Tapping in Adams County

[newman_maple]

I went ahead and tapped my home sugarbush this afternoon (65 taps). I hope to get up to 150 taps in a week or two. It will get cold again this weekend, but the next two weeks look normal so I hope things will work out.

[newman_maple]

Tapped an additional 97 today and they were running very well. I should have a very big run tomorrow and Monday with a good looking week ahead (except for the rain)

[newman_maple]

I collected 280 gallons Sat - Mon. I was pleased and have been able to keep up on boiling so far. Back to work tomorrow, but the week looks promising!

[SWohio]

A decent run on Thurs. with a smaller finish on Fri. Shut down today and I expect tomorrow as cold has set in. May be good on Mon.

[newman_maple]

I got 210 gallons Thursday and Friday. Had visitors today which slowed my progress, but I have boiled half down today so far. Monday does indeed look promising. Makes it tough when I go back to work Tuesday. That is all part of it though. I am just shy of 700 gallons of sap so far. I hope we have several more weeks. Time will tell!

[SWohio]

6870 My second batch this year. finished it yesterday. That is a quart mason jar and I am liking the color. Still nice and light. I am taking it as a good sign.

[newman_maple]

That looks awesome. We have to finish off what I boiled this weekend to know how much of each color we have, but I do know we have quite a bit of light and medium.

[newman_maple]

I had to collect earlier than I wanted and only had 40 gallons with many just warming up. Cold setting in overnight, but I expect to bring in 80 - 100 gallons tomorrow after work in 30 degree/20 mph wind weather. Gotta be done.

Ended up getting 150 gallons today in some very chilly weather. Some were still running which is not good since those frozen bags may get some holes in them.

[SWohio]

Yes I hear you!!. I collected my little bit mon. night after the warm day and before rain and cold. Wind and cold yesterday so I went to check buckets not blown off. Instead I found a run going. Ended up collecting as much last night at the end of a bitter cold day as I collected the night before. Not sure if it came during the day or late Mon. night. Either way I will take it. Taps dry and cold today but hoping the flow starts again over the next 48 hours or so.

[newman_maple]

My sap from Tuesday was mighty cold this morning when I started boiling. It had some ice on top, but I am finishing up the 190 gallons I had on hand tonight. I brought in 100 gallons this evening and they were running strong. 4-H group coming at 2:00 tomorrow so I will collect late afternoon and should have about 100 gallons more. It was great that my school was cancelled today so I could start boiling early.

[SWohio]

I did have school yesterday. a 2 hour delay. I checked last night and a good run was going. I collected at 7am this morning and had the best 24 run of the season. one tap was running when I collected so I expect a run today. It was not as cold as I would have liked this morning but the taps will tell. I have started my stove top boil and hope to add to it by the end of the day. So this latest run seems to have a good sugar content (I use the very scientific method of sipping and tasting a bit of the sap) with more color to it. I am expecting a darker syrup but maybe a bit better yield. If I can get close to a 1/2 gal. off this weekend's boil, (I have my Tues. run boiled down but not finished that I will add back to this boil) then I will be near or at my goal of 1 gal. Not bad off my 5 working taps. The tale of the pantry would be 1 pint of golden light syrup (that I just sip and drink straight like candy) and 1/2 gal. of pancake syrup. 1 pint sent back to my Dad in NY (the first pint cause he taught me how so without him there would be none) and 2 pints to friends.

[SWohio]

I just check taps. At 8am all 5 taps running and a 6th tap that has done nothing all year is now running the best. Tomorrow looks even more promising! I only measure sap 5 gallons at a time and syrup by the pint but if this run holds through today and tomorrow this will be my best week/weekend of the season. I could get as much this weekend as I have so far this season. I hope you are doing equally well and stoke the fire boys. A great time when the taps run faster then the boil. update: 7th tap came on today. Update all 10 taps running for the first time this season. Some better then others but all dripping.

[newman_maple]

I ended up with 100 gallons Friday and 235 gallons Saturday. Best single day ever for me. I have 185 gallons to start boiling tomorrow. What I boiled off Saturday looks pretty light. We will see when my wife finishes it inside. My 16 year old spent the day helping today. He kept us oiling while I collected and entertained a 4H club. I cranked up my old barrel 2x3 cooker as well. I plan to cook off 150 - 200 gallons Sunday. We will see. I try to keep up, but I am never mad when the the sap runs faster than I can boil.

