Northern Wisconsin

[Rhino]

Thursdays collection was the last for the year, My friend who i hauled my sap to this year said it was a tad ropey and had a smell like potatoes. Yesterday was all day pulling taps and bags/cleanup. Sunday i will work on putting the vacuum pump away and electrical stuff. Not a bad season considering the late start and very deep snow. My uncle who waited for the snow to go down to tap in my opinion should not of even tapped but you never know? He didn't get much yield out of 500 taps. It will be interesting how the state did for production. Gonna be way down just for the simple fact that alot of people either cut down on the number of taps or just passed on tapping totally because of the snow. I talked to one producer who i met at my friends syrup house and he said he usually gets around 20,000 gal of sap from sap patrons, this year he got 5000 because the others didn't want to deal with the snow.

[jgotz]

Spring is in the air, Will be putting the finishing touches on new sap shack and getting things ready to go this weeks. I am betting 2 weeks yet before I tap.

[Sundown]

Looks like a go here in Florence county. The long range forecast looks good, so I think I will tap on Monday. Still about 18" of snow. This will be early for me. I usually tap around March 20. Last year it wasn't until the 31st.

[Zucker Lager]

Hey Sundown:
Your tapping already!!!????? I wasn't even thinking about it until maybe mid month here in Oneida county. Jay

[Rhino]

Started tapping thursday. so far have 1100 in or so. only have around 11 inches of sugar like snow so easy to get around. Snow will settle and melt fast this year. Weather channel says above normal temps all the way thru the 20th. No frost what so ever by us. I left the woods to early today but my uncle said some were dripping slow before he left.

[GramaCindy]

I tapped 30 of my 100 today in Bayfield County. About 12-18" of snow. 36* High, several were dripping!

[syrup2make]

I got the smoke stack put on the evaporator, put in 57 of 225 taps. Washing out the pans, sap tanks, and rinse my buckets tomorrow. Should be collecting by Monday and cooking by Wednesday.

[wilfredjr]

three sunny days in 40's; hadn't seen the thirties much at all; might be over quick this year if we shoot right to 50! birches looking pretty shaggy up top already; red maples on the shore, too.
put in 4 test taps Sunday; 3 still dry today, 1 has a dribble

[Rhino]

Finished tapping over the weekend and today. Not much happening. Just a slow weepy drip which might be just trunk sap yet. I would guess by the weekend our snow depth will only be ankle deep. Plowed around sugar shack so sun can work on whats left. This season we are only tapping our lincoln county woods....our price county woods was due for a thinning so I had people come and rip out all the pipeline and we logged it this winter, next year we will finish the thinning. Next job is washing tanks and getting r.o to the woods. Plenty of time as far as what I see our trees doing.

[snowmkr]

Finished up with a little over 1000 today some dripping some not. I think it's going to be a good week. Hope to fire up by Wednesday pm or Thursday. Good luck to everybody.

[Sundown]

I tapped on Monday. Put in 80 buckets and bags. I'll probably throw in another 20 today if it's running good. Most of what I tapped yesterday were running by days end. Knee deep snow, but fading fast!!

[syrup2make]

Got some sap, but so far its looking pretty sad. Got some promising 2 or 3 days in the forecast, but its been too warm and no cold nights. Got my fingers crossed to have some good boiling.

[Rhino]

Not much going on As far as sap flow. Just doing odds and ends getting ready for if and when it does. This heat on the taps/tap holes dosnt do us any good either.

[Rhino]

Washed tanks and put rebuilt carb on my case 530 tractor with half tracks. Got that up and running. At 10:30 some of my trees were dripping a drip every second...but most were slow to none. Funny thing is some of my smaller/ugly trees were some of the ones doing the best while some of my giants....nothing. I think mark casper has it right with needing those low pressure systems/change of weather. People that commented to me today that they thought I was getting sap like crazy the last days were surprised when I said no. Just had to explain it takes more then sunny warm days. Whos to know?

[Zucker Lager]

Whacked in three test taps today one in a shady spot one in a sunny spot and one in between. All dry. We usually don't get any sap flow until very late in the sapping season here so now its the waiting game. Once it starts then I'll pop in the rest. Jay

[syrup2make]

Looks like the tree roots have unthawed a little. Got some sap run today and the lows for the last two days was in the low 40's.

[syrup2make]

I collected sap on Thursday which came out to approx 45gal. Pretty sad for 225 trees, but I have high hopes for the best yet to come. I boiled the 45 gals down and ended up with 3.3 quarts of finished product. I didnt test the raw sap, but now I wish I had. The ratio is pretty high so guessing the sugar content was approx 1.5%, real low. The coming weeks forecast looks like prime time.

