MapleAcres

Sunny days and freezing nights are supposed to give sap flows.  We are getting some sap but not as much as hoped given the weather pattern.  Something else besides just sunny day and freezing night must be needed for sap flows.  It was not as cold last night.  Only into the low 20s.  And up to about 50 during the day.  Again it was sunny.  The sap moved, but not enough to collect.  There was a quart to two quarts in most pails.  We plan to collect tomorrow.

We did boil today.  And bottled again.  We started boiling at 7:30 AM with the goal of emptying the storage tanks.  That meant pushing through 300 gallons of sap.  By 11:30 AM we took off the first batch of syrup.   By 3:30 PM the second batch was ready.  We finished and bottle both batches together which gave us 26 quarts and 1 pint.

We didn’t expect any more syrup but by 8:00 PM another batch was ready.  We took it off the evaporator but did not finish and bottle it.   

By 10: 00 PM we were back in the house.  So it was a 14 ½ hour day.

It was down to 18 again last night.  By 9:00 AM it was already above freezing which was good.  It eventually got up to 44.  We are getting sunny days and freezing night, but its getting too cold to run well.  We had help lined up to collect today.  But we had wait until it warmed and the trees could drip before we collected.   We started collecting at 2:30 PM.  We thought we might get only 150 gallons of sap but we were surprised to collect 300 gallons.

We cleaned out the syrup pan on the evaporator.  Better to clean it often then wait for the sugar sand to burn on.  We also had some electrical work done.  We now have a light that points into the wood shed and another light that points behind the building by the tanks.    Both areas were dark before. 

Tomorrow we will boil.

Into the woods by 7:30 AM to start the evaporator.  It was cold again last night.  It was down to 10 at 6:30 AM.  The tanks did not freeze.  But the pipes to the evaporator did.  No liquid was in the pipes overnight.  We think as the sap from the tanks hit the cold, smaller pipes that it froze.  We took the pipes apart and warmed them the gas burner.   That worked to get them open.   It was 9:30 AM before we had a fire going under the evaporator.  

It was nice sunny day.  It got up to 44.   The sap started to run, but again it was so cold over night that it takes time for the sun to do its magic.  There was not enough sap in the buckets to collect today.  We hope to collect tomorrow.

We did cook through the 300 gallons of sap from yesterday.  Ended up the first 10 quarts of maple syrup for the season.

A few visitors today.   We were able to get both parents into the woods.  Mother, who is 82, was tasting the partially finished sap from the evaporator and commented “That’s the good stuff.”

This is the “good stuff.”  Beautiful spring day.   Sunny and nice in the woods.  The wonderful aroma of cooking maple syrup.   And family with us.

We collected 300 gallons of sap today.  It was cold again last night: down to 17.  That freezes everything hard.  The buckets had ice in them.    By 10:30 AM  it was above freezing.    We knew we would collect but had to wait for the sun’s rays to do their magic to  melt a lot of the ice in the buckets.

While waiting to collect we washed out the collecting tank, storage tanks and evaporator.  That meant a water run with the tractor and milk cans.  After washing we had to connect the pipes from the storage tank to the evaporator.  

We also enlarged the opening on the collecting tank by cutting off a 1 ¼” lip on the top.  That added 2 ½ “ to the diameter making it much easier to dump the collecting pails in the tank.

By 3:00 PM we were ready to collect and set out.  By 5:00 PM we were done and had 300 gallons of sap.  Tomorrow we will fire up the evaporator.

It was cold last night, down to about 19.  That freezes everything so hard that it takes a long time to warm up during the day.  It was sunny today and up to 37 or so.  The trees were dripping.  Walked through the woods this afternoon.  A few pails were full.  Many are half full.  We will collect tomorrow.    We would have collected today if we had help lined up. 

Spent the day getting the building ready.  We had to replace some damaged fire brick in the evaporator.  Also worked on getting the niter out of the syrup pan.  Its hand scrubbing with at fine abrasive. 

Tomorrow we have to get water tot he building and wash out the tanks for collecting. 

Just wish it wouldn’t get so cold at night because it freezes everything so hard.

Another great day for tapping.  It was down to 20 overnight.  It was sunny all day with a North wind at 5-10 mph.  The wind was a little chilly.  It warmed to about 34.  We went into the woods by 9:00.  By 9:30 we were loaded up and out tapping.  Worked until 3:00 PM.   We got out about 325 taps.  With the 75 from yesterday we have a little over 400.  We again lost exact count.  It likely between 400 and 410 taps.

Next we get be syrup building ready.  We have to setup the evaporator, wash the storage tanks and connect the pipes.

The weather forecast for the next week looks ideal for sap with freezing nights and days into he lower 40s.

Arrived in WI about 12:30 PM. From the air on the plane ride in from Washington DC we can see the snow cover over the fields and woods.  By 2:30 PM we were out in the woods getting organised for tapping. We washed the buckets during January and brought them into the woods during February. Our shipment of bottles arrived about two weeks ago. We are ready.  By 3:00 PM we started tapping. The sap is definitely moving in the trees. We see a good steady drip after setting the tap. Wish we would have taped last week. We would be collecting now. We did get 75 taps out by 4:30 PM. It was nice in the woods. The sun is warm. The snow is not too deep: maybe 8″. Tomorrow we hope to finish all the tapping. We have two or three helpers coming. The weather forecast sounds like it will be ideal for sap the next 5 days or so.

The tap from Saturday had about 2 quarts of sap. And it tasted very sweet. We were not able to formally test it with our hydrometer, but it seemed much sweeter than we normally get.

Put out one tap yesterday.  The sap is moving in the trees.   The tap ran.  We plan to start tapping on Tuesday, March 2.   There is always an apprehension about starting.  Will you miss and early run?  What will the season be like?   Will the weather cooperate?    We have to accept what mother nature gives us.

Some Vermont produces have had taps out since early February.  And made good syrup already.