Is it over ????????????

[lisbon_ny]

northern ny area any thoughts ??????? what to do what to do darn weather

[PerryW]

could be over before it starts here in northern NH. No syrup yet and today's run looks like my first syrup and maybe my last syrup.

[backyardsugarer]

It is over in victor (rochester) ny. Slow cloudy flow. Syrup is like oil and won't filter buds are out or swollen. Time to clean up.

[highlandcattle]

We've had the screwiest weather here. Freezing at night, high winds, then sap has froze in the lines, so it's late afternoon before it breaks up. Will pump as long as it keeps running tonight. Turned it on at noon,refilled the gas engine at 5 p.m. That should last about 4/1/2 hours. Boil on Monday. The great thing about having a husband who is "semi-retired". We've made all dark amber this year, but reallllll goood stuff.... good luck everyone!

[bowtie]

i might be able to stretch it until tuesday because most of my taps are hgh on a hill but after that i'm done. even in the southern tier where i live i doubt the nighttime lows will be below freezing past tonight, and even if cold weather returns the buds will be swollen. well i guess we will wait until next year. my boils have been darker yesterday and today. i guess that saves me on wood and allows me to get a start on next years firewood earlier.

[barkeatr]

forecast for my area is 33 degrees tonight. typically im two degrees colder than forecast. From past experience it seems it needs to be like 28 to get the pumping action but Im crossing my fingers. Flow was slow today with 49 degrees for a high. Im keeping my taps in thru warm period..i have never boiled till buddy ( i always shut down before that) so I will find out this year what buddy tastes like.

[Haze]

Been there done that with buddy. It takes forever to boil down, smells like a wet dog and tastes bad. No sweet taste to it at all. I'm going to leave our taps until Tuesday and try to get one more boil and that's it.

[wnybassman]

Pulled all my taps today while boiling the last 60-70 gallons. Got everything washed, rinsed and stacked to dry while boiling. Pretty sure I've never done that before. Beautiful day to do that too. Got some sweet still simmering down out in the pan now trying to get it as low as possible before I bring it in to finish. Also in the kitchen right now I am finishing what I pulled off the pan today. Hopefully tomorrow I can have a grand total for the year.

[danno]

Sap ran good today - 900 gallons on 600 taps from 9 am - 8 pm. Still flowing well. Like every year, I'm in it till the trees stop giving. I've still got some commercial barrels to fill.

[Troutman10]

I'm done. Gonna pull the rest of my taps today and clean my pans. This weather forecast is pretty crazy. Learned a lot for my second year and looking forward to next year!

[barkeatr]

MY weather report is calling for 31 degrees tuesday night. As i hoped that string of no freeze nights forecast is breaking down into something not so bad. Usually its a string of optimium run days that end up being not so good when forecast turns into reality. IM glad it goes both ways, knock on wood. Last night we had 32 degrees and it was enough to cause some sap flow today. going out to pick it up now

[SPILEDRIVER]

thought i was done saturday but got super good run yesterday and it was running when we collected this morning.......forcast looks like another good shot at runs weds/thursday nights so maybe the fat lady hasnt sang yet?????

[Haze]

We pulled all ours last night and have probably 120 gallons or so to boil today. In one of the buckets the sap tasted a little tart. There's no sense collecting it if it's not going to be good.

[Lyle]

I'm working in a garage at night with the doors wide open and mosquitos the size of sparrows trying to drain my cardio vascular system. No cold nights forecast here for the next 10 days at least. Some days in the low 70's! The fat lady is positively screeching at me!

[stoweski]

I'm working in a garage at night with the doors wide open and mosquitos the size of sparrows trying to drain my cardio vascular system. No cold nights forecast here for the next 10 days at least. Some days in the low 70's! The fat lady is positively screeching at me!

I hear your pain... and your neck of the woods is colder than mine. My shack doors were open all afternoon & evening and everything flying around ended up in the shack. It certainly takes the fun out of the hobby!
I've never started my Mosquito Magnet in March before!

Will be pulling more taps today and finishing off whats left in the pans.

[ponderingjunkman]

The peepers were peeping last night. My season is Done! Ended up with 46 gallons- a new record!

[Burnt sap]

Yes it's over sad to say. one of the shortest years I've seen in a long time. We were able to make 15 gallons of syrup with our 250 taps. Just did not get the nod from Mother Nature warm nights and that **** south wind really shut the trees down. Oh well it was fun while it lasted will boil tonight one last time should end up with another 5 gallons of sweet gold.

[barkeatr]

it got down to 31 last night here, maybe a bit colder in the woods and its running cold clear sap right now..as fast as I have seen it this year. Im hoping for another light freeze friday night but forecast is for 34 degrees.

maybe with any luck i will get to half my normal year.