[Zucker Lager]

Came home from town today to see a neighbor who is about 4 miles east of me with taps in and her buckets with about half gallon already, my test taps are still dry??? Jay

[jgotz]

Put in a test tap and in 5 hours there was about a pint of sap that tested at 1.8%.

[mike z]

Collected and boiled 365 gal. so far. 1.9% sugar. Hope that improves along with the weather.

[wilfredjr]

Zeroed out all bags this early am after 24 hours of continuous flow about 10 gallons sap filling ice chest 1 of 3
4 test taps from last Wed full bags; 8 new taps on virgin trees yesterday afternoon about half-full this morning; all are running still
holding back on 8 bags on storage concerns; trying to limit number of boils, although back-up firewood is in fact dry
If run continues, Jill might try to boil some inside on stove to manage supply, interfering with planned beer boil

[GramaCindy]

Nightime low FINALLY Cooperated, 21* now at 1:45 it's up to 35* and full sun. YAHOO! It's flowin baby

[syrup2make]

Its flowing really good today. Hope this keeps up for the next 3 weeks. Forecast looks awesome for the next 10 days.

[Rhino]

Collected 1700 gal. Yesterday...good run. Next 3 days look good then a freeze up for the weekend then next week looks good again.

[mike z]

Collected 250 g. from 300 taps. Still not consistent between trees. Some buckets near running over, others only a couple inches. It appears there is a lot of frozen ground in the woods yet. Without much rain, the ground is thawing very slow. Temperatures look good for the next week. Hope it holds.

[syrup2make]

Collected 260 gals 3/18. Takes a long time putting that into 6 gal jugs. Would like to put a 100 gal tank in the trailer, but would never get out of the woods trying to pull that with a 4 wheeler.

[mike z]

I pull a 100 gal tank in an otter sled with a 4 wheeler. It does pull easier in the snow but still works without. A tractor is in my future though.

[wilfredjr]

Perfect temps; perfect flow: Running good during days; mornings taps are still. All 12 sacks nearly bursting in 3 days; 2 of 3 ice chests now full.
Jill experimenting with kettle on stove AFTER yesterday's beer boil, which is bubbling away in the pantry.
No dogs drowned yet on thinning ice during their morning frolic across the lake while I'm otherwise occupied.
11204

[Rhino]

Collected 1100 gal....another 1000 out there. Trees are pounding again. At 10:00 a.m this morning with a temp of 34 they were going already. I thought maybe a catch up this weekend but if it hits above 32 degrees I think they will just keep puking out. the only thing is starting out in the low teens might delay things. We will see....

[syrup2make]

Collected another 77 gals today and fired up the big evaporator. Loving it so far, but have a few tweaks got to figure out.

[mike z]

Sap flow was low yesterday for me. Just not cold enough the night before. My sap still reading 1.9%. Syrup has lightened since the first few warm weather gatherings.

[Rhino]

Poor run today. Didnt freeze hard enough last night. got all the sap by sugar shack and will run it thru tomorrow. 4600 gal. So we will have a tad over 1000 gal. Of concentrate and our evap. Takes 200 to fill with the piggy back. Always a nervous time that everything works.

[Rhino]

Cooked down the 5000 gal. Yesterday. the sap was in 3 different vats and all tested 1.5. That was depressing. We never double pass sap thru our r.o but we did yesterday. Hope things improve. I am hearing its like this all over. Yesterdays run by us was spotty. seemed like only the south facing trees did Anything.

[wilfredjr]

At the turn, all-dayer in the sunshine Saturday with my little 2" pans freed up storage, but the bags are all still big blobs of ice, so i'm skipping a collection day in the sleet to watch basketball.
Must concur @ 1.5%
Half-way home.
11455

[Diesel Pro]

We had 2.7 and then 2.1 on our 2 weeks cooking in Merrill. Expecting a big flow this week after the freeze up. Hoping I get 600+ gallons so I can call it a season. So far it's been 200 and 230 but I left with ice in pails and haven't collected since Thursday before it froze up on us.

[Rhino]

Finished off 90 gallons yesterday. Still very poor sugar content. ran to woods today to do equipment maintenance, clean finish pan, and bring more wood closer to doors. Trees were dripping good when I got there at 8:30. Should b a good amount by Morning. Im hoping to b able to make syrup till the 12th and then call it a year. Couple warm days coming then they say cool again. Flys were sunning themselves on the south side of syrup house today so everyday there is signs of season end. No frogs yet though.

