Red Roof Maples 2012

[Russell Lampron]

I haven't tapped yet but plan to this coming weekend. I really had the itch today while I was at work. I don't think that I have missed anything yet but fear an early end to the season like 2010. I have reworked some of my tubing and tubed up 18 taps to a sap ladder, 18 more on vacuum and 18 less buckets.

Got my new releaser hooked up and ready to go.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg247/russhd1997/SP%2022%20and%20Lines/downsized_0204121401b.jpg

[Dill]

Russ is the ice solid up by you? I fell through that wet spot in my woods were you tied the 2 mainlines together. After I found it was deeper than my boots, I started wondering if you were having the same problem in the swamp.

[red maples]

HEY RUSS!!! that's one sexy releaser... hopefully no problems this year huh!!! fingers crossed!!!

My swamp is tricky the deep spots have enough ice to hold me easy its around the edges on the northern side (thats where the south sun hit it best) but that part is tapped so I just put a board to the solid ice. with all this freeze thaw business its there is running water under the ice in some spots so its thinner there.

[SSFLLC]

Hi Russ, New releaser looks great. Michelle just called out sick for the day. Were tapping in today. We added another 150 taps on a sap ladder that i'll finish up this week. Hood will be here friday i'm told. Dill we have almost no ice here and what we do have will not hold you. Theres only about 6 inches of frost in the ground were we drive. Keith & Michelle

[Russell Lampron]

Played hooky from work today myself. Richard and I tapped today. I've now got 686 taps on vacuum. Even with the known leaks I am pulling 25 1/2 inches of vacuum. I got a good deal on the releaser. It is 3 years old but was only used 1 season. It is good for 6000 taps and is a little over kill for what I have and will ever have on it. Gotta get a bigger tank now. The sap was running a little slow but I still got close to 100 gallons today.

[Russell Lampron]

Russ is the ice solid up by you? I fell through that wet spot in my woods were you tied the 2 mainlines together. After I found it was deeper than my boots, I started wondering if you were having the same problem in the swamp.

The ice is safe enough to walk on in the places that I have to walk in the swamp. Have to be careful on the edges though.

[Russell Lampron]

I've got about 225 gallons of sap so far. It didn't run as good today as I thought it would. It should run better tomorrow.

I put the membrane in the RO tonight and got it all plumbed up and ready to go. I'm going to pump the sap up to the sugar house tomorrow night then concentrate it Saturday and boil Saturday night. This will be the earliest that I have ever boiled.

[red maples]

Sap didn't run very good here either. I think the ground is just frozen just deep enough to effect the roots from drawing water. I only got about 75 gal yesterday. a little less than you per tap.

[Amber Gold]

Glad to hear I'm not missing much. I'm tapping my vac. woods in on Sunday...in time to catch next week's big run.

Russ, am I looking at the pic correctly that your wet line has to go up to get into the releaser?

[Maplewalnut]

Russ- are you still running the Matt Roy special sp-22? How many taps do you have on it now? I am up close to 1000 on mine but have to keep up on leak patrol.

[red maples]

Glad to hear I'm not missing much. I'm tapping my vac. woods in on Sunday...in time to catch next week's big run.

Russ, am I looking at the pic correctly that your wet line has to go up to get into the releaser?

Yeah it was running right about 30% yesterday....so your really not missing much. I changed a few things around so I can use my sap ladder only for emergencies(swamp flooding) and had a few issues with pumping the sap up to my tanks but works everything out.

I had to go back to look at that too. it does look like the main wet line feed up into the releaser. kinda way up too!!! how's that working out???

[Russell Lampron]

Russ- are you still running the Matt Roy special sp-22? How many taps do you have on it now? I am up close to 1000 on mine but have to keep up on leak patrol.

Yeah I am still running my Matt Roy SP-22. It just won't quit.


Glad to hear I'm not missing much. I'm tapping my vac. woods in on Sunday...in time to catch next week's big run.

Russ, am I looking at the pic correctly that your wet line has to go up to get into the releaser?

