MapleAcres

Cold North wind today.  Up to 34 or so.  The sun appeared late in the day.   We are still waiting for the promised warm up. 

We did bottle today what we drew off yesterday.  6 gallons 3 quarts.  That gives us 36 gallons and 3 quarts for the season.   We are happy with that so far, but awaiting a return to 20s and 40s:  freezing nights and sunny days so we get some good sap runs.

About 25 overnight.  Up to 34 today.  Cloudy and windy.  But the sun did make an appearance late in the day.    The wind was actually causing the snow to drift.  The wind came out of the north across the 80 acres of open field and picked up the snow and blew it.  On the 24th of March. 

Boiled today.  Into the woods by 8:00 AM.  Cleaned the front syrup pan.   It was frozen after a week of no use.   Put it on the gas burner to thaw out.    By 9:00 AM the fire was going.  The sap from yesterday tested a 4.3 brix.  That is very sweet.  Of course some of the sweetness results from the ice we dumped out.  Took four batches of syrup off the evaporator.  Every two hours again.   By 5:30 PM we were back in the house.

The weather forecast still calls for a warm up starting Tuesday.  We should get 40s and 20s which is what we have been waiting for.

About 15 overnight.  Cloudy all day.  What happened to the sun?  It reached 38 but without the sun it takes too long to warm to get a good run.  The past four days we had sun which warmed the trees but the air temperatures were too cold for sap run.  We were expecting sun today and hoping for good run.    Still this afternoon there was liquid in the buckets along with a lot of ice.    We went out to collect.  Empty the ice and pickup the sap that is there.  Picked up 150 gallons of sap.  And the buckets are ice free so if we do get a warm up later in the week we are ready.

Further south trough central Illinois , Indiana, and Ohio and into West Virginia they are having a snow storm.  12” of snow.

It was 4 degrees this morning.  This is February weather.  Sunny during the day and up to 32 or 33.  The sun is warm.  The trees did warm up later this afternoon and tried to drip.   Its not supposed to be single digits tonight.  And up to mid 30s tomorrow.  Maybe we get a run.

The recent past seasons we have had concerns about warm weather so this year is unique.   We never know what mother nature will give us.

Down to 15 last night.  Sunny, 31 today.  Our weekend warm up has been scaled back.  Not sure what will happen but hoping its warm enough for a sap run.  The March sun is warm and wants to thaw and melt.  But the surrounding air is cold.

Into the woods to pickup the syrup we bottled yesterday.  Noticed the “snow hats” on the covers we gone.  Monday’s snow left about 4” of snow on the pail covers, like hats.   It was still there yesterday.  But the warming sun must have finally warmed the covers enough to let the snow slide off.

Down to 9 last night again.  It was sunny today but only reached 21.   Tonight is also cold.  We are still hoping for a weekend warm up.

Into the woods by 9:45 AM to get a milk can of syrup on the finishing pan.  Its cold in the syrup building.  We took in the water milk cans yesterday because they would freeze in the woods.  That meant filling 5 gallons pails and walking over to the woods with them for water.  We need water to clean up after bottling.

Takes about 2 hours to get a milk can of syrup boiling on the gas burner.  Bottled 30 quarts: 7 ½ gallons.  We have 30 gallons for the season so far.

Cold again.  15 overnight.  Sunny, windy today.  High about 27.  The wind blew around yesterday’s snow.  Plowed the yard this morning.  Tractor started right away.

A Girl Scout troop came late this afternoon to see the maple syrup operation.  Since we could not show them collecting or cooking we showed them bottling.  Got the syrup in the finishing pan about 2:45 PM.  By 5:15 PM we were bottling.   A big batch: 9 ½ gallons.  The milk can was full.

The forecast looks promising for this weekend: upper 30s.  But long range there is more talk about snow for next Monday.

We got 4 ½” of snow today.  Started snowing just before noon.  By 6:30 PM is was pretty much done.  Not too cold last night, only about 27.  Up to 31 or 32 today.  Tonight is colder again.  We may get warming by Friday and into the weekend.

8 degrees this morning.  Mostly sunny with a few clouds today.  High of 27.  We had lake effect snow too.  Sunny and no clouds yet snow flurries can only be caused by lake effect snow.  The March sun is warm and even though its below 32, in the direct sun there is some melt.  Maple syrup producers  using vacuum could be getting sap.

We are so thankful we collected when it was liquid or we would have had blocks of ice for several days.  The tank warmer worked.  No ice in the storage tank overnight.  The valve did freeze and needed the small propane torch to thaw. 

A year ago today the high was 78 degrees.  Today 27.   The five day forecast is for high temperatures in the upper 20s and lows in the teens to single digits.  This is not sap weather.  But at least cold weather does not end the season like warm weather does.  Tomorrow we get maybe 2” of snow.

Boiled all day.  Took five batches of syrup off the evaporator.  About every 2 hours we had syrup ready.  Boiled through 225 gallons today.  The tanks are empty.  And two milk cans are full of syrup waiting to be finished and bottled.

Down to 18 overnight.  We had 3” of snow.  Started cloudy with snow flurries then cleared around 10:00 AM.  While it was sunny, temperature only reached 28.  But the warm March sun did generate some melt.

Into the woods by 8:30 AM.  Cleaned the syrup pan. Then started to boil.  Took off four batches of syrup.  At one point it was only 1 ¾ hours between batches.  We tested the sap sweetness.  It was 3.4 brix.  Average is about 2.0 brix so this was sweet.   That’s why were were drawing off so frequently. 

200 gallons done.  200 gallons remain in the storage tank.  We put a warmer in the tank for tonight.  This is our first time trying it. This warmer is the used for cattle and horses to keep their drinking tanks ice free.   Its forecast to go down to the single digits tonight.  Without a warmer we would have a lot of ice.

Forecast for the next week is still cold: doesn’t break 30.  And Monday snow is still forecast.