Maryland in 2011

[John in MD]

We put 11 taps in today. Northern MD, Harford County.
7 taps into tubing into buckets. 4 taps into bags.
High of 25 today. Expected above 32 next 6 days, below 32 next 6 nights.
Might be early, but most years we've been tapping when the sap was flowing.
Hoping to do better than last year which was the worst we've had.
John

[Etown Maple Syrup]

Welcome to Mapletrader John. I was new to this site recently and received a nice welcome, so I thought I would welcome you! I have tapped already (PA) and had a brief run on Super Bowl Sunday. Everything is frozen now but expect 40 degrees all next week according to accuweather.com I am running drop line taps to 5 gal buckets (75) and have 25 taps on tubing to 5 gal buckets. I have a homemade oil tank evaporator new this year. Test boil went fine and I cannot wait until this weekend to start collecting/boiling. Good Luck!

[John in MD]

Thanks for the welcome.
I've been reading for a few years, finally decided to post.

I'm curious as to what others in this climate/area are doing and producing.

Being so small, we don't have the opportunity to do much testing to find best practices. Basically, we plan for the year and go forth. Review after the boil and plan for next year.

[finzel_md]

Hi fellow sugar makers nice to see another producer in md. just tapped this week 2300 on vac 1050 on gravity. BRING ON THE SAP!!!!!

[John in MD]

wow, 2300. that's an operation.

today, finally, the sap was running. Looks like about a gallon out of the best taps. Some none. But hey. A week or two with minimal run - maybe a cup from the best taps, had me wondering.
Let it run baby. Weather for the foreseable future +32 day, - 32 nights.
yee haa.
I'll boil the 5 to 10 gallons tomorrow, on a propane burner (turkey fryer) in a steam pan. If nothing else, I'll boil it down to dense and hold it till next boil.

[Maple bug]

Hay John where in Harford County are you? I'm in Baltimore County in Rosedale. Welcome to Mapletrader. I made a little over 1 gal last yr.

[jim finen]

I just saw this link with producers in MD. wow I was wondering if you have soft maples there or hard wood trees? and what is your sugar content on your bush.

[finzel_md]

Hi jim were from western md and tap about 3500 and 98% of them are hard maple! The bushes i tap average about 2.5% to 3%.