Okay nature, I'll bite.

[Tithis]

Decided to start tapping today. Forcast looks like we should get some sapflow and I can't remember any day so far this winter that actually turned out colder than they predicted :lol:

So I put out 11 taps today. All 10 of my sugar maples are tapped and were dripping pretty good. The Norway maple in our front yard was dripping good and the red maple I tapped was doing nothing

So here are the big 3. With 9 of my 18 taps going to these guys so I'm really betting on them. The owner is a nice older gentlemen who was quite happy to let me tap them. While I was tapping he even brought his granddaughter out to see and I gave her a taste of the sap.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a270/Tithis/Maple%202012/100_9019.jpg

These 2 are from our nextdoor neighbor. First is a sugar maple and the other is the only red maple I tapped today(got anouther 5 reds to tap on a family members property)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a270/Tithis/Maple%202012/100_9017.jpghttp://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a270/Tithis/Maple%202012/100_9018.jpg

[GramaCindy]

It looks SO odd to see no snow. Good luck! Hope your sap is plentiful and 3%

[crawflyer]

you are right about the weather forecasts. I shut down and flushed my rig 2 days ago based on the forecast, highs of 31or so for the next 8 or so days and today it was sunny and 47. gathered 53 gallons from 53 taps. anyone need some sap?

[Fishgill]

Good luck. I'm gonna tap any day now, maybe Sunday.

[Tithis]

It looks SO odd to see no snow. Good luck! Hope your sap is plentiful and 3%

It really is odd and quite disappointing. I personally love snow and I'll often go and take long walks during nor'easters. This winter has sucked for snow with the only good storm being the one in October, and the damage caused by it kinda ruined the whole thing (70ft pine crushed out pool, no power for days and so many trees damaged)

When I go out to collect sap tomorrow I'll be testing for sugar. Only tree I've tested so far was our norway which has been giving 2%

[Tithis]

Did a sugar test today. The 3 big sugar maples all tested between 1.5% and 2%. That was a little disappointing, I was expecting more with them being so large. Probably by tonight each tap will have given me a gallon since I tapped yesterday afternoon.

Surprisingly our little norway maple was giving 2.25%.

[Tithis]

Boiled yesterday and got about 1/2 gallon of light or medium amber off of 20 gallons of sap.

[eustis22]

Boiling this afternoon evening, maybe 25 gallons...remind to get the camping lantern out

[Tithis]

One of those would have been useful last night. I got all of the on evaporating boiling done before it got dark but finishing took quite awhile and I did that on a hotplate outside. Near the end I was wearing my fathers headlamp.

Hoping for anouther decent run over the next couple of days.

[Tithis]

Finishing the 3rd boil on the hotplate today, I did the main boiling yesterday. From my first two boils I got around a gallon of finished syrup, about as much as I got from all of last year.

Received my bottles from Bascom so once this next batch is finished I'll be working on getting the syrup through the final filter and then bottling it.

I pulled the tap and bucket off of one of the red maples a few days ago. Through the entire season I couldn't have gotten more than a few ounces of dark yellow sap from that tree. I move it to another red maple that could support another tap and was at least producing something. Only one of the red maples has been able to keep up with the sugars.

Its kinda funny, I keep telling myself I'm going to try selling a limited amount to help cover the costs of supplies and such, but the more I make the more I want to keep for myself. I mostly use my syrup for oatmeal but I want to make maple sugar pie this year for Easter, some for making my own bacon and possibly some for hickory nut pie for Thanksgiving (the owner of the 3 big sugar maples I'm tapping offered to let me collect hickory and black walnuts in the fall. I'm not sure if I'll take up the offer for the black walnuts but I've read shagback hickories have decent nuts and my step-grandmother has a few good sized ones in her yard nearby as well)

[happy thoughts]

sounds good tithis. I wouldn't turn down the walnuts. They'll probably be a lot easier to shell than the hickories. We had a bumper crop of hickories last year and they gave me a deeper understanding of the phrase "a tough nut to crack" lol. But if you have trees that give a good size nut, they're worth it. I highly recommend trying the maple coated nut recipe you can find elsewhere on this forum.

happy mapling!

[Tithis]

My main concern was I've heard black walnuts can be quite bitter, although I'll still probably give them a taste. I was surprised he even had one since we are supposed to be outside its native range. It might have been planted but that must have been quite awhile ago as it's a big tree. You can see it between the first two sugar maples.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a270/Tithis/Maple%202012/100_9019.jpg

I was more interested in the hickory's since after a bit of research I found they are closely related to pecans(my favorite nut). I'll probably give that recipe a go if I collect a decent amount. I've got 4 hickory's to collect from if I wind up doing it.

[Tithis]

Had a decent run the last few days with the warm weather, probably 3/4gal each day per tap on the good sugar maples (one just doesnt ever seem to give much). The norway's been giving a decent amount and still serving as a good indicator if I should check the other buckets. Reds are as marginal as ever.

I'll probably be doing anouther boil on Friday when the storm's fully passed. It will be nice boiling in the snow again.

[Tithis]

Still need to finish Fridays boil although I'm reluctant to. The sap certainly looked past its prime when I started and the partially finished syrup is much darker and less sweet than usual, not sure if the flavor will be off when I finally finish it.

Should be getting ready for another boil in a day or two. Got a decent amount of sap the last two days and I'm working on keeping it nice and cold to prevent a repeat of the last boil. The suns been coaxing sap out of the trees despite the cold temps so I might have enough sap to boil on wednesday.

Temps in the long term forecast don't look all that good, might be finished by mid march. I've been having nightmares about the trees budding suddenly overnight.