You haven't missed much yet. I have enough to boil tomorrow.

There are 2 wet lines that go into the releaser like that. It seems to be working good so far. The plan is to get a stainless round bottom tank that sits lower to the ground. I have been debating if I should build a small sap ladder or just leave them the way they are.


Yeah it was running right about 30% yesterday....so your really not missing much. I changed a few things around so I can use my sap ladder only for emergencies(swamp flooding) and had a few issues with pumping the sap up to my tanks but works everything out.

I had to go back to look at that too. it does look like the main wet line feed up into the releaser. kinda way up too!!! how's that working out???

Don't like your sap ladder? I built one out of a 3 way star to lift 18 taps just so that I have something to watch.

[Russell Lampron]

I had a real good day today. First I was able to get the RO started without having to thaw out the valve on the bulk tank. Then the sap started to run around 9:30 this morning which I didn't expect because of the cold temps that were predicted. I got to see my new releaser dump a couple of times. Seeing about 25 gallons of sap dump into the tank all at once is pretty impressive. As of 5:00 I had almost 150 gallons of sap in the tank which is the best single day run so far. The best part of the day was making steam this afternoon. This is the earliest that I have ever boiled. I didn't have quite enough sap to get a draw off but the color is nice and light so far and it tastes good too. Pics to follow as soon as I can get them onto my computer.

[red maples]

mine is very light too!!! not light amber but light medium.

[Russell Lampron]

I got out of work early today and came home to work on sugaring stuff. The sap was running but not to hard. I only had about 20hg of vacuum so I headed for the woods to look for leaks. 2 hollow trees, 1 tap off and several squirrel chews later and the vacuum level is over 23hg. Sighted out a place for a new lateral mainline and sap ladder. I can pick up another 50 taps or so and change a couple of reverse slope laterals to positive slope. I have to cut some trees out of the area first so I'm not sure if I can get it done for this season or not.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap finally decided to run here. I have gotten about 400 gallons of sap in the last 24 hours. Got some more leaks fixed today and am now pulling 25hg of vacuum. I really like my new releaser. It's fun to watch it dump 25 gallons of sap at a time.

[Starting Small]

Russell, two questions for you. I saw that you mentioned hollow trees. Does that literally mean that the trees were dead and hollow? Or is it a slang maple term? Also, curious as to how many taps you are running. I have enjoyed reading all your posts, thanks,

[Russell Lampron]

I tap a lot of red maples that are near a swamp. What happens with them is that the heart wood will rot. Sometimes when you tap those you get deep enough to get into that hollow center. The trees are still alive and some will live for a long time with the rotten centers and give sap too. Once I find one like that it gets marked as a cull and I don't hesitate to drill a new tap hole in it and can usually find a spot where it won't leak vacuum on the first try. I have just under 700 taps on vacuum and hang about 80 buckets. I will be hanging those today.

[red maples]

I do exactly the same then I take them down for house firewood!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Well yesterday didn't go as planned. The dumping mechanism on the new releaser hung up in the part dump position Friday afternoon and a lot of sap got sucked up into the vacuum line. Turned on the vacuum pump Yesterday morning and had 26" at the pump. Went down to the releaser to see what I had there. Nothing!!!! Started walking the 1600' of 1.25" vacuum pipe to find where the sap was pooled up and frozen. All but the 600" closest to the SH was full. Got out the tools and started taking the pipe apart at the places where it is connected together. Got most of the sap and ice out but had to cut it open in a couple of spots too to drain some big sags.

Turned the vacuum back on and go down to watch the releaser fill and dump. First dump everything worked as it should. Went up to the house for a quick lunch and got the tools to clean the mechanism then back down to find that the releaser had stuck again and flooded the pipe again as well. Took it all apart again and finally by late afternoon had the releaser working flawlessly and the pipe drained. From about 4:00 on I got another 200 gals of sap. I wonder what I would have gotten if I could have run the vacuum all day. While doing all of this I managed to thaw out the feed pipe to the RO and get that going and also pumped 200 gals of sap up to the SH.

