Northern NH ???

[PerryW]

Just checked in here today to find out any news about Northern NH sap situation.

Personally, I haven't bothered to even shovel out the path to the sugarhouse as I can't see any possibility of a real sap run here in the Littleton area sitting at 1100' elevation. While it's in the low 40's today, it is forecast to drop to zero tomorrow (monday) night. Also, the trees have not melted out at all, so I can't see any reason to struggle in 3" feet of now to tap.

I can be pretty much tapped out in three days, so I think I'll sit tight and keep an eye on the forecast.

[Homestead Maple]

I think your right on. I tapped some this week and it was slow getting around with 3+ feet of snow. The rain is welcome here, to help settle the snow and we'll both end up with a good crust to travel on in a day or so.

[hurdmaple]

I got a small run today in Lyman enough to clean out the lines and get some of the vacuum leaks fixed. After I got the vacuum working in the mid afternoon sap started to flow. Now just have to wait for warm weather again.

[hurdmaple]

will be boiling for the first time this year sat had run today and was still running when I picked up this afternoon

[PerryW]

Yeah Brian got enough to boil today with his new oil-fired rig. I shoveled out the tank and tapped 100 or so this evening. I should be able to tap most of the remaining 600 taps tomorrow.

[hurdmaple]

next week is looking pretty good you should be just in time. I have to fit it in on weekends so I have been taped for a while. It feels good to have things all working with out having to make repairs while struggling through tje snow

[woodsmith]

tapped 87 trees today 3-12 in Littleton, running light

[PerryW]

got about 450 tapped today and boy was it a lot of work! Even with snowshoes, I'd occasionally sink almost waist deep.

[Backyard Sapper66]

Sounds like you got a lot done today, good for you!! And as a side benefit you used the "maplesize" exercise program to stay in shape. Now if we could only keep that going throughout the rest of the year.
Good luck with your "sapping"!!!
Doug
:)

[hurdmaple]

boiled 140 gal of sap today the new sugar house and set up worked great. not much of a run today though i think it needs to freeze again to get things flowing.

[hurdmaple]

my first syrup of the season today only 3/4 gallon but it always feels good to draw off for the first time every year.

[PerryW]

Got about 600 tapped now. Just need to cut one 16" pine that fell on one of the mainlines tomorrow morning and the whole bush is online.

Some of the most difficult snowshoe tapping I can remember. THe hills were a killer. Even coming down the hills was a workout. Three step on top of the crust and the fourth step I would sink almost waist deep.

Looks like a big sap week is the weatherman is right.

[hurdmaple]

I haven"t been sugaring for to many years but this was the worst snow conditions I have dealt with. I spent more time tapping than normal this year because I had to rerun some lines because of logging. Than God for the help of my 16 year old grandson. I feel your pain! Did you get any run?

[PerryW]

Got all 700 tapped. Going to wait and see before putting up buckets. I usually wait until Mar 20 for hanging buckets.

No sap collected yet. I didn't get started tapping until late friday so I let whatever ran, run out on the ground. I don't mind getting rid of the rinse water in the lines anyway to avoid early-season off-flavor.

The tank valve is closed now and it may warm up enough to run today. Going to walk the lines later and look for leaks. Looks like it could be a big week.

[PerryW]

Headed back over for leak patrol. Fixed a half dozen of so leaks, one with 20 taps. Sap flowing pretty good. Probably 150 gallons and still running pretty good. Weather looks good for tuesday & wednesday for big sap runs. Bring it on! Should have enough for first boil tomorrow.

[hurdmaple]

have you been boiling Perry? I have boiled 4 nights in a row now getting about all the sap I can handle after work.

[TapME]

PerryW; watch out we got slammed it's headed your way. Guess talking to the trees with a stick helped:lol:

[PerryW]

Ran pretty good today for no freeze in the past 2 nights. Picked up 200 gallons of sap and now up to 13 gallons, which is 12% of last year's total. Last few gallons came of Fancy Grade. Looks like excellent sugaring weather for the next week.

[PerryW]

To cold yesterday (saturday), only ran about 75 gallons. Finally starting to run good today (Sunday) , but probably won't be enough sap to bother gathering until around dark.