[SWohio]

The sap is flowing. I have been getting 5-10 gallons a week. I boil down to a couple pints on the weekend. I had a pot on the stove and I just simmered away till I finished in a smaller pot. This week. I collected 5+ gallons on Tues. Boiled it down but did not finish. Fri. I collected 8-10 gallons in one day. Yesterday I collected over 10 gallons. So this morning I had 5 gallons boiling and 10 waiting. I pulled out the turkey fryer and moved outside. The boil was going faster but I still had 8 gallons waiting and 5 in the boil. I stepped up to a larger pan on the turkey fryer. I have all the sap in the pan boiling now but it is still taking time. Meanwhile I have another 10 tap run going. I could do 5-10 again today. My simple little stove top operation is being overwhelmed. It is a great weekend. I have another propane tank as backup and the tub is steaming so now just a matter of waiting and adding more when I can. I know it does not sound like much to you but my goal was a gallon for the season. I am estimating that I have a 1/2 gallon in the boil now and another quart (or more depending on today and tomorrows run) coming. With this weekend's run it is time to set another goal. I am very happy, knock on wood.

[Run Forest Run!]

You're livin' the dream SWohio. Have fun!

[newman_maple]

I am glad you are having some good runs SW. I got another 115 gallons today and have not been able to keep up, but have made progress. I have 150 gallons in the tank now and will get a huge amount tomorrow. Back to work so it will be slow going getting it all boiled. Luckily, the weather is to be very cool so a few days might be OK. The big run sap was 3.8% and down to 3% today. That is the best I have ever had. The big run will turn out light I think.

[SWohio]

I have not posted for a couple days because ...well... I have been boiling. The weekend was a great run. I would boil 10 gallons off and there was 10 more in the buckets. I brought 9 gallons in last night at 6pm and 2 more this morning at 5:30am (had to get ready for work) before the rain. I have been running just one boil all weekend and just adding sap. It is now boiled back down to around 5 gallons in the pot and the 2 from this morning left to go in. I expect this weather over the next few days will slow the sap down. So my plan is to add the 2 and finish this boil on the stove. I am guessing there is a gallon of syrup in the boil right now. In a way I am hoping for a slow down this week. I would like to finish this last big run, clean, organize and reset everything and oh yea I have work, teaching and tests to grade. I am running behind on sleep, boiling and grading right now. lol But I expect to be back caught up by the weekend. A good run. I can't wait to see the quality of the syrup.

[newman_maple]

I know the feeling with grading papers while boiling. I have been doing a lot of that this season. In the past 8 days, I have brought in just short of 850 gallons. I will start on the last 230 this evening. My oldest son gets the boiling started when he gets home from school. He has been a huge help this year. He turned 16 and finally caught the bug! I know what you mean about catching up this week. The sap flow was down today, but still brought in 80 gallons in the rain. Much cooler weather setting in for several days now. Where do you teach at SW?

[newman_maple]

Finishing off the 105 gallons left over from earlier in the week. Sap will be running slow for a few days. Looks like next mid-week could be a nice run until the nights stay too warm. It could be our last big run, but who knows with long range forecasts showing another cold snap after that. Another few hundred gallons of sap would certainly be nice. It was nice to visit with my new friend from Brown County this afternoon. Always enjoy finding others interested in sugaring.

[SWohio]

Thank you for having me over. You have a great operation going. Your organization and smooth working system are all very impressive. I brought home some great ideas but doubt I will never get to your level. I look forward to seeing you again soon. Here I have been dumping old frozen rainwater (but with new lids that should be less of a problem), checking buckets and generally getting ready for a run this week. I am optimistic that we could do well this week and maybe another run after this before the season ends. I finished 2 1/2 quarts of dark syrup (I think the color is due to the long boil more then the sap.) decanted off 2 nice quarts for the shelf. Went over my 1 gallon goal for the season and looking to do some more and do a better job of it. Gook luck, watch the forecasts, the thermometers and the bags.