The buckets didn't get hung but I did get most of the things planned for yesterday done. I boiled for the second time last night and drew off 7 gals of syrup. It is just a shade under medium with good flavor. It could have been lighter if it didn't take a week to get enough to boil again. Barring any problems I should be able to get the buckets hung today and can the syrup that I made last night.

[red maples]

that sucks I hate when that happens... Its always when you turn your back for a little bit and things don't work right!!! and you always wonder how much sap you didn't get!!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I had a much better day yesterday. I got Saturdays syrup canned up in the morning and then I got the buckets tapped yesterday afternoon. The vacuum is holding at 26" now so I don't have very many leaks. All of the bugs seem to be worked out and just in time for the BIGSAP later this week.

[Amber Gold]

Russ, no moisture trap at the releaser? I made that mistake last season and got sap in my vac. line which froze up. I now have moisture trap at the releaser. Unfortunately, I must still have leftover sap in the vac. line because the report from the woods is there's no vac. at the releaser, but the pump is running.

[Russell Lampron]

A moisture trap is on the list of things that I need to do. The new releaser doesn't have a check ball in it to block off the vacuum when it malfunctions like my old one did.

Josh I forgot to mention in my post on your feed pump thread that I looked at my concentrate flow gauge when I did a wash and rinse the other night and I was getting 4 gallons per minute.

[SSFLLC]

Russ any kind of a run over there today? Is Richard still up and running or is he broke down again this year? Keith

[Russell Lampron]

Yeah I got a little bit today. It started late and didn't run very hard. It never got into the 40's like the forecast said but should be better tomorrow. Did you get any over there Kieth?

Richard has been battling a cold for a while and seems to have had a relapse but no problems with ankles, legs or knees. The hand he broke last summer is doing ok too.

[SSFLLC]

Not enough of a run to call it that. It was more like a trickle. Should run tomorrow I hope. Keith

[gearpump]

Russ, did your high pressure pump on your RO need rebuilding a while ago? On mine the seals have broken down and the bearings are squealing like a pig on steroids! I called Laperrie and they said it could be rebuilt if I brought up to Swanton. Thats like a 6 hour round trip and a couple of hours of waiting around. I am considering trying to pull the motor off and lube it up or something to make it thur the season. It will be just my luck that it will seize up on a day that the sap is running good.

Marty

[Russell Lampron]

Russ, did your high pressure pump on your RO need rebuilding a while ago? On mine the seals have broken down and the bearings are squealing like a pig on steroids! I called Laperrie and they said it could be rebuilt if I brought up to Swanton. Thats like a 6 hour round trip and a couple of hours of waiting around. I am considering trying to pull the motor off and lube it up or something to make it thur the season. It will be just my luck that it will seize up on a day that the sap is running good.

Marty

I had an o ring seal in the middle section pop out on mine. I took it apart far enough to put the seal back in. I ordered a seal kit that includes the lower seal that is over the motor but never used it. If you want to give it a try I have the parts.

[Amber Gold]

No check ball...odd. Why would they make one w/out it?? Seems foolish. Grainger carries a whole house filter w/ 1.5" inlet and outlets. I can get you the part numbers if you needed it.

4gpm...I'm getting ~2.2gpm. Thanks for checking.

[Russell Lampron]

Just came in from boiling. Made 9 more gallons of good tasting dark amber. The weather forecast called for a low of 33 tonight. It's colder than that here already. Shut down the pump at 7:30 because the releaser was full of slush and there wasn't any sap coming in. Got 300+ in the tank and the buckets will need to be gathered tomorrow.

[Russell Lampron]

Not much happening here in Loudon. The snow in the forecast is a good thing though. I have gotten about 225 gallons of sap in the last 2 days. Not much but not bad considering the low temps and clouds. It was bitter over the weekend but managed to get enough to boil Sunday night. That is after spending most of the morning thawing out valves and pipes so that I could get the RO going. A couple of missteps but for the most part things are going pretty smooth so far this season. It should be kicking into high gear after the coming snow storm.

