MapleAcres

1 ½” of snow overnight. Snow stopped by 8:00 AM. Sun came out by Noon. 33 overnight but only 35 during the day. But it was warm enough to melt ice in the buckets. Trees dripped into the evening. By waiting until today to collect we got the full run. All the buckets are now empty. It turns colder the next few days. We made the right decision.

Into the woods by 1:00 PM. Cleaned the syrup pan on the evaporator. That took an hour. Would have been a frustrating delay in the morning when we are trying to get started cooking.

Started collecting by 2:45 PM. Done by 4:30 PM. 440 gallons.

Tomorrow we cook. Back to the farmhouse by 4:45 PM.

Considered collecting today because the weather forecast is for snow followed by cold. But there was still ice in the buckets at Noon. After Noon, the sun appeared and temperature rose to low 40s. Trees started to run and will run into the evening. However, snow is forecast for the morning: 1” – 3”. Clears by Noon. Then gets colder with lows in teens and highs of upper 20s for Friday and Saturday. The question is: when do we collect? Collect today and they will be sap overnight. Wait until tomorrow and we have snow to deal with. We chose to wait until tomorrow to get the full run and empty the buckets before the cold.

25 overnight. Snow flurries again. Cloudy much of the day, but after Noon the sun appeared for a few hours and temperature up to low 40s.

Into the woods by 6:30 AM to bottle. But the milk can was too full to safely dump solo. Help arrived by 8:30 AM to dump the milk can. And then dump again into the bottling pan when the syrup was ready. We’re going put less syrup into the milk cans.: 6 to 6 ½ gallons instead of 7 to 8 gallons. This will make the milk can 11-22 lbs lighter and easier to handle solo.

Completed bottling and cleanup by Noon. Then checked the woods and decided to wait until tomorrow to collect. Tree pressure was negative until the sun appeared. Then up to 6 PSI.

Back to the farmhouse by 12:30 PM.

Into the woods by 5:30 AM to cook. The day went well. Stayed on schedule. Done by 2:00 PM.

The day cooking
6:15 AM R/O start
7:00 AM 3 ½”
7:30 AM batch
8:00 AM 6”
8:00 AM batch
9:00 AM 7 ¼”
9:10 AM batch
10:00 AM 8 ¾”
10:00 AM batch
10:10 AM R/O done
11:00 AM batch
11:00 AM 7”
12:00 PM batch
12:00 PM 5 ¼”
12:40 PM batch
1:00 PM 2 3/4”
1:30 PM 1 ¾”
1:40 PM batch
2:00 PM done

31 overnight. 35 during the day. Mostly cloudy. Snow flurries started at 5:30 AM and lasted until 10:00 AM. Tree pressure was -5 PSI then up to 5 PSI. But wasn’t warm enough to drip although the trees did drip much of the night.

A large widow maker fell overnight. Glad it’s down, but it would have been bad if anyone was near it when it fell.

Back to the farmhouse by 2:00 PM.

25 overnight. Sun came out by 10:00 AM and temperature rose to 43. Trees responded.

Into the woods by 6:00 AM. Organized the filter press and other items needed for bottling. Did get the milk can dumped into he finishing pan. Had the burners going by 7:00 AM. Syrup ready for filtering by 8:00 AM. Done bottling and back to the farmhouse by 10:30 AM. Bottled 24 quarts and 13 pints. The grade looks like Amber/Rich.

Back into the woods by 2:00 PM to prepare collecting. Help arrived by 3:00 PM. Done collecting by 5:00 PM. 340 gallons.

With the evaporator and R/O we can process 50 gallons and hour. That means 7 hours of cooking tomorrow.

33 overnight. Dropped to 28 at dawn. Gray and cloudy most of the day. Sun appeared around 11:30 AM but clouds moved in again around 2:30 PM. But that was enough for the trees to start dripping. Not a lot, but some.

Into the woods at 9:30 AM to clean the kitchen. Plan to bottle tomorrow. Dumping the milk can into the finishing pan is the challenge. We do it in stages. First onto a chair. Then into the pan. Lifting from the floor into the pan is too hard.