[newman_maple]

I am glad we are close and can share resources and information. Sugarers this far south are few and far between. Looks like we will definitely get a good run this mid-week, but much will depend on how cold it gets at night. The current AccuWeather forecast shows nights above freezing beginning Saturday and continuing through the following Tuesday. After this freeze up, we will get a couple great days when the warmer temps arrive. I hope it will get cold enough next week to preserve at least one run for next weekend. Time will tell. I am sure I will have my biggest year either way. I need a decent warmup to get the ice out of the bags. Good luck!

[SWohio]

No run today. The taps have thawed out and getting moist but no run. The snow/rain moving in and low around freezing. A bit mixed and who knows for the next two days but Thurs, Fri. look good. Then too warm. I thought we had a great week coming. It seems to be falling apart some but maybe a run in there somewhere. I am if-y-ish. Wait and see.

[newman_maple]

I had 35 gallons this evening and they are running like crazy, but they will freeze up tonight. I had 8 bags to replace due to the ice. I have an appt after school tomorrow so I am not sure what I will get into trying to collect after dark tomorrow. We will see and hope for the best!

[SWohio]

I checked last night @ 6pm. No run, taps and buckets were damp at best. Collected this morning @6am and got 3 gallons. Rain and snow moving in, not sure what that will do for today and tomorrow. Thurs. & Fri. maybe into Sat. still look good according to the forecast. Fingers crossed and we will see. Evening update: Collected when I got home at 6pm. Some of my lids are a bit small so a couple buckets I know got rain into them, overall 5 gallons. I am guesstimating, by the amounts in the buckets with good covers, that I may have 2 gallon rain water (I hope less, I doubt more). So 8 gallons waiting to boil. I should get a pint from it. Snow coming. A snow day would be nice, let me get caught up on a few fronts. I do not expect much of a run tomorrow but Thurs. ..... still optimistic. Just need to get through this weather over the next 24 hours.

[newman_maple]

Crazy stuff. I collected 230 gallons in the rain and dark after I got home. I had 3 bags and 3 buckets running over and two 5 gallon buckets (2 taps) overflowing. I had others not running at all. I have to get my rubber chains off tonight and put on my steel chains since it was a mess navigating the hillsides tonight. I sure hope you get the flow. Perhaps my temps were better for a run. I am over 1,800 gallons now and hope to hit 2,000. I hope for a snow day tomorrow and I am taking a personal day Friday so I think I will be able to keep up before the heat wave breaks down my sap.

[newman_maple]

Boiled some today and collected 135 gallons this evening. What a slick mess out there! We only got 2" of snow, but a lot of rain before that. Freezing up tonight so I expect one or two nice runs Friday/Saturday before the heat wave arrives. I hope I do not have to collect tomorrow nite since I will get home around 9:00.

[saekeaton64]

I also have had some really great runs the last few days. From Monday afternoon through 7:00 this morning, I collected 165 gallons on 40 taps. There was a solid stream of sap flowing out of my tubing while I was at my tank. I won't be able to collect again until Friday due to parent/teacher conferences tomorrow evening, hopefully I'll have a full tank then.

[newman_maple]

We need to get parent/teacher conferences scheduled after sugaring is over. I have them tomorrow night and next Thursday. I really hope I don't have to collect late, but if it running strong, I may get my 16 year old out there with me to get it done. saekeaton64, where you at in Pike Co.? I am only 7 miles west of Peebles. Seems like all us local guys are teachers.

[SWohio]

I boiled today, Mon. and Tues. light runs. I must have caught a bit of rain water on Tues. or sugar down. I collected 3 gallons on Mon. and 5 gallons yesterday in the rain. None today. We got 3-4 inches and cold most of the day. Taps were still frozen at 4pm. I was expecting over a pint of syrup from this boil. (well enough over a pint so that I could let it sit overnight, let the sand settle and decant off a pint of syrup for the shelf.) Instead it came in a under a pint. 14oz. color looks ok. Much lighter than last week's heavy run, but I think last week's dark color came more from my batch boiling than from the sap. Anyway, cleaned up, my storage cooler and jug are empty, propane tanks filled and ready for a decent run over the next 3 days. Sunday is looking warm and too warm into the beginning of next week. Extended shows the end of next week as good and the second half of March as possible. Hard to believe we could go deep into March. I guessed the season would close down around March 15th, but if it wants to go till the end of march I will not complain. I am looking at buds, still closed and I hope it does not get warm enough to change that next week. A couple warmer days (and nights stay cool) is one thing, a warm week (with warm nights) and we may be done. Nothing on the willow tree either, another good sign. I am still getting used to the timing here. Good luck and to Newman, thanks for your support and reports. It is great having someone near by to share day to day progress.

