woods by 10:00 AM.  Back to the house by 10:30 PM.  At 11:00 AM we set out to collect and take down the buckets.  With this warm weather the sap will not keep.  It did freeze last night:  about 26 overnight.  Sunny and 52 for the high.  The trees dripped some, but not enough to keep going.

Flooded the tractor.  It sat for a while as we collected and removed buckets.  Tried to start without using the choke.  Did not catch on the firing.  We let the tractor sit in the woods and went for the ATV.  The trails are good with the mud pretty much gone.  The ATV was fine pulling the wagon and tank.   We got the tractor running after we finished collecting.

By 3:30 PM we finished collecting.  The first collection of the season was solo and the last collection of the season was solo.  Got 215 gallons of sap.  2.8 Brix,  And it was nice clear sap.  But if it stood a day or so yet it would go bad.

Started the evaporator by 4:30 PM and cooked until 10:30 PM.  That gives us a head start for tomorrow.  We have to finish cooking by late afternoon and push on with cleanup.

Into the woods by 8:00 AM.  Back to the house by 10:00 PM.  Over an hour to clean the pan this morning.  Emptied the 175 gallon tank by 6:30 PM.  Then we bottled.  33 quarts.

About 36 overnight.  Partly sunny and 55 during the day.  It gets hot in the syrup building when its warmer outside.  The steam from the evaporator warms the building.  And when opening the fire doors on the evaporator you really get a blast of hot air from the firebox.

The forecast is for 50s during the day and 40s or mid 30s overnight.  No more consistent freezing nights.  So the season is over.    One last collection tomorrow.