MapleAcres

Its March 18th.  Its not supposed to be 65 degrees.  Its way too warm.  There are a few small snow piles that are desperately clinging on in the face of the warm weather but for the most part the snow is gone.   We are waiting for Friday when the weather is forecast to change back to normal, which is about 20 degrees cooler.    And hoping the trees will respond.

Today was spent cooking down the sap from yesterday.  Started at 5:00 AM.  The tanks are empty now.  We bottled 23 quarts and 1 pint.  Our total for the season is now 116 quarts which is  29 gallons of finished syrup.

We collected 350 gallons of sap today.  That gives us 1300 gallons so far for the season.  We had two nights of freezing.  Last night was down to 26.  That helps.  Although it still was too warm today.  Up to about 57 or 58. 

We started the day by cleaning all the pans in the evaporator.  Getting ready for part two of the season, if there will be a part two.  The forecast still calls for change back to colder, normal, temperatures on Friday.  We are hoping that will return us to better sap run days.

Then about 1:00 PM set out collecting.  Brought in one tank full of 200 gallons then went back out to finish collecting.  Ended up with another 150 gallons for 350 gallons total today.   Started the evaporator: cooking again.  

About 8:30 PM a batch was ready to come off the evaporator.  This batch was from the syrup we had in the evaporator.  It was not from today’s collection.  We had help yet at night and they wanted to finish and bottle tonight.  So we did.  By 10:30 PM we had another 21 quarts bottled.

We are getting reports from contacts in CT, MA and NY also saying the weather is too warm and the season is not good.   This  season could be a washout across the US maple belt.   We will hang in there for week or 10 days yet.   The weather forecast still has a return to normal conditions for this weekend.  The danger is that the taps dry out.

We did start the evaporator today.   Want to get the sap in it completely boiled down and processed.  It was just a few hours of light firing.  Tomorrow we should be able to finish it.  

We did get a light frost last night, but we will need a few days of sustained freezes to get sap moving.

The radio and TV anchors and weather forecasters sound so happy about announcing this glorious warm weather.    Highs in the 50s.  Sunny.  No freezing nights.  Mean while us maple sugar makers are thinking how awful this weather is because its not cold enough at night and too warm during the day.  Its March 15.  Winter can sill bite here in Wisconsin.  We are certainly hoping for a return to normal weather patterns so we can salvage something from this season.

Sunny, windy and warm today.  About 50.  Nothing is happening in the woods.   The forecast is for a few more days of warmer then normal weather, but then maybe a return to normal, colder weather.

The sun made an appearance today.   It was about 2:00 PM when it emerged.  The fog lifted, the clouds broke and the sky cleared.  And we saw a sunset.  The day did start foggy again.  And it did not freeze last night.  No sap.  The forecast for the coming days is sunny with highs around 50.   It may or may not freeze at night.    

This is a difficult weather pattern.  It seems too early to think about the season ending.  Yet without a return to freezing nights we are facing that possibility.   If it does end, it would be the worst season in decades.    Its sobering to think of that.   But  we can not control mother nature.  

We may look into ways we might freshen the taps after a long warm period like this.  The tap hole is a wound to the tree.  And a healthy tree will try to heal the wound.   The first part of healing is to stop the bleeding; sap dripping from a spout is the tree bleeding.  Micro organisms start to seal off the cut veins in the wood.  It forms a layer in the tap hole (think scab) that protects the tree.  And also stops the sap flow.   Colder weather delays the onset of  micro organisms thus keeping the sap flowing.

We are willing to wait it out for a week or so yet.  Because you have to be an optimist to do any type of agriculture.

Foggy and warm again today.  Went into the wood about 9:30 AM.  The state inspector was coming today.  They look over the operation for food safety issues.  Of course with all the boiling that is done, maple syrup is not a very good vector for food borne illnesses.

We had a batch of syrup from the other day to finish and bottle.  That came out to 13 quarts and 1 pint.  We are up to 75 quarts and 1 pint total syrup for the year. 

We also boiled down that last 50 gallons of sap.  All storage tanks are empty.  We were done with everything by 5:00 PM.    Now we wait for better weather.  The weather is forecast to change on Sunday.

Didn’t freeze last night.  Today started foggy;  then rain moved in.  There is a large slow moving low pressure system in the middle of the country that is pulling warm air to the north.  Its dominating our weather now and will until about Sunday.    Its brining cloudy, warm days of 45 or so, nights that don’t  freeze, and drizzle or rain.  Maybe even a thunder storm.  

It was 10:30 AM before we went into the woods.  Since we have a spell of warmer weather we decided to make a run though the woods to pick up any sap there.  It won’t keep with the warmer weather so better to pick it up.  And this may be a season where we have to fight for every quart of finished maple syrup.  There was not a lot of sap in the buckets.  A few with a quart of sap.  Many with only a cup.  A few full, but those were most likely missed in the prior collection.     In end we collected 50 gallons of sap: enough to make five quarts of maple syrup.

When the warm air hits the cold snow a foggy mist forms as the snow melts.  It rises from the snow in the woods and looks almost ghostly.  It was rainy and warm today.  Up to 47.  Last year at this time were we fighting with the cold. 

Into the woods by 7:30 AM to start boiling.   By 10:30 AM a batch was ready to come off the evaporator.  Added it to the batch from Monday.    Then we finished and bottled.  25 more quarts.  Up to 62 quarts total now.    Took one more batch off the evaporator about 6:30 PM.   Watched carefully so the batch would be ready but there would still be enough sap to shutdown the evaporator but still empty the storage tanks. 

The forecast is still warm and rainy.   That is disappointing for maple syrup makers.

The next four or five days we are forecast to have warmer weather and rain showers.  Its not going to freeze at night which is not good for us.   Its likely going to  be slower in the woods. 

We were out collecting today.  Picked up another 300 gallons of sap.   We also boiled tonight for a few hours which will help make tomorrow a shorter day. 

We cleaned the syrup pan on the evaporator today before collecting.   It had a surprising amount of sugar sand burned tight already.

Tomorrow is another day of boiling.  The goal is to stay in the woods until the storage tanks are empty. 

We also placed our order with the printer for labels, a maple syrup themed cook book, and business cards.