[SWohio]

you guys to the east are getting the good runs!!! great to hear. Lately I seem to be slower than what you guys are getting. I will have to go talk to me trees, explain to them how they are being shown up by those eastern trees. I do not have a good selection of trees.

[saekeaton64]

newman,
I live in Jasper and teach for the Career Center in Scioto County. The conferences cut into sugaring time, but teaching provides us with a lot of people to sell syrup to. So i guess it has it's up's and down's.
SWohio,
My sugarbush is on a North facing hillside, my maples haven't started to bud yet and the poplar trees have buds but none are opening. Once the poplars go the maples will shortly follow.

[newman_maple]

I can be in Jasper in less than 30 minutes so we are pretty close. I take 104 when I go to Columbus. Teaching is a good profession for sugaring. Tough during the week, but the summer to cut/split wood and do prep work really helps. I went ahead and collected after conferences since I had some bags ready to overflow. It was slow going and I had to plug a flat tire and deal with the mud in the dark. I survived and ended up with another 150 gallons. I am finishing off sap from Tuesday now. 285 gallons to start on tomorrow. I know I have no chance of keeping up with the huge runs we will have this weekend. I am over 2100 gallons collected now. I hope everyone has a big weekend and can keep up!

[SWohio]

I collected 5 gallons last night. 4 taps running great. (The bucket on on of my best running taps broke, fell and lost all that sap. I found the bucket on the ground and the tap dripping away.) my other taps did very little. 4 gallons came from 3 taps, and the other 6 taps combined for 1 gallon. I am hoping they all come on today. The sunshine will help. It was cloudy/overcast all day here yesterday. I think the big run and visiting newman caused me to get a bit ahead of myself. I started the season thinking 5 gallon sap days would be good days, a pint or so of syrup at a time, and do it enough to get a gallon for the season. Now I am wanting 10-20 gallons of sap and quarts of syrup. I also spend a lot of time thinking about next year. My goal is to have a pan, 15-20 taps and good buckets with lids. Last year I picked up 10 spiles on a trip back to NY in mid-feb., found a few plastic buckets, tapped a few trees in the yard and boiled on the stove. yield about 1 pint. This year I got started earlier and brought out the turkey fryer. Better, but still the open plastic buckets are not ideal and my boil for the big run was more of a desperate scramble then a well planned, well managed system. My goal is that next year I will be making better quality syrup and putting up a couple gallons for my use and a little something to share with family and friends. But now back to today. Off to school and then home to see what the trees have done. Good luck. Great to see you saekeaton, a gang of three now lol

[newman_maple]

Sap is not running as well as expected, but I did get about 70 gallons earlier. I will collect again this evening. The home trees are not doing very well now, but they were tapped in January so I think they are about done. The far bushes are where the action is so I still expect plenty of sap to keep me busy this weekend. I had a couple buckets off the trees. The ice falling off the trees was heavy enough to knock the tap and buckets right off.

[saekeaton64]

Checked my tank today and had around 100 gal. since Wednesday. I sat there an watched my tubing and it started to make me dizzy trying to keep up with the bubbles. My trees have been running really hard this past week. Knock on wood, I hope it keeps up.

[SWohio]

I collected 6 1/2 gallons last night. I have improved my measuring (I am now using a marked cooler and not just estimating by how full is a 5 gallon bucket) North side of trees are running. 3 of the 4 trees that have two buckets, the north side had at least a gallon and same tree south side barely anything. one bigger tree that has been doing great all season has not done anything the last two days. about 6 of those gallons came off of 5 taps. The tree with the broken bucket (twice the plastic broke at the hook and the bucket fell) has a new bucket that held yesterday and it was my best tap. As I stated at the beginning, north side taps. Same tree, both taps have produced earlier, then yesterday, the north side heavy, the south side empty. I am a couple degrees below freezing now. not a hard freeze but cold a bit crunchy outside, so I am hoping for a decent run again today. I started my boil last night and it is going smoother. I am still kicking myself over the big run a couple weeks back. I was not ready beforehand to boil that much sap, so I was scrambling and changing set ups and really did not do a good boil. I ended up with a 1/2 gallon of dark syrup, that if I had been better prepared, should have been nice amber syrup. This run is smaller, I was ready and am managing this boil better. Hoping for a good quart of better quality syrup off this latest run. Maybe both sides of the tree will run today. I will be watching the bigger tree, that has been producing well this season, it may be done or just slow to come back on. Good luck, a great day to boil.