[red maples]

I hope so been slowly chugging along. no big issues here either (knock wood) just waiting for big sap. these little 50-75 gal days are tough going. can't do to much with those numbers.

[Dill]

The forecast seems to be spot on for vacuum, looks like not a whole lot of bright sunny days in the long range. Better stock up on boiling sodas and get ready to lock yourself in the shack when it break loose Russ.

[Russell Lampron]

These small runs are annoying but I am continuing to make syrup. If the sap isn't going to run I would rather have it be because it is too cold rather than too warm. This could shape up to be a somewhat normal March. The snow that is falling now and some cold days and nights to start the month could help to make the season last longer.

I am hoping that it isn't like 2 years ago when it was too warm. I managed to make my season last until the end of the March that year but know of other sugar makers that gave up after the 3rd week. I had to deal with sap that seemed to come out of the trees sour and loaded with bacteria. Made a lot of commercial syrup then finished the season with the biggest run of the season and the grade going back up to dark amber.

[red maples]

I am quite worried!!!! next week's forecast looks awful for me 4 days straight with no feeze starting I think wed. hope that changes!!! yes small runs are better than no runs. I just hope that forcast changes. I only have 25 gallons of syrup so far need alot more than that!!!

[Amber Gold]

Brad, Keep the pump on and let the sap flow. Also, by next week, the forecast will be completely different.

[red maples]

Very True its already changing!!!! Pump has been off since yesterday tried it but just got a little slush lines never defrosted.

[Dill]

Ya I'm not going to bother turning the pump on today, up in the air about tomorrow. Next weeks looks like it starts real cold on Monday but a couple forecasts have 3 days in the fifties without a freeze. So who knows. The one good thing about this storm is now my brother will know what a PIA its is too collect buckets over snow drifts he's got off easy so far this season.

[Amber Gold]

I thought about turning my pump off, but it's a PITA to drain, re-fill the tank, then deal w/ frozen lines. Decided to keep it on @ ~$4.50/day to run. I turned the vac. valve off at the releaser, so if any sap does come in (by some miracle), I don't have to worry about the releaser. If it's going to run tomorrow, just need to do a driveby to turn the valve back on.

[Russell Lampron]

It is way too cold for any sap flow today. Looks like if it can warm up soon enough we may get a small run tomorrow. Saturday looks like it should be warm enough but with rain and freezing rain predicted it may not be a good run. I'm hoping to be able to get enough runs close enough together to boil on a regular basis soon.

[Russell Lampron]

It looks like we could finally see some serious sap flow later this week. I boiled again last night for the first time in a week. There were just too many clouds to get things thawed out and running over the weekend.

Added a couple of new laterals and reconfigured a couple more to add about a dozen new taps on Saturday. Replaced a broken valve on my pump line and replaced the plastic one on my bulk tank with a brass one yesterday. Now I can heat the bulk tank valve with the flame wrench to thaw it out. It's been a real PITA to get the old one thawed so that I could get the RO going in the morning.

[Russell Lampron]

We've just had the best run of the year here in Loudon. We got close to 1500 gallons of sap in a day and a half. Last nights freeze and snow should make for another good run. After a 600 gallons whoops a couple of weeks ago the syrup total is suffering. Boiled for the second day in a row for the first time this season last night. I have made about a third of what I need to meet my normal sales needs. I am hoping that the extended forecast is wrong and that my cold woods give me the sap that I need make it happen. It looks like after Tuesday or Wednesday the sap flow will stop here until we get another freeze.

[Greyfox]

Russ, you're probably the closest producer to me on MapleTrader, so I was wondering if you had the same sap Tsunami today as I did? Even the few dry spouts that I was grousing about ran today, and a few of my favorites run 1/2 GPT between Noon and 6:00. My 1/2" main was fully running, not just steadily dripping. This may be the last hurrah, but at least we did get one HURRAH! Hope it's good for you as well.