[hurdmaple]

also ran slow for me on Saturday about 50gals, ran good this afternoon collected 90 gals at 5pm

[PerryW]

Collected 275 gallons from Sat & Sunday's runs and now up to 19 gallons. Medium Amber. Didn't really warm up enough this past weekend for a real sap run. A good run for me is 400-500 gallons in one day.

[PerryW]

Well, as of Tuesday morning, still waiting for sap. Barely got above freezing yesterday (monday) and got hardly a drop out of the tank. Now they have revised today's high temp down to 37 deg and tomorrow's high at 35 deg. Makes me glad I resisted the temptation to tap early!

My holes were bored 8-9 days ago, so I should be all set if this is an Mostly-April Season.

Thinning out the future sugarbush again today. Got a nice crop of 5-8" maple all around the sugarhouse. Hopefully they will be tappable before I'm in the nursing home.

[hurdmaple]

collected 100 gals of sap at 3:30 still running good I finished boiling at 9. I still have to go back and do a final check on things before calling it a night.

[PerryW]

Surprisingly, it ran pretty good in my Littleton Bush today despite a high of only 36. Picked up 400 gallons of sap at 7 PM, boiled from 8 PM to Midnite and made another 8 gallons of Medium for a total of 27 gal.

[PerryW]

Yesterday (Tuesday)I checked my 6 buckets near the house in Lyman. Five had about a quart and the sixth was nearly full! Checked my 30 gallon barrell and there was hardly any sap; then checked my 600 gallon tank in Littleton and it was 2/3 full and still running great even though my thermometers never got above 35-36 degrees. Probably ran as good as any run last season and the colder trees have not even kicked in. I'm guessing people just south (or lower in elevation) has exceptional runs.

Looks like temps are too cold for the next several days, but if the weathermen are wrong by just a couple degrees, there should be some good flow for me. Another day to work up firewood/sugarwood.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Perry -

I think the frost in the ground and the snowpack this year have really leveled the field. 25 here is AM and the buckets a frozen; 30 now and everything is still frozen. I haven't got full runs for the past 3 days because it doesn't start until after 11 and is refrozen by 7.

Nice house!

[TapME]

PerryW, ours here are running but the snow pack is keeping the temps down. The sap wants to runeven on cold days like today. 30* when I collected my buckets today and they were running well. Hope things pick up for you soon.

[PerryW]

Never even got above 30 today in the Littleton area. just cutting sugarwood for next year and thinning out sugar maples.

[maple maniac65]

sap was coming in a vacuum from 3-7 yesterday even at those cold temps we had. Not much sap but better in the tank than in the lines. About 40 gallons off from 265 taps at the sugar house.

[hurdmaple]

Sap was running here in Lyman today despite the cold with the help of my sap sucker pump. Not much flowing at my Lisbon trees must have been a few degrees colder there.

[PerryW]

My Littleton Bush ran 190 gallons and took off another 4 gallons of Medium for a total of 31 gallons. Hoping for 100-110 gallons this year. Only 6 buckets here in Lyman and they didn't run much.

[hurdmaple]

I have made just over 12 gal about a third of what I made last year. Did not boil what ran yesterday hoping of a good boil on Saturday.

[PerryW]

never got above 32 here. Just checked my Littleton Tank and only 50 gallons. Looks even colder tomorrow. Back to cutting wood.

[hurdmaple]

sap didn"t start running good until about 4 or so here at home in Lyman first run since last Friday. Sure has been a slow end of march for me.

[PerryW]

got about half of a decent run yesterday (225 gallons) but I waited until 8 PM to gather. Boiling it up this morning and check the bush again for leaks before the (hopefully) big run today.

[PerryW]

just made another 5 gallons for a total of 36 gallons so far. Started with a 6 day old block of ice in the back pan (and the front pan partially frozen) and pulled off Fancy in the first batch. The grade lightened up even more as I boiled! Looks like a better sap run today.