[newman_maple]

Looks like they are really running today. It did freeze for several hours (maybe not as cold as needed) so perhaps they will deliver big time today. I still have 100+ gallons in the tanks so I am not sure how well I will handle it. My 16 year old is not home until this evening so leaving to collect slows things way down. Good luck guys

[SWohio]

I stopped my boil. I collected 11 gallons during Thurs. and Fri. I started to boil last night and was up yearly and boiled this morning. I took it down to under 2 gallons and then shut the boil off. I will boil again tonight and then add the concentrates together sometime tomorrow to finish. I do not want any sugar sitting on a long long boil as I just keep adding over the weekend. I am hoping that this boil down, remove, boil down remove, then adding the concentrates together will give me a larger finish and lighter syrup. Finishing just a pint, temp changes fast, I fear scorching, missing temp. etc. When I just kept adding till I finished with a 1/2 gallon syrup, some of that sugar had been on the boil a long long time and the syrup turned out very dark. Also I am boiling shallower in my pot and just making many additions. A lower flame is needed to keep the boil and I am seem to be using less propane. All in all I think I am learning and improving. Mistakes are great educators. Again today my north side taps are running nice. South sides slow. It is something. 3 trees with a gallon on the one side and barely damp on the other side. So again I have 5 taps running nice. I expect a decent 5-6 gallon day again. (ok, I am hoping for more but trying to temper my expectations and excitement.) UPDATE: 5 north side taps running 5 1/2 gallons today. 5 taps not doing anything.

[newman_maple]

I was pretty disappointed with today's run. I collected just over 100 gallons. I should not complain since I have had 500 more gallons than ever before. I guess it just was not cold enough. Some are still running so I hope I will have enough to keep boiling. This may be the end since the weather looks pretty warm next week.

[SWohio]

my three days. only 5 taps ran. Thurs. 5 gal. Fri. 6.5 gal and yesterday 7 gal. = 18.5 gal total. 11.5 is boiled down to 2 gal concentrate and waiting, 7 gal. starting boil now. I will add the 2 gal concentrate back later at the end and finish. :Looking forward to yield and color, will know by this afternoon. Much too warm today. I went out and collected this morning. Tailings of yesterday's run but the taps have shut down and it was warm warm warm. I am not sure what is left of the season. Next week's forecast is close. A few degrees down and something might happen a few degrees up and we may be done. Lots of 32/45 predictions for the week.

[newman_maple]

Only 50 gallons today :( so I am finishing it all off tonight. I will dump the sap and rainwater I get tomorrow and see if the forecast holds and brings a mid 20's nite Tuesday. I haven't heard the fat lady sing yet, but she is definitely warming up her voice. I am at 2370 gallons of sap boiled. No syrup count yet since Maria is still hard at work finishing off, grading, and storing the syrup in 5 gallon jugs. We filter it more than most I am sure which does make us lose some on our totals, but we will be well over 40 gallons I am sure.

[SWohio]

My goal at the beginning of the season was 1 gallon. All totaled I got 1.5 gallons to this point. Minus the gifts, and what I left with sand when I decanted off, I will have 2 quarts of "kettle"syrup (very dark) and 2 quarts nice amber on the self. I would love to do more next week. I had figured we had till March 15th for a season, so I am leaving taps and staying ready. But if it ended now it would be a good 2nd year. Last year I tapped way too late, I got about a pint and it was not good, so I only used a half a pint. So even with this year's mistakes I went from a 1/2 pint usable to nearly a gallon usable. Half is darker than what I wanted, but still pretty good and very usable. A 2100% increase over last year!!! lol. Met Eric and Maria, better prepared for next year than I was for this year, optimistic that even if next year is not as good as this year I should be able to make my gallon again. This season has been good so my mistakes have not been as costly. So yes, I am planning to boil again next weekend. My willow turned a light green today so I think you are right about the fat lady warming up.