Doc.

[PerryW]

got almost 400 gallons of sap today. still not great but at least I will get beyond zero gallons. The cold taps still aren't running well, but still flowing when I gathered at 6:00-7:00.

[SSFLLC]

Hi Russ, I'm hoping the same thing you are. We have a pretty cold woods here also. We got 650 gallons of sap thursday into friday and today we got another 500 from noon to 7:30. Michelle's been boiling while I go to my paying job. She like's the new setup It's been keeping up real good. No real long boils yet. Finishing it now so not sure what she made so far. Told her she did so well wishing for snow to wish for colder weather. Good luck and say hi to Richard for use. Keith & Michelle

[Russell Lampron]

I have been getting some decent runs. I have boiled for three of the last 4 nights and will be boiling again tonight. I don't remember how many gallons I had for Thursday night but it was around 600 gallons. I had 920 gallons of sap to boil Friday night, my biggest so far. I had a decent run Saturday given the temps but not enough to boil. Last night I boiled about 600 gallons. I finished pumping up 500 from my tank in the woods at 2 yesterday afternoon which was the total fro Saturday and yesterday morning. At 9:30 last night I pumped up another 450 gallons from the woods tank. My buckets averaged just under a gallon per tap between Saturday and yesterday. We got an unpredicted freeze last night so I am going to get something today as well. Lets hope that there are going to be some more freezes before the trees give up for good.

[Russell Lampron]

Had another 400 gallons for tonights boil. The syrup total is getting close to 100 gallons which is a lot less than the 275 that I made last season. Luckily I have some of last years syrup left.

The vacuum pump is still on and some sap is still trickling in. I had about 75 gallons in the tank at 8:30 that had come in since the tank was emptied at 2:30. It's getting colder and I hope that it freezes tonight. I will know in the morning.

[red maples]

just typed on joshes thread. haven't had a freeze here since saturday and the sap stopped running pretty much on tuesday. I was hoping for some light freezes but no no luck. On Tuesday the sap was coming in at <1% and was cloudy white trickling in at <5 gallons per hour and decreased as the day went on...noth worth it shut 'er down on tuesday. the red beds pretty much doubled in size in about a day or 2 on the yard trees and the peepers were super loud!!!

[Russell Lampron]

The buds on my reds are still pretty tight. I was expecting to have to pull the plug Tuesday or Wednesday but to my surprise I am still getting some sap. I will probably hit 100 gallons this year, a little more than a third of what I made last season. Last night was our last chance for a freeze and I don't think that it happened. I will be boiling again tonight for the 8th time in the last 10 days. The sap is cloudier now and I have been too scared to check the sugar content. Glad I have an RO even though I still have an almost full wood shed.

[Amber Gold]

It's been nice having the RO. Been getting sap in at 1.4% and 300 gal plus. Thinking if I didn't have the RO, I'd be boiling it for 4 hrs. Let the RO work on it and about the same time the evap's heating up and getting into a rhythm, it's time to slam the brakes on because you're out of concentrate.

With 300 gal runs, it allows me to have 50 gal of conc. after the sugar rinse is done I'll have about 250 gal of perm. to rinse and wash the membranes. What should I do if I drop down to 200 gal runs? Hold onto it for a day to get 400 gal total? Or can I generate 20-30 gal of conc., run 80 gal of rinse water through it, and stockpile the remaining 100 gal of perm. until I get 200 gal+ to do a proper wash and rinse? The manual says you can go 10hrs of concentrating between wash cycles, but it doesn't say how much water you should use to rinse the membranes between concentrating cycles.

[SSFLLC]

Hi Russ, were in the same boat here. I'm surprized you didn't get the frost over there. Saps coming in good right now. Were thinking that tuesday will be it. Things are starting to get hecktick here with the garden stuff. I think were up over 40 but under 50. Have not added up the totals yet. Sugar is holding around the 1.5 or alittle better. Been having to tractor Michelle out to the pavement now for about a week. She loves that i'll tell you all dreesed up and out playing in the mud. Keith

[Russell Lampron]

I could feel it last night when I finished up in the sugar house and went in for the night. I woke up this morning to a frost. I hope that it gives my season a much needed boost.

