Taps out in Harrisville

[Sweber]

Set taps out today and had a small run before clouding over. Still in the upper 30's low 40's. The old timers in my area say Washington's bday is the time to start.
How is it going outside of the southern part of the state? We had an early run about two weeks ago(missed it) but not much since.

[oldemaple]

I started on my lines on Monday and had a small run yesterday and today. I guess we're going back into the deep freeze again starting on Sunday.

[Sweber]

Had our first boil of '06 last eve! Expected a much larger run given the weather( sunny, no wind, temps in the low 40's). Did others get enough to boil yesterday? Could things still be frozen in the trees? We have had a week of above freezing temps in the day time.. Nice to only have to open the door to get wood.

[oldemaple]

I boiled yesterday for the first time also. Just sweetened the front pan. Gathered a couple hundred gallons of sap today. It was running pretty well considering it was 34 degrees and snowing. I'll make my first syrup tomorrow morning. The buds are still nice and tight, so I hope the season is just starting. It will be interesting to see what the 60 degree weather this weekend will do to the sap flow.

[Sweber]

The Fat Lady has sung. I wanted to get another boil in but I was looking at grade "M" about now. Had a WHOPPER of a last week and very little sleep. Not sure what day it is anymore. Time to pull taps and clean those disgusting pans. It seems most everyone else is finishing up around here.?Haven't tallied all I've made but I think it was a pretty piss poor season. How about others??

[Russell Lampron]

I made more syrup this year than I ever had but have added 200 more taps on vacuum now so it is hard to tell if this was a good year or not. Judging by past records I think it was alittle below average but definately better than last year.

Russ

[Sweber]

I'm amazed that they keep the posts up for this long. I started this last Feb and it's still here.
We tapped out a week later this year and were shut down almost as soon as they were in. It seems when we had the warm weather, it got too warm around here. Night time temps were in the low to mid 30's and the sap ceased to flow the last day or two before the last Noreaster. Then it all shut down due to cold temps! How have others been doing?
I've heard that those with vaccuum are doing much better than us gravity types. As far as quality, I'm making very light amber again. The taste is different this year, good, but different.
I've also heard people are getting off flavors so far.
The weather extremes are making us a bit nervous. Can only hope that things moderate in the next week or two and that it doesn't go from 0 to 60 in a week. Hope for full buckets!!!!

[325abn]

Slow start but the flood is coming. I have made 3 Gallons of great Med Amber!

[Sweber]

What a rough season. I'm a little over 1/2 of what I made last year. Now it looks like the sap is already turning, buds are getting big and it's not long . I had a guy that took some pictures last year stop by with his completed book. Very cool pictures of NH sugar houses and sugaring "scenes". He is self published and asks about 30 bucks

[Sweber]

Once again the fat lady has sung. Had last boil April 15. It actually went from a dark B to a med amber during the boil. Even the dark this year had no bite. Did about average this year or slightly below. The grade tended to be darker overall.How about others in our area??

[Mark-NH]

Sweber,

If it had not been for the late runs last week and this week it would have been a really bad year for us. We made 1/4 of our total within the last week. The syrup is dark but of good taste. Overall it was a marginal year but worth the effort.

We turned the collection tanks over Wednesday night. Now the fun begins with clean-up.

Mark