Tapped in Lake County

[johnallin]

Finally plugged the trigger and put out 135 taps yesterday.
Most were running pretty good, but have stopped as of this morning.
Hope to collect this afternoon and get the rig fired up, but don't think there's much more than 70 gallons out there right now.

Any body else still holding out, or am I the last one in?

[Sugarmaker]

John,
Sounds like you are right into it. Hope you have a great season.
Regards,
Chris

[christopherh]

Finished tapping yesterday myself. We should have a pretty good week ahead of us.

[woodburner]

240gal to start with tomorrow, small warmup late today. Good start 60 gal of syrup finished and all very light. Should go to medium by Thurs. All is looking good for a good year. Sap at 2.2 Brix. The blue sky and sunny days are great after all the wet weather we had last year. Back to wet tomorrow, good if you are using buckets.

[johnallin]

We had a decent run over here today and I gathered our first 65 gallons tonight, but had to leave some out there - it got too dark. Think I still have about 40 gallons to get in the early am. Everything is all cleaned up and ready to go so I plan to boil tomorrow.

Funny thing though is that my "ravine trees" to the east are running much more than those on flatter ground to the west. With the rain and warmer temps we should see some real sap in the next few days. Fingers are crossed...

[woodburner]

I also had a good day, finished off a little over 10gal, sap at 2.2 , 39 to 1. It ran steady all day, and should run most of the night. I give the trees a rest and only run vacuum in daylight. I will still have a full 500gal tank in the morning from gravity.
Ed Shook

[christopherh]

We should get a pretty good run overnight. I've got 170 in the tank from yesterday. I'll cooking it down tomorrow.:)

[jhd504]

The trees ran pretty good overnight. I emptied out some of my big producers this morning. Emptied everything last night and had some buckets overflowing this morning. I have 65 gallons in the tank. I have enough to do some boiling tonight. Still getting used to using the "new to me" rig.

[johnallin]

Ended up pulling in 45 gallons yesterday morning and another 70 last night - my arms are getting longer and knuckles are dragging.
Was able to fill the evap and still have 150 gallons in the tank, so I boiled from 8 to midnight to get a jump on things. I left about 25 in the tank for a cushion. The sap I tested is only reading 1.7 and there is a lot of sand in the syrup pan, more than I remember from previous years. Temp gauge at draw off was bouncing around the 7° mark towards the end, so I'm close to having the pans sweet and ready for some syrup on next boil.

It felt good to be up and running. Just like last year I had a huge flare up with foam within 30 minutes of starting boiling - unlike last year - I had the defoamer right next to me and didn't have to run into the shop to get it.

[woodburner]

I am also getting a lot of foam in the syrup pan this year. Sugar sand so far is not a problem but the foaming is as bad as I have ever seen. The sap is at 2.0 brix and as the sugar drops the foaming gets worse. We are up to 85 gal of syrup , over half of last years total, should have at least 3 weeks left on the taps. Hope everyone is having a good year.

[johnallin]

Got another 70 gallons in last night but only 30 tonight but some were still dripping. Don't know if they will run tonight or not, but with 125 gal in the tank; I'll be boiling tomorrow to make room if they do. Sap runs this year seem to be as good as last, I sure hope it keeps up because I think I was late to the party.

[tom jr.]

ED, you are reilly kicking some *^% this year! keep up the good work. sounds like everyone is dooing good so far. I finished off 42 gal so far all fancy still more sap to boil today will turn colors i think next draw. hope this weather keeps up cause i was late to the party to!!

[christopherh]

Busy day yesterday! Boiled down 735 Gallons. Fired up around 9am and finished up around 11pm. All light amber, and for once everything went smooth! Started with 2.7 in the tank at first and ended up with 2.2 by the end of the night.

[woodburner]

Still going strong, sap at 2.1 and making amber syrup. Broke the 100gal barrier up to 108gal . reversed the front pans today and hauled out syrup, then fired for 4hrs. Hope to get a couple of runs to make some dark. We made 155gal last year and will come close again. We have never made so much syrup in Feb. The first two weeks in March were always the top producing weeks each year. Not any more, it is getting earlier each year. Sap is staying sweet but foaming is getting worse in flue and syrup pans. Sugar sand is not bad so far. I cannot remember so many sunny days in Feb. and south, cold winds, most of the month. Hang in there the end is closer than we think, will we run out of containers, wood or will?

[johnallin]

Looking pretty good over here for how early in the year it is and how "late?" I started. Have collected 480 gallons since the start and have 4 boils in - last Tues, Sat, Sunday and last night with a little over 5 gallons bottled up so far. Not bad for 1 week and ahead of last year when I look at the calendar, but I don't think I'll reach the 25 gallon mark the way the weather is looking.

Collected another 45 tonight and most trees are dripping pretty steady. I don't think they ran much until late today and am hoping they continue through tonight. Your right about how much syrup is being made in Feb. In my meager 7 years I have never made anything in Feb other than mad dashes to Richards Maple for parts to get everything up and running again!

If the weather holds until late March, I'm golden and glad I waited - If it craps out next week, I'm just old and dumb.

[WoodButcher]

If the weather holds until late March, I'm golden and glad I waited - If it craps out next week, I'm just old and dumb.

if my 2 dogwoods already budding, robins chirping , and a couple 50/60 degree days coming up are any sign... i suspect the latter .

[johnallin]

"March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion" ...let's see what Thursday looks like. No way I'm quitting after only a week.