MapleAcres

It was sunny but cold today.  Our snow was the biggest March snow since the 1880s.  Down to 10 or 12 overnight.  Warmed to 30 during the day.  The suns rays are warm and try to melt, but when its stay below freezing it doesn’t melt much.   We are in a  cold pattern now.  Its forecast for several days of teens and 20s.  Maybe by Sunday we break 32.  Next week is 30s and teens.  This is January weather. 

We need to put electric blankets on our trees.  No sap flows now for maple trees need balmy weather, warmer breeze.

We got 8” or 10”.  Quite a bit.  Last night it was wet, heavy snow.  At one point we had thunder with the snow.  This morning it turned colder.   By 10:00 AM it looked to be stopping.   But that was only a ruse.  Shortly after it starting snowing hard.  It was a fine snow that accumulated quickly.   And the wind started blowing and drifting the snow.  Its still blowing and drifting now with light snow.  All in all a good snow storm.

Its still not clear how much snow we will get , but it will be a fair mount.  5”.  9”.  Its right around 32 so snow, sleet, rain are all possible.   It must be colder at higher altitudes because so far its mostly snow.   Started around 10:30 AM.   Forecast to last into Wednesday afternoon.   Then it turns colder with temperatures below freezing during the day and maybe single digits at night.

Into the woods at 10:00 AM to do bottling.  We bottled 14 quarts.  Should have used a little more filter aid because the syrup is not quite as clear as previous batches.  That’s disappointing.  Its still nice syrup.

We are at 135 quarts, 33.75 gallons, of finished syrup.

Did not go into the woods today.  It was cloudy until around 3:00 PM.  Did reach 45 but did not freeze last night.   The weather forecast is for rain and snow Tuesday evening into Wednesday.  We may get 4 inches of snow.  Then it turns colder with days not above freezing.  Welcome to March when the weather changes often.

Working outside in the woods gives you a different appreciation for nature.  You see and feel changes happening that you are not cognizant of when working inside.  In the morning there is ice.  As the sun warms things all of the sudden there is puddle where ice was before.  Clouds come and go.  Shadows change as the sun moves through the sky.  Dusk comes and night arrives.   And there are changes of wind, snow, rain, sleet.   At night its just dark and you can’t observer the changes as readily.  But you do see the moon.  It reflects brightly off the snow illuminating the woods.

Today was cloudy, snowy and rainy.  Into the woods by 8:00 AM for a day of cooking.  Cleaned the front syrup pan before staring the evaporator.  Then we had to boil down the sap in the evaporator before we could start on the tanks.   The evaporator got quite full the previous evening.  It was 11:00 AM before we could start on the tank, which was full with 225 gallons.  We got a nice fire going and were able to keep up a good boil.

We are also cutting down our firewood.  We should have 3 foot lengths but a lot of the wood in wood shed is 4, 5 or even 6 feet.  Two things happen with the longer pieces of wood  (1) more heat goes up the stack and (2) it blocks off the air flow of the evaporator.  With the 3 foot lengths were are able to get nice sustained boils for 15 – 20 minutes.  But its more work handling the wood to cut it to size.

Used the tractor to get water in the milk cans.  Brought back 4 milk cans full.

Around 11:00 AM it started to snow.  We got a dusting of wet snow before it changed over to rain around 1:00 PM.  By 3:00 PM it had stopped raining but it started again about 7:30 PM.

By 9:20 PM the tank was empty.   We were in the house by 9:30 PM.  All our tanks are empty now.  We are not expecting sap tomorrow as its forecast to be in the 50s with no freezing tonight.

Here’s how the days boiling went.

9:00 AM   22”
12:00 PM   20 ½”
1:00 PM   18 ½ “
2:00 PM   16 1/2”
3:00 PM   14 1/2”
4:00 PM   12 ¼”
5:00 PM   10 ¾”
6:00 PM   8 ½”
7:00 PM   6”
8:00 PM   4”
9:00 PM   2 ¼”
9:20 PM   empty

Sunny and 40s today.  Froze last night.   The sap ran.  We picked up 235 gallons today.  That makes 1060 gallons for the week.  This was a busy week.   We bottled 27 quarts today.  That was four batches from the previous days.

