MapleAcres

The snow stopped around 10:00 pm last night.  But it continued to blow and drift.  The temperature dropped to about 10 degrees overnight.  This morning broke sunny and cold.   And the work of digging out began.    The fields were bare and brown yesterday.  Today they are again white with snow cover.

No activity in the woods today.  The maple trees were not dripping, they don’t like storms, although by the end of the day it warmed enough that the spouts were wet.   After five days of hard work in the woods it felt strange not doing anything today.

Tonight another storm is forecast.  This time its pretty clear we will be on the warm side of the storm and freezing rain and rain is expected to begin after midnight.   So its going to get sloppy.   But then the rest of the week turns colder.

Today’s Count

6-8 inches of snow 

Started the evaporator at 5:15 am. By 10:15 the large tank as empty. By 1:30 pm or so we had our first syrup of this season bottled. Total bottled was 14 quarts and 1 pint. By 6:00 pm all the tanks were empty and we were back in the house.

But….at 11:30 am it started snowing. We only had a brief period of sleet, so the line of cold air was farther south then expected. Yesterday’s forecasts gave us a longer period of sleet and rain until late afternoon before turning to snow. But we had just about all snow. The wind picked up too. We were snug and warm in the syrup building boiling away. We had to go out to get wood and occasionally check the level of sap in the tanks. But mostly we were warm and content. When we came out of the woods we realized it was quite a storm. The roads were drifting over. Visibility was low because of blowing and drifting snow. It looks like we will end up with 6-8 inches.

Today’s count

14 quarts, 1 pint of finished syrup

6-8 inches snow

There was sap today.  We picked up two tanks of 200 gallons, 400 gallons total.  If we would have been fully tapped by Wednesday the 4th we would have had a lot more sap.    We got the storage tanks ready and the evaporator too.    We actually started the evaporator about 3:00 pm to start boiling the sap we collected.

The snow is still a challenge.   Its so loose.   The tractor struggles to get traction.  We put the tractor into 2nd gear, gun the throttle and hang on for rough ride.  Its a good thing we can steer using the brakes. Each of the back wheels is independent so we can break the right wheel to turn right or the left wheel to turn left.   When the front wheels start snow plowing they are useless for steering and we must rely on the brakes.  As long as the tractor is inching forward we don’t stop.  If we stopped the tractor would get stuck.  Wrestling with the tractor is more work then collecting sap.  

The weather forecast is unsettled.  Precipitation is coming, but if its rain, snow or a snow/rain mix is still unknown.  It will depend on where the warm air and cold air meet.  We have heard 3-5 inches,  6-8 inches and even 8-10 inches.  It seems we won’t know until it happens.

Today’s Count
400 gallons of sap

Completed tapping.  We put up 101 taps in the morning.  This afternoon we put up 40.    That should give up 416 taps, give our take 5.  Its a good thing we don’t have to be accurate with our tap count as we always seem to loose track.    The sap was running today again.  The taps we put out on Wednesday and Thursday have 3-5 quarts.  We are planning to collect tomorrow.  

Today as sunny and warm.  Up to 47.  Its supposed to freeze tonight.  Tomorrow is forecast to start sunny, then clouds and maybe rain in the afternoon.  But the forecast is changing rapidly.  A snow storm is now forecast for Sunday:  maybe 6” of snow depending on where the storm tracks.  Cold air is pushing down from the North and warm moist air pushing up from the the South.  Depending on where those air masses meet will determine how much snow we end up with.

The snow in the woods has been hard to walk in.  With temperatures in the 40s the snow gets soft and wet.  And usually that will cause the snow to pack down when we drive the tractor over it.  But is staying loose and graining, more like sand.  The tractor has a difficult time getting traction.  The front wheels stop rotating and act as a plow.

Today’s count
141 new taps
416 total taps

Today stated sunny, but by 9:00 am it was getting cloudy.  Earlier in the week rain was forecast for today, but that didn’t happen.  We tapped 100 this morning and another 100 this afternoon.  

We even managed to tap an Ash tree.  Ash and Maple have similar bark.  As you move through the woods you can mix them up if you are not looking carefully.  Now we very familiar with most of the maple trees in the woods and know where they are.  But we were tapping in section of the woods we have not tapped for a decade or more.  So the bark looked like a Maple and we did not check the crown of the tree.  The difference between the Ash and the Maple is the branches.  On an Ash the branches come out opposite each while on the Maple they alternate.

    Ash              Maple
    \   |   /           \   |   
      \ | /               \ |
        |                   |   /
        |                   |/

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and in the 40s.  Should be a good sap day.  We may even collect.  Especially since the weekend is forecast to be sloppy with rain and rain/snow mix.  

Today’s count
200 tapped
1 Ash tapped
275 total tapped

We started tapping.  Good weather today.  Sunny and 37 degrees.  Arrived in Wisconsin about 12:30.  By 2:00 pm we were in the woods.  Got the tapper started.  It sat unused since last season.   But it started up after few pulls.  We stored it inside this year so it was not cold when we tried to get it running.  Loaded up the tractor with buckets and covers and headed out to the south of the syrup building.  We got 75 taps out by 4:30.   The sap is moving in the trees already.  After drilling the hole for the spout sap starts to run out.   

There is always some apprehension about the time to start tapping.  Don’t want to start too early as tap hole could dry up with a long period of no sap runs.  But waiting too long risks missing an early sap run.    The sap is already moving in the trees so we should be OK.   

This coming weekend rain and sloppy weather is forecast.  March is a month of change.  In a month from now all the snow on the ground will pretty much be gone and syrup season over.  March comes in like a lion and finishes up like a lamb.