Back to the farmhouse by 2:30 PM.

Into the woods by 9:30 AM to put up 30 more taps using the PVC sap saks we got yesterday. They are more challenging to use then expected. We had to take them back to the farmhouse to assemble because the zip tie was braking in the cold while tightening.

Completed the rinse cycle and on R/O. And brought in the bottles from the truck to the farmhouse.

No sap yet. 33 overnight. Cloudy until 10:30 AM. Even with the sun, only up to 35 with a cold breeze. Forecast is for 27 tonight. Forecast for the next 10 days is favorable., although a little cold.

2/10 33/25
2/11 36/27
2/12 40/25
2/13 34/24
2/14 35/30
2/15 35/22
2/16 30/17
2/17 30/20
2/18 31/18
2/19 32/20

Back to the farmhouse by 2:30 PM.

Drove to Merrill, WI today to pickup supplies: bottles, PVC sap sak holders and bags, stainless steel holder for sap hydrometer. And several cans of root beer made with maple syrup. It’s yummy.

43 overnight. Cloudy again today. Tonight should freeze. Snow flurries in Merrill.

Left the farmhouse at 6:30 AM. Back by 3:30 PM. Stopped twice on the way there and three times on the way back, including 40 minutes for lunch. 269 miles total.

Into the woods by 5:30 AM. Expected to finish cooking by 12:30 PM, but it was 1:30 PM before we were finished. No major delays or problems. Just slowly fell behind expected finish time.

38 overnight. Cloudy and 48 today. Doesn’t freeze tonight either. Weather pattern changes on Saturday when we get 30s and 20s.

The insulation under the wash tank has finally solved the wash temperature problem.

The day cooking.
6:20 AM R/O start
7:00 AM 3 ¼”
7:50 AM batch
8:00 AM 4 ½”
9:00 AM 7 ¼”
9:20 AM batch
9:50 AM R/O done
9:55 AM batch
10:00 AM 8”
10:40 AM batch
11:00 AM 6”
11:35 AM batch
12:00 PM 3 ¾”
12:30 PM 2 ¼”
1:00 PM batch
1:00 PM 1 ½”
1:30 PM done

Back to the farmhouse by 1:30 PM.

Foggy and gray overnight and this morning again. Didn’t freeze. Cloudy and up to 41 during the day. Sap did not run.

Into the woods by Noon to prepare for collecting the run from yesterday. Washed all the tanks. Prepared the R/O with a rinse cycle. Added insulation to the cement block platform the R/O wash tank sits on. The cement blocks are likely acting as a heat sink. It’s been a problem since we got the R/O, but the new feed pump exacerbated the issue and made it obvious.

Collected 300 gallons. The run is done and all the buckets empty. Upper 40s tomorrow and no freezing nights. We don’t expect sap. But weather becomes more favorable this weekend and early next week with 30s and 20s.

We’ll cook tomorrow.

Back to the farmhouse by 4:30 PM.

Into the woods by 5:30 AM. Washed the syrup pan. Had to add raw sap to the evaporator because it got too low after the last session cooking. It took 2 ¼ hours to get the first batch of the day because of the raw sap. After that there were batches every 45 minutes or less several times. A good day cooking with 7 batches into the milk can.

The day cooking.
6:30 AM Start R/O
8:45 AM batch
9:00 AM 6 ¾”
9:20 AM batch
10:00 AM 7 ½”
10:05 AM R/O finished
10:10 AM batch
10:45 AM batch
11:00 AM 5 ½”
11:20 AM batch
12:00 PM batch
12:00 PM 2 ¾”
12:30 PM 1 ½”
12:40 PM batch
1:00 PM done

Fixed a tap that kept falling out by re-drilling to use a 7/16″ spout.

33 overnight. Foggy, cold and cloudy most of the day. Sun came out by 1:00 PM and it warmed to 41 before getting cloudy again. Trees dripping. Plan to collect tomorrow.

Back to the farmhouse by 1:15 PM.