I am over the century mark now for gallons of syrup produced for the season. I have to thank my vacuum pump for bringing in sap and keeping me boiling for all but 2 nights since the 8th. I haven't gotten anything from the buckets since Sunday. Hopefully I'll get something today.

[sjdoyon]

Glad to hear you're still at it in the south. We still have snow cover up north but this week is going to be cutting it close. Still getting over 2,000 gallons of sap a day and sugar content is between 2.75 and 3.25. We've got a north facing slope which is saving our snow cover. Not sure how long that is going to last. Good luck.

[SSFLLC]

We've had good heavy frost here the last 3 days. 200 gallons 1 day 400 the next and we'll see what todays brings us. Vac's been holding a steady 28 for over a week now. Must have finally removed all the tree rats. I havn't seen one for a while here. Michelle did a great job nocking out most of that 400 yesterday. I have a good woman here and I think i'm going to keep her. Gardening stuff starting to get in the way of the maple stuff now. This week the green house goes up. Should get all the started plants out of the house then. Town shut the road down finally to keep the idiots out. Mud is over 2 feet deep. Were using the tractor to make it out to the pavement. Sure am glad we got the cars out before the whole road went to sh!t. Keith

[red maples]

you lucky dogs!!! Peepers were going pretty good last night we only hit 38* here. there were a few night I thought we might get a freeze here and maybe get things going again but no such luck my red buds are ready to pop here they are huge. and you can see the layer of red in the canapy from far. should be about 70* for most today. have fun boiling in the heat wave. I personally don't like boing when it too hot I don't like short sleeve in the sugarhouse I always burn my arms just about the welding glove line.

I am just bottling and making some cream today and then going doing a little cleaning outside and enjoy the weather although I'd rather it be cool with steam rising:)

[Russell Lampron]

The sap is coming as good as I have seen it run all season here today. It's 72* and sunny and I was expecting a big slow down. The sap goddess must be smiling on us sugar makers that haven't thrown in the towel yet.

The RO is sweetening the 450 gallons of 1.2% that I pumped up last night. Not sure what is coming in today. I'll be pumping that up soon so that I can boil it tonight. It is pretty cloudy but still smells good. Should make some fancy with that. Not sure if it will be the NH variety or the light stuff.

[PerryW]

running good here too and at 68 degrees. Hasn't really run since last sunday here. I keep telling my wife that all these trees communicate with each other. How else would trees in Loudon, SUnapee and Littleton all know to start running unexpectedly on the same day?

[Russell Lampron]

I pumped up 350 gallons of cloudy 1% sap yesterday afternoon and the tank was empty at 4:30. Went back down at 10:00 last night to check the tank. It had 200 gallons in it and it was still coming in. Left the vacuum pump on and will pump the tank again shortly.

Been making some great tasting syrup but it has all been NH fancy. Up to 114.5 gallons now and still producing. I may make enough to satisfy my retail needs yet.

[red maples]

NH fancy as in light amber or good tasting grade B? 5 or 6 trees budded for me yesterday. yep they popped and big red and fuzzy. they should drop in a few days and more are swelling. Which now I hope we don't get any freezes although it could happen but since its so early the baby leaves will be very vulnerable. this morning its cooler in the nevada desserts than it is here. June weather in March go figure!!!

[Russell Lampron]

The buds are swelling but haven't popped yet. Pumped up 250 this morning and had very little coming into the releaser at the time. Sugar back up to 1.8% for that batch. Went down at 3:00 to see what was in the tank if anything and to my surprise there was 200 gallons more. It just don't make any sense. The sap is running pretty good considering that it is 74* here with no freeze last night.