[newman_maple]

I decided to leave the taps in a couple more days just in case. I emptied the bags and buckets this evening and they had some off color sap in them. Some buds are swelling, but some had clear sap. I figured an extra couple days was OK just in-case. I have conferences Thursday so I really can't pull taps until the weekend anyhow. Maybe I will get lucky and make another batch.

[SWohio]

Looking at the forecasts and this week so far, I am planning on pulling taps this weekend. I only checked a couple buckets close to the house and they were dry. I think we are done. A good year.

[newman_maple]

You might be right that we are done, BUT the temps are supposed to dip to 20 or less tonight so there will some sap tomorrow and Friday. If I have 50+ gallons, I will boil it this weekend. I expect to get at least that much. I am pulling taps this weekend either way. I only looked at the bag by the house today, but it had some (not much) clear sap in it today with a high around 34. If I get sap, it will make dark or grade B syrup I assume.

[SWohio]

I checked this evening. Dry buckets and frozen sap on about half the taps. I will leave them and see what tomorrow and Fri. brings. good luck

[bowhunter]

Same situation up here in Union county.

[SWohio]

I will check again tonight but I think I am done. yesterday, 3 taps produced a quart of sap (clear) the other 7 dry. I will check today but my plan is to pull taps over the weekend. Just dried up. It was a good year.

[newman_maple]

I brought it 95 gallons this evening then pulled the taps. They were running like crazy, but I didn't want to deal with the rain and mud tomorrow. I am OK stopping 35 gallons short of 2500. One more late night of boiling if I decide to finish this off. I am worn out so I may call it an early night and finish tomorrow.

[earthsaver77]

I'm done for the year here in Clermont County. 20 Spiles were tapped in February 6th, and the sap was flowing well. Sap flow has reduced dramatically with the minimal temperature differentials throughout the last few days. Also, trees now appear to be on the verge of bud break and the sap flavor has changed for half the tapped trees. Total sap volume wasn't calculated, but even with 30 gallons wasted due to a scorching episode, I still ended up with around 3 gallons of syrup. I'm tapping Acer rubrum on the new property I purchased over the summer. It's supposedly a little more work than tapping acer saccharums, but the unique flavor of the syrup produced from this species makes it worth the effort. It tastes mostly like a typical light to medium amber maple syrup from sugar maples, but has an extra mild spice-like flavor that's hard to describe. This is my first year making maple syrup at this scale. I only tapped 20 of around 300 maples on my property. It was a last minute decision to make syrup. I'm using buckets and 1/4" PEX pipe and boiling over an old wood cook stove this year, but will be better prepared next year with some better equipment.

[newman_maple]

It sounds like you did OK in Clermont Co. I only tap one Red so I cannot speak to their sugar/taste. I planted some last spring, but I may never get to tap them. I do think a lot has to do with their location. If you have 300 sugars, you have a lot of potential! Nice to talk to more southern Ohio sugarers.

[SWohio]

I pulled my taps last weekend. I had hoped for one last go but..... the sap was just not flowing, rain, and the bit of sap I did get was going cloudy. All in all a good year and I am better prepared for next year. Even if I started now I would be ahead of where I was at the beginning of this season. I still have plenty of plans for the rest of this year so I am optimistic. It was great meeting Eric and following others near by me. I am already looking forward to next year and getting to know more local sugarers. This has site has been a great resource and I expect it will continue to be helpful into next year. Thanks for everything, Rick Stay in touch.

[newman_maple]

I finally have a total for the year. We have 45 7/8 finished gallons! 8 gallons of grade B, but we will blend some of the 16 gallons of light/medium syrup to make dark amber. The sugar content was good, but we had more sugar sand this year. I will not complain since my totals dating back to 2008 are: 23, 30, 31, 33+, 20, and 45+. This is not my best per tap season. In 2010, I had 33.75 gallons with only 100 taps. I did make over a quart per tap this year which is always a goal. I bet I could have hit close to 50 gallons if I left the far taps in, but it would have all been grade B I expect.

[SWohio]

Today is making me second guess my pulling of taps last weekend.