[PerryW]

well the 10 day weather forecast ain't looking too good for us gravity guys in the northcountry. It would have been perfect sugaring weather for the past week, just 5 degrees too cold. Now there's no real freeze in sight for the next 10 days. Just hoping they are wrong. I'm just glad I'm doing this as a hobby. At least I should hit half a crop today with what drizzles out in the sun today.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Perry - Doubt it is close to over for you. Your snow pack will change the forecasted temps. Sooner or later it has to run regardless of the temps, that is what happened here last year: no freezes, but it finally ran anyway. So I predict you will be over 4000 g of sap regardless of the weather. Bruce

[hurdmaple]

my best sap run of the year today hoping for a freeze again tonight to keep it going.

[PerryW]

my best sap run of the year today hoping for a freeze again tonight to keep it going.

Wow, best run for me too! Ran 400 gallons for me with no freeze in the last two nights.!? Still running pretty good when I gathered at 3:30 PM. Made another 9 gallons of very light amber syrup this evening in 4 hours of boiling. That makes 57 gallons so far. All but 20 gallons is fancy. The Fancy started out king of bland, but I noticed the flavor is improving over the last 10 gallons. Almost as good as last years exceptional Fancy.

The weather man says no freeze but my thermomters are at 33 now and clear skys. If the wind would just die down, we would get a good freeze.

[Russell Lampron]

Perry you must have gotten a freeze last night. It is 27 here now and it was 36 at 9:00 last night. Looking for BIGSAP today.

[PerryW]

Perry you must have gotten a freeze last night. It is 27 here now .....

Not sure. The thermometer we have in on the porch about 15 feet above grade and it never got below 30... But the driveway & puddles are frozen up pretty good and there's a big sapcicle hanging from one of my two buckets near the sugarhouse (the other one's starting to run).

After yesterday's unexpected bigsap run, I've given up trying to predict my maple trees behavior.

Still not much good news on the 10 day forecast but at least no temps above 48 degrees. Still more snow on the ground on Apr 3 than any other sugaring year I can remember.

[hurdmaple]

I just got done a 11 hour boil long hot day. Sap ran good today at my Lisbon bush a little less here at home in Lyman we need a good freeze tonight to keep sap flowing.

[PerryW]

Had to collect early today (noon) but still managed to pick up another 225 gallon and make another 6 gallons of Fancy. Up to 63 gallons; all but 20 light amber. It looks like it could freeze tonight but the weather man says only 30 for a low.

[PerryW]

What a difference a few days make! Just 4-5 days ago I was at 1/3 crop and now I'm almost at 2/3 crop at 69 gallons! Made another 6 gallons of fancy today. Sap running slow but sure all day with temp stuck at 34 deg. Looks like it may trickle out all night and now the weathermen are saying maybe 3 decent freezes in the next 4 days.

[Russell Lampron]

Sounds like your season is finally getting going. I hope you get the freezes that are predicted.

[PerryW]

Got 200 gal of sap from my Littleton Bush and pulled off 5.5 gallons of Fancy. It almost dropped into Medium for the first take-off but lightened up after that.

Up to 74.5 gallons, hoping for 110.

[hurdmaple]

Good run for me last night and today 150 gals. Just over 25 gals for the season hopping for 30

[PerryW]

holy crap! it's 25 here (near Littleton) and looks like two more good freezes coming up tonite & tomorrow night. Sitting at 74 gallons (70% of full crop) and still making fancy. guess I picked the wrong year to NOT fill the woodshed. goin hunting for standing deadwood and raiding the freshly cut ash pile. at this point, I see NO signs of the end of season around here. poplar buds are still tight, no moths, 18" of dense snow in the woods.

[Backyard Sapper66]

Perry,
It was 28 in Alexandria this am. Ground is good and crunchy. Supposed to get to mid 40's today and a repeat for the next 2 days!!! Hoping to get 2 more good runs before the warm weather comes. Good luck on your goal and search for wood. Does anybody have any pallets you can cut up? I use them and outside of the mess the nails make, they work great!!
Have a good one!!
Doug
:)

[PerryW]

Well it's 18 degrees here now and a high of 49 predicted. The sap should really pour out today. Took off 5 more gallons yesterday (wednesday) for a total of 79 so far. I still have about 3 cords left in the woodshed and cut up 1/2 cord of standing deadwood which seems to burn great. Looks like great sugaring weather for the next three days then the highs get into the 60's then even a 70. Hopefully I can get up to 110 gallons by then.

