Tapped in Monson '13

[MapLewis]

After several test taps this am w/ awesome results, I ended up putting out 60+ taps (all buckets) today. Even the stingiest of our trees were running real good!

Plan on getting close to 300 taps this year. Looking forward to the challenge .

Good luck everyone.

Bryon

[white76]

I see your buckets every year.I live Hampden now and have 208 buckets tapped so far but plan to have 250 by tomarrow they seem to be running great.

[MapLewis]

We tapped another 50 or so yesterday...ALL running great. (up over 110 now). Had to collect from the previous day, as some buckets were FULL in less than 24 hours. Averaged over 1 gallon per tap on the 1st 60 buckets. After today's collection, we will be sweetening the pans tonight for sure. More tapping on Saturday to get us over 200 and closer to that 300 mark.
I will check sap sugar content later today & post. Usually I do NOT even want to know the % as it has been very low the last few years.
Anyone else close by (Belchertown, Stafford) tapping yet?

[MapLewis]

Collected about 300 gallons yesterday and sweetened the pans last night.

You can't beat that first boil of the season after an hour or so when the maple essence starts. Love it.

Sap sugar content looks to be averaging around 2% for us thus far...better than last year!

Going out to tap more today...hope to be over 150 by the end of the day.

Had breakfast this am in Easthampton and overheard another sugar maker talking about his first boil last night as well. Our timing is right.

Keep it flowing.
Bryon

[sapbrush]

Hi still lots of snow here, hard to get to the trees, man sounds like its realy running, ill try to get tapped in this week, haveing magor surgery done soon im trying to push it off till after sugar season is over, it does get in ones blood Jim

[MapLewis]

Added another close to 100 taps today... some of the south facing trees were running as well in this cold.

Hoping tomorrows warm up will get us flowing good again.

Fingers crossed.

[MapLewis]

Good collection yesterday (175 gallons) more than I thought we would get with the temps. Our transfer pump & hoses froze, half way through moving the sap out of the truck. It was pretty cold when the sun went down.

Made about 4 gallons of Grade A med & dark last night. Tastes super good. We are running our pans a little deeper until we get in the boil "groove". The cold temps create an excessive amount of steam at times (especially without a steam hood) so visibility is limited at times, add adult beverages & things get dicy. Thats 1/2 the fun though.

We are at approx. 250 taps. More to go out tomorrow...should be a good run day.

Happy boiling.

[bloomdido35]

Hey MapLewis.. Tapped on High St on the 15th and it ran like a banshee through the weekend. I usually tap just after I see your buckets go up.. Got 75 in now. 55 buckets & 20 drop lines. Will have a 110 all together this year but waiting till after the new baby boy decides to show up. I have been meaning to stop by your place one night. I have a pretty nice home brewed porter that sits just under 8% that I wanted to donate to the cause. I will see you in a day or so.. Good luck.

[MapLewis]

Wow... 8% porter sounds tasty. The shack doors are ALWAYS open to visitors...especially when they bring beer!
We have a great group of "shack rats" that help make our little fun house possible. We are at 120 Maxwell, sugar shack is behind the garage. We are planning to boil & bottle for a little bit tonight, possibly tomorrow and Sat for sure (of course all depending on the sap flow). We are holding steady at about 250 taps right now and have made over 15 gallons thus far.
Shoot me a message if you can make it over. Look forward to meeting you.
Bryon

[MapLewis]

This season sure has some legs...

Things have slowed down a bit, however we are still averaging about 75 gallons of sap a day. The Reds & Silvers have budded, so the sugars are not too far behind. Some taps have shut down and others continue to shine. No buddy/off flavor or smell yet, as that is my que that i'm done. Looking at the 10 day, it seems like our real hard freeze nights are done after this weekend. We tapped on Feb. 13th so, we got our money's worth this year. Hit the 70 gallon mark of finished product yesterday...and I imagine that 80 is possible w/ a few more days collections.

I'm exhausted, happy and sad as another season comes to a close.

Sounds like most everyone had a good year! Thanks Mother nature.

[MapLewis]

I figured we were almost done this weekend, then we collected another 200 gal (24 hr period) yesterday... our syrup has also made the move to "lighter" A Dark..after being at B for weeks.

Some taps have dried out, but the ones that have not are running great. Maybe another few days..but I cant see it making it past the end of the week without a hard freeze. Who knows?!

What a strong finish to the season.