Since nothing was pressing this morning, we went into the woods at 10:00 AM.

Tomorrow we will boil again.

It was cloudy and in the 40s today.  It did actually freeze last night.  That was  unexpected.   But the sap did not run.   It was not cold enough.   The next two days are 40s and 20s.  Hopefully there will be sap.  Monday is back to 50s, then the rest of the week 40s and 20s with snow possible Tuesday night.  

Spent the day cooking sap.  Into the woods by 8:30 AM.  We took three batches from the evaporator.  Tomorrow we will bottle.     A neighbor came who is also cooking syrup this year.   He was unable to keep up this week so he gave us about 60 gallons of sap.  By 5:30 the tanks were empty.  Back in the house by 6:00 PM which early this week.  

We have 1425 gallons of sap so far.   This should be about the mid-point of the season.  1200-1600 more gallons of sap should come yet.

Here is how the day cooking went.

9:00   22”
10:00  21 1/2”
11:00  18”
12:00  15 1/2”
1:00   12 3/4”
2:00   10 1/4”
3:00   7”
4:00   4 1/2”
5:00   2 1/4”
5:30   empty

It was in the 50s and cloudy today.   It did not rain.  Only a few sprinkles.  The sun tried to come out around 1:00 PM, but soon gave up.  Around 6:00 PM the warm air hitting the cold snow caused the mist to raise from the snow.  You are seeing the snow melt.  Eerie and pretty.

Into the woods by 8:30 AM.  Cleaned the front syrup pan on the evaporator before starting boiling for the day.   Got a batch of syrup off the evaporator around 1:00 PM.  Bottled that plus two batches from yesterday for 26 quarts, 1 pint.  Had trouble with LP gas burner today: it was not burning at full strength.   We know the tank we are using will empty soon, so we thought it was just running low.  Nope.  Turned out the valve was not open all the way.  Oops.

Here is how the day’s boiling went.

A full tank is 23 inches and 225 gallons.

10:00 AM  22 ¼
11:00 AM  20 ½
12:00 PM  19
1:00 PM  16 ¾
2:00 PM  14 ½
3:00 PM  12 ½
4:00 PM  10 ½
5:20 PM   8 ¼
6:00 PM   7 ½
7:00 PM   5 ¼
8:00 PM   4
9:00 PM   2 ¼
9:30 PM  empty

We still have the small tank of 175 gallons to cook down tomorrow.   No new sap because of the warm weather.

325 gallons of sap today.  But it doesn’t look like there will be sap for a few days.  We are entering a warmer weather pattern.  It won’t freeze the next few nights.  And we are forecast for rain tomorrow.  That will melt the snow.

Sunny and warm today.  Up to 52.  We were in the woods cooking until 12:30 AM then back into the woods by 8:00 AM to continue cooking.  When we have a big run we have to process it.  Got the smaller storage tank empty by 1:45 PM.  We needed that for the sap we picked up today.  The big storage tank was still full so after emptying the first collecting tank full, the the next tank  had to stay in the collecting tank until we cooked down enough to make room.  We were back in the house by 11:30 PM.  But tomorrow will still be a busy day as we have 400 gallons in the storage tanks.

We also bottled 24 quarts.

Picked up 500 gallons of sap.  Changing cloths and eating a bit then heading back into the woods to boil.  Our storage tanks are full and about 110 gallons remains in the collecting tank.  We have to boil down enough to empty the collecting tank because we will need it tomorrow as we expect to collect tomorrow too.

Today started out foggy and cold.  Down to 18 overnight.  The fog cleared by 8:30 AM.  Then it started getting warmer: up to 42.  We started collecting at 2:30 PM to allow the sun to thaw the ice in the buckets.

We bottled about 17 quarts this morning.  Then washed the storage tanks to prepare for today’s sap.