[Backyard Sapper66]

Its 24 degrees on the thermo here in Alexandria. Thermo is 20 feet above grade so I am figuring the woods should have gotten nice and chilly. Hoping it runs really good today and possibly for Friday and Sat. Like you said after that I think it might be over. Good luck and go getum'
Doug
:)

[ckkrotz]

I'm thinking that we'll have a decent run in Sandwich too... which I'm not sure I'm really looking forward to. We boil down weekly, and last Sat we did 40 gallons of sap on our 2 pan cement block evaporator... with 2 toddlers running around and no indoor space nearby... not sure we can do that again! We told ourselves we wouldn't do more than 10-15 gallons this week, as we've already got more than the quart per tap that we were thinking... but it's so so hard to think about dumping sap!

[PerryW]

I'm thinking that we'll have a decent run in Sandwich too... which I'm not sure I'm really looking forward to. We boil down weekly, and last Sat we did 40 gallons of sap on our 2 pan cement block evaporator... with 2 toddlers running around and no indoor space nearby... not sure we can do that again! We told ourselves we wouldn't do more than 10-15 gallons this week, as we've already got more than the quart per tap that we were thinking... but it's so so hard to think about dumping sap!

Make sure you run out now and throw the ice out. That will make the boiling a little easier.

[PerryW]

Had a fairly decent run today. Just picked up 375 gallons and will boil it up tomorrow. This sap should bring me to about 80% of a crop.

Never really got much above 40 today and the cold trees still aren't running very well. Looks like the warm-up will finally get them running, but I dont' like temps in the 60's that are predicted.

[hurdmaple]

Sap ran ok for me too had to pick up before 4 so I could boil. Made for a early night done before 8PM. I will save today's sap and do a long boil on Saturday. Just listened to the weather forecast and it is looking like I will be done after this weekend. Should make about the same as last year when all is said and done. If that happens I will be happy considering I put in 50 less taps.

[PerryW]

Sap ran ok for me too had to pick up before 4 so I could boil. Made for a early night done before 8PM. I will save today's sap and do a long boil on Saturday. Just listened to the weather forecast and it is looking like I will be done after this weekend. Should make about the same as last year when all is said and done. If that happens I will be happy considering I put in 50 less taps.

Same here. I'm at 79 gallons now but have 375 gallons of sap ready to boil which should get me to 88 gallons. Today looks ideal, so I should get at least 400 gallons which would bring me up to 98 gallons. Then I need another 12 gallons to hit last year's total with about 15% less taps than last year.

I still haven't made anything darker than mid-grade medium and all but 20 gallons are fancy. Time to boil, boil, boil!

[PerryW]

Just finished cleaning up from boiling yesterday's sap making 8 gallons. After 20 gallons of Medium early in the season and then a run of 60 gallons of Fancy, the grade finally dropped beck into medium today. My season is 87 gallons so far. I think I can still get to 110 gallons even if the 70 degree weather ends the season.

Looks like a a real good run today with a low of 19 last night and mid-40's now. Gonna see if I can gather around 5 PM and boil tonite.

[PerryW]

Pulled off another 5 gallons of Medium from what ran today, for a total of 92 gallons so far. Sap was still dripping an hour ago and the sugarhouse thermometer is 33 and clear skies. May get another freeze tonight.

[hurdmaple]

Started to boil at 4 am 180 gals of sap long day

[PerryW]

Started to boil at 4 am 180 gals of sap long day

And a long night too. Dropped into the low 20's last night on my thermometer. I suspect another good run today. I probably have around 150 gallons of sap that ran after I picked up at 4:30 yesterday and I'm hoping for 300-400 gallons from today's run. Just let me know if you get tired of boiling and I'll trade you some syrup for the sap.