[Russell Lampron]

It still just doesn't seem right that I had to call it a season on the 20th of March. I just got done finishing the contents of the evaporator and ended the season with 130 gallons of syrup. Not good by any means but not as bad as my worst season. That was 2005 when I had over 500 taps and only made 45 gallons of syrup. It was cold that year, I didn't even start tapping until the 13th of March. I was expecting the season to last into April but it was over 2 weeks later at the end of March. 2010 was a bad year too. i made 152 gallons that year so this total isn't too far below that mark.

I am getting an early start to my clean up getting ready for the open house weekend. Unlike last year I won't be dirtying up the sugar house after the open house. Other than the evaporator everything will be pretty much cleaned up and put away. I will be boiling water this weekend for the 1st time ever on open house weekend. It won't be the same but at least my customers will be able to see some steam and hopefully smell a little maple too.

[PerryW]

well russ, I might just tie your worst year as I'm at 41 gallons now. My worst year in 23 years was 1998 with 72 gallons.

[red maples]

Yeah I don't feel so bad at least you got to keep going a little linger than I did. Although I did tap back I think it was feb 6 or 8th I started tapping. I'll be boiling water too. The season went well beyond mapel weekend last year. so yes except for pulling taps and the evap everything will be nice and clean after this weekend!!!

[Russell Lampron]

well russ, I might just tie your worst year as I'm at 41 gallons now. My worst year in 23 years was 1998 with 72 gallons.

Did you put in the 750 gravity taps and 50 buckets like in your signature? How many gallons will you get when you finish off whats in your evaporator? With the temps that we got here I am assuming that it hasn't been much cooler up there. Is your season over too?

[Russell Lampron]

Yeah I don't feel so bad at least you got to keep going a little linger than I did. Although I did tap back I think it was feb 6 or 8th I started tapping. I'll be boiling water too. The season went well beyond mapel weekend last year. so yes except for pulling taps and the evap everything will be nice and clean after this weekend!!!

I tapped on the 7th of February this year myself. I thought it was a little early and was hoping for a normal March but now I'm glad that I tapped when I did. The clean up is going to be a lot easier this year. I got most of it done today.

[GeneralStark]

well russ, I might just tie your worst year as I'm at 41 gallons now. My worst year in 23 years was 1998 with 72 gallons.

Bad year for northern NH it seems.

I'm at 45 gallons with 260 on tubing and vac. and 65 buckets. And the sap is still coming in, but not making table syrup. Hopefully this will be my worst year.

North aspect is key.

[Russell Lampron]

The turn out for day 1 of the open house was a little slow to start but by days end we had a lot of visitors. Just about everyone that came bought something too and even though it wasn't a record day 1 total it came in a close second. Normally I get a few free loaders that come for the free samples then ask a ton of questions while their kids are running around gobbling up more free samples. When they are done they herd their kids back into their mini van and head to the next free meal without taking the wallet out.

One guy got my wife POed when he picked up a bag of nuts, said he wouldn't pay $5 for it and threw it back onto the table. I would be POed too if I was at the table when it happened.

The ones that figured it out didn't care that I was boiling water instead of sap. I told most of them outright and they liked the steam coming off of the evaporator anyways. It sure is a lot easier boiling water than it is boiling sap when I am entertaining visitors.

[red maples]

We seemed a little slower on both days but far exceeded our sales from last year!!! Maybe because we were a little more organized!!! Last year was my first year and it was bit overwleming to say the least and this year I knew what expect going in to it. although I would have like to boil sap, I didn't have to boil the night before, Saturday night and sunday night. So it was much more relaxing.

Sorry to hear about nut or nuts guy thats just rude. If you don't want it or can't afford it don't buy it period, just shut up keep your comments to yourself and move on!!! nuts and syrup are very expense. You need to charge what you need to charge!!!

As for the car load of kids sucking down free samples, it was pretty good here most people were not to bad with that. I think there was only Mom with 2 kids had hot chocolate doughnuts etc then left. If there were more I was so busy I wouldn't even know, my wife everyone was pretty good about it and donating for donuts coffee etc. last year I have a few of those, but most people were really into it ad had a great time.