[Dan Bolton]

Its over here! Just as fast as it started it ended. Sad to say. We put out 425 this year and will add another 300 over the summer. What hurts on a bad year is when you don't have many taps. We will boil again tonight but then thats it. We should get to 40 gallons. Pretty depressing. But there is always next year.

[wozyman32]

i started tapping February 5, and got 50 gallons of maple syrup on 125 taps...i had a pretty good year

[adk1]

that is pretty good. I only got 8 gallons on 120 taps...Took so long for the trees to thaw out, I had basically two what I would call good runs, then it went dead this week with the warm weather. Got a small run today, hope to get another small run tomorrow and will boil off sat am.

[SPILEDRIVER]

ended up with 30 gal on @140 taps should of had@10 more gal but everytime i left it up to someone else to boil it seems the sap mysteriously went bad and got dumped.needless to say ive terminated the partnership and will be solo from now on.oh well lesson learned

[barkeatr]

ended up with 30 gal on @140 taps should of had@10 more gal but everytime i left it up to someone else to boil it seems the sap mysteriously went bad and got dumped.needless to say ive terminated the partnership and will be solo from now on.oh well lesson learned

STRANGE DEAL with dumped sap. you all have done better than me, i think i have 5 gallons or less...with 300 taps out. Although forecast has changed from 34 degrees for a low tonight to 32!!! hoping the fat lady has not sung yet!

[wozyman32]

when did all of you start tapping?

[SPILEDRIVER]

got mine in feb 17/18 got some early runs but not alot until the 1st of march.....everything has been pulled and is being washed as i type,i got a good wife and son!! short season but overall was pleased
when did all of you start tapping?

[wozyman32]

Yea I think mostly everyone started tapping to late. By february 8 we already had 4 gallons of maple syrup and the sap flew pretty good all feb.

[stoweski]

that is pretty good. I only got 8 gallons on 120 taps...Took so long for the trees to thaw out, I had basically two what I would call good runs, then it went dead this week with the warm weather. Got a small run today, hope to get another small run tomorrow and will boil off sat am.

I'd say pretty good for you too. It wasn't a crazy season where you had to boil practically every night to keep up and not have time to work out the bugs for your first season. You were well prepared but probably see where you need to make changes for next season... without them affecting your production this season.
I had the same kind of season three years ago when I first started. It was pretty lousy but I picked up almost 6 gallons on 80 taps. I had a good time, it was kind of relaxing, and a great learning experience.

Now next year we're looking for you to add vacuum and RO to your system!!! :D

Now start cleaning up!

[barkeatr]

Its probably true of many that they tapped too late but IM not so sure of the extreme north country. we were colder in feb..my test buckets had nothing. but the fact that we are colder didnt help much in this heat wave..except maybe a run or two. I mean...we are often 4-8 degrees colder than downstate..so that makes it 52 degrees instead of 60 no sap flow in either case. conversely in feb, we might have seen 37 for an hour at 2 or 3 PM barely enough to wake up the trees on a sunny day..and the southerners would see 42 degrees. big difference as far as sap flow.

anyhow..maybe some other northerners got sap flow in Feb but mine was none existent.

[seclark]

I tapped the middle of Feb. and was done Friday.Next year maybe I'll tap the first of Feb. and see how that works.For me it's just a hobby and something to do and got 5 gallons of golden nector so I can't complain that way but I hate boiling in these warm temperatures,I much prefer it colder as the steam looks a lot better in cold air as it billows out the stack.

[maple flats]

I'm done. Only made 233 gal on 1100 taps. Finished tapping Feb 7. Vacuum on all. 550 taps on 20" and 550 taps on 17". Ran early but got very little. Most was made in a 9 day stretch with 2 days off for a freeze. Now I have temps in the upper 70's, buds swelling. No freeze in the next week.
I fear for all crops with this screwy weather, my blueberries are ready to pop bud, fruit trees too. Then when we get a hard freeze again the crops will be very low if any. This warm up is too long and far too early.

[Bucket Head]

Yeah, were done too. Better than the 2010 season, but it was still a dissapointment. Its still hard to comprehend that we have had 60's and 70's for days on end here in march. Clean-up in the middle of March?? Wow. I would never of believed this weather if I did'nt experience it. Better luck next year guys.

[maple flats]

I did better than last year in total too, 233 vs 206. However I had 400 more taps to do it and 550 more on vacuum. If we weren't addicted we'd all quit this.

[sugarman3]

Nice job-we been averaging 1000 gallons a day off the 700 taps on the new vacuum,collected 850 today,hope foe 850 tomorrow,concentrate it ,only buds are the soft maple,nothing showing on hard ones yet-not ready to give up.haven't shut vacuum pump off since a week ago yesterday,mother nature givith-i taketh