MapleAcres

Setup the evaporator pans today and started getting all the equipment cleaned and ready. Most of our equipment is stainless steel so it only needs a quick rinse. The storage tanks are old milk tanks. All stainless steel. We use the snow from the roof to clean them. The floors get rubber mats. The evaporator just needs a quick rinse. We also collect the snow melt from the roof into a milk can for water.

The buckets have anywhere from a pint to two quarts of sap already. It was up to 45 today, which is warmer then expected. But it was down to 12 overnight so took a while to warm enough for the sap to flow. We hope we can collect tomorrow. It may snow Wednesday night.

Today’s Count:
400 taps
0 gallons of sap
0 quarts of finished syrup

All 400 taps are out. We did 75 this morning and 75 more this afternoon. Takes about 2 hours to do 75 taps. It was above freezing today. About 32 or 33. The sap was moving again. One tree was dripping at 120 drops per minute. Tasted the first sap of the season today. Its fresh, clear and sweet. Tomorrow we work on getting the building ready. Its supposed to be 36 or 37 tomorrow and we do expect the sap to flow.

Each tree has a personality. Over the years we get to know trees that run well and trees that are so so. We favor the good runners. And some trees have sweeter sap. We favor those too.

Today’s count.
150 more taps.
400 total taps.

It was warmer today, up to 25. Felt like quite the heat wave compared to yesterday. This morning we tapped 75. Took a lunch break then tapped 60 this afternoon. Most of the taps put out this afternoon had sap flowing. We are expecting the coming week to be good for sap runs. Its still forecast to be in the upper 30s during the day, with some maybe up to 40s. Hoping we can finish the tapping tomorrow. We are planning to put out 400 taps.

Todays count:
135 more taps
250 total taps
0 buckets run over (and ruined) by the tractor
0 pairs of gloves soaked (and ruined) by spilled gas

Its cold working outside. It was about 11 or 12 today with a north wind. We started the day getting the power tapper running. It sat in a cold garage all winter long. It took quite a few pulls plus cleaning the spark plug to get it running. We headed into the woods about 9:00. Loaded the tractor with buckets, covers and spouts. Then headed deep into the woods out of the wind. The sun was shining bright and the rays warm even though the air was cold. As we moved from tree to tree drilling holes, driving in spouts and hanging buckets we got quite warm. Although we perspire, we can’t take off any layers because of the cold. Its OK as long as we move, but the cold penetrates if we stand still for too long. The snow makes walking hard. We break though the crust and sink in about 8” or 10”. So why do we tap when the weather seems so adverse? Because the sap is already running in the trees. As the sun warmed the trees the sap starting flowing. As the hole was drilled sap starting flowing out. It froze quickly once it met the cold air, but the trees are ready. The weather forecast for the next week is for mid to high 30s during the day and freezing nights of 25 or so. That is sap weather. And we want to be ready.

Today’s count:
115 taps out.
2 buckets run over (and ruined) by the tractor.
1 pair of gloves soaked (and ruined) when the gas can for the tapper leaked.

It was down to about 0 last night and reached about 12 during the day. But the sun is warm. On south facing surfaces you can feel the sun’s warming rays and see the snow melting. Soon the trees will wake from their winter slumber and the sap will flow. We had a “proper” winter for the first time in many years. Over 60” of snow. Cold, with no prolonged warming. There is about 15” of snow in the woods now, but in places its deeper. There are some maple syrup producers who tap in January and make finished syrup in January. This used to seem abnormal, but with effects of global warming the maple industry is watching this early tapping closely.

Today we got our LP gas tanks filled. We use LP gas for finishing the syrup and bottling. We had three empty tanks from preceding seasons that we needed filled. And we had to chop away the ice from the syrup building doors so we can get them open.

Tomorrow we plan to start tapping.

Remember thunder over an open woods? Several weeks ago on March 22nd we had a thunderstorm. And as predicted, now we get snow. About 4″. And its windy so the snow is blowing and drifting. Just like January should be. Its not completely unusual to get snow in April in Wisconsin. We always seem to get some, but 4″ is a little more than normal.

And with the recent freezing nights — its back down to the 20s at night — the sap flow has returned. If we had kept the taps up, there would be more syrup to make. Except it was about 10 days of warm weather so the season looked pretty much over. Sometimes mother nature throws you a curve.

We made 178 quarts, 44 1/2 gallons, of maple syrup for the season. Most of the buckets are off now.  The remainder will come down tomorrow. We still have clean up to do.

It was about 30 degrees cooler today than yesterday, but still about 45 and no freezing nights. We are working on cleaning the evaporator, boiling the last of the sap and generally cleaning up.

This was more like a June day than a March day. 76 degrees this afternoon. Its way to warm for March 26th. We don’t ever remember it being this warm. The previous record high for the day was 70 and that was from 1925. You can’t help but wonder what the future of maple syrup production will be like under global warming. Maple trees could die off. Seasons could vary wildly.

Emptied the evaporator today. Started cleaning it. And started pulling taps. Its always sad. Three weeks ago the season was just starting. Snow covered the woods. The promise of a new season upon us. Now its done. Snow is all gone. Too warm. We still have the last sap from the evaporator to finish. We will do that on the gas burner. We won’t have final production totals until that is done, but it will be a below average season.

We picked up 120 gallons of sap today. But we doubt there will be more. Its too warm. Was in the high 60s today. Our tanks are empty and all sap is in the evaporator. Just as we thought we were finishing up for the day, a batch of syrup was ready. So no time like the present. We took it off the evaporator, finished it and bottled it. We now have 162 quarts (40 gallons, 2 quarts.) We should end up with around 44 or 45 gallons. Last year we had 72 gallons, but each season is different.