[hurdmaple]

I am going to let the vac pumps run tonight and collect in the am. This will be my last boil of the year. Everything has run pretty smooth this year and the total will be about the same as last year so all and all it has been a good maple season for me.

[PerryW]

Just finished boiling up todays 290 gallons of sap and took off another 7 gallons of Medium for a total of 99 gallons.

[Russell Lampron]

Perry you gonna make that 110? You're getting close!!!

[PerryW]

Perry you gonna make that 110? You're getting close!!!

It's gonna be close. Should have 4 or 5 gallons in the evaporator and one of my 2 buckets in the yard is dripping 3 drips a second. I'm hoping some sap will ooze out today and maybe again when the temp hits 70 tomorrow.

No freeze last night but surprisingly, my best sap run (425 gallons on April 2) came after two nights with no freeze, so who knows?! Theron say he boils two weeks after the peepers, but with no vacuum, I doubt I'll make much if the 10 day forecast is correct.

Hopefully I can at least make some Grade A Dark Amber and Grade B as I several customers who have requested it. For now I'm gonna stay plugged in to see what happens. I still have plenty of dry wood to make 50 more gallons now.

[Russell Lampron]

Sometimes or should I say most of the time the weather liars are wrong. With all of the cold weather that we have had this year I wouldn't be surprised to see you get a couple more freezes and make the syrup that you want.

My customers like the dark amber and B too. Last night I made 10 more gallons of light amber to put me at 37 gallons of light for the season. I don't know what I am going to do with that stuff. A friend of mine told me to dump it back into the flue pan and make something jug worthy out of it.

[PerryW]

I have way more orders for Fancy than I do for dark. Luckily I made 60 gallons of it. Most ever for me.

Prolly 30% want fancy, 15 % want dark and the rest don't care

[PerryW]

Picked up another 100 gallons of sap and took off 2 gallons of Dark Amber; fist dark of the season. My total is at 101 now and my optimism grows cautiously about more syrup. It was supposed to get to 70 today, but only 45 degrees and almost noon time. Could be some more sugaring weather beyond this heat?

Boiled today in a torrential downpour w/ thunder & ligntening close by. Was wondering about the 20' stainless stack catching a lightning bolt?

[hurdmaple]

I am done for the season finished with 37 gal my best year yet. Taps are now all pulled just have to wash tanks and put them away and I will be done for this year. I am ready to move on to other projects. Have a great year everyone.

[PerryW]

Picked up 100 gallons of sap yesterday evening (friday). Should finally make some grade b. Hopefully get one last run on saturday. Good freeze now.

[PerryW]

Made another 3 gallons of Dark Amber for 104 gallons so far. No buddy taste and no metabolic flavor or aftertaste. Sap running pretty good today.

[PerryW]

Took of 1 gallon on Sunday and another 2 gallons of grade b yesterday for 107 gallons so far. I'm pondering pulling taps today; though it looks like a possible freeze on thursday night....

[PerryW]

Pulled the plug today. Washed out about 1/2 of the tubing and pulled my 6 buckets. Should have 109-110 gallons total for the season once I boil down the front pan.

A half-decent season for me. Made almost last year's total with 10-15% less taps (and 30% less work!) by eliminating the less productive, and more labor intensive hand gathering.

Grade A Light Amber - 60 gal

Grade a Medium Amber - 39 gal

Grade A Dark Amber - 2 gal

Grade B - 8 or 9 gallons.

[PerryW]

Dumped the contents of the back pan in the front pan yesterday and filled the back pan w/ water. Boiled it up and ended up with 5 more gallons of nice grade B for a season total of 112 gallons. Virtually the same total as last year with 15% less taps.

[Russell Lampron]

I see that you had a good season even with 15% fewer taps. Provided the 15% performed as well as the other ones did you could have made 129 gallons of syrup this season.

[PerryW]

I see that you had a good season even with 15% fewer taps. Provided the 15% performed as well as the other ones did you could have made 129 gallons of syrup this season.


The thing is Russell, the 15% actually would have performed better, as they are field trees w/ big crowns. But the extra 15% of taps more than doubled my gathering time (from one hour to 2-1/2 hours), as they were all hand-gathering.