[mike z]

I don't know, to me it feels like we are just a little past mid season. My main woods road is still frost heaved, and the trees are just starting to flow good. Hopefully this warm up will be short, and we can get back to business. Long range forecast looks pretty good. I want 2 more weeks!

[markcasper]

Some encouragement.....my sugar content went up .2 -.3 from Mondays gathering. The trees ran good this past Saturday night through today with vacuum. I think the 2 or 3 nights in the teens raised the sugar and they really ran good through Sunday night and into Monday with tanks running over by Monday noon. The syrup I made Sunday was very nice and light, no off taste yet at all.

[Diesel Pro]

Boy if you guys aren't running today...

I have many 5 gallon pails at or near full that were just dumped last evening. Most should be overflowing tomorrow before my help gets to them. This is the flow I've been waiting for. 320 gallons tank capacity, and about 300 gallons pail capacity and should be using all of it and then some by the weekend. Makes me with I had more tanks...

[Rhino]

Picked up 1500 gal. With another estimated 1000 out there for tomorrow. Froze hard last night and around 9 oclock this morning the trees were pounding but fell flat around 1:00 with 50's and a stiff wind. I have alot of ice in my 1500 gal. Tanks from the single digit weekend so the sap will stay good till tomorrow afternoon when we cook it all.

[mike z]

Boiled in the rain last night to get all caught up. Spring peepers started up after the rain around 2:00 AM. The sap I collected yesterday was a little off color, but no funky smell when boiled. Syrup color was a little darker but not bad. The buckets I put out later in the season ran clear sap. I'm going to clean all tanks, drain and clean flu pan to prepare for the next cold spell. I'm just over 0.3 gal. syrup/tap right now.

[mike z]

Correction...just over .25 gal. syrup/tap right now.

[mike z]

Anyone else notice how difficult it was to boil Wed, night? Pans didn't even throw much steam. My draw off temp. was down to 217 also, where normally I draw at 219.2.

[Diesel Pro]

I have 300 gallons waiting in my tanks plus whatever is in the pails. It looks like we got cold enough to do a light freeze this morning just after dawn. We'll see if they go again today. Looks to be another decent day on Saturday and we'll pull them around noon and do final collection. I was hoping for 600 gallons this week, but I don't think we'll get there. Only time will tell.

I did not boil so I can't help with that, but one thing I will say is that at the suggestion of a friend (Ladysmith area) I switched to burning poplar this year versus maple and oak previously. The boil comes up faster and hotter and surprisingly I am not gobbling up the wood like I thought I would. I do have some mixed hardwood crap that I am throwing in from time to time, but we are on pace to use just over 1/2 face cord cut at 20" long this season. We boiled about 40 gallons on 2 different weekends and will probably boil more like 60-80 this weekend all starting at 12-14%.

[Rhino]

We have 1000 gal. To r.o and cook tomorrow morning. Thought there would of been more. Sap looked good yet and chilled down nice during the over night and early morning. 1.7 sugar so it looks like this season we wont even see a 2.0 or higher reading. Still holding on to hope that next week we can get everything full and the sap is good for one last big cook day. Our trees dont look close to budding yet but with no sugar in the sap how can they.

[markcasper]

Sap cooked yesterday was getting pretty crappy. Syrup is medium and dark and now the last barrel is off in flavor, sap too warm. The sap that is out there, have to see what am going to do with it. RO broke down so hopefully things will be back to normal in a few hours, just going to the woods now. Wind has been awful the last 3 days trying to work in. At over .5 per tap so cannot complain, anything extra is a bonus.

[mike z]

My sugar started at 1.9 then rose to 2.5, and then dropped back to 2.0.

[Rhino]

Ran the 1000 gal. Of sap through early this morning. Cold night by us last night and trees responded with a drip a second by 9 a.m. and temps right around 33. Off for the rest of the day and easter but monday might b a big day?......Go Badgers!

[mike z]

Had a good collection today, 320 g. Just over a gal. per tap. Looks like an Easter boil. Happy Easter fellas! Time to watch the big game.

[flying squirrel maple]

Sorry to say it but the Badgers are much more important than sugaring right now. GO BUCKY !!!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Zucker Lager]

Our small operation boiled off 20 gallons of sap yesterday on a pair of turkey fryer burners in our new 20 by 30 inch pan what a difference using an open pan instead of soup kettles. Took 5 fun hours and have two quarts of almost syrup to finish on the stove. Our trees seem to be producing more sap now and less ice in the buckets so the nights are less cold although here in the Sugar Camp area they are saying snow tonight!!!!YIPES. Next year a wood fired arch is the planning. Happy Sapping and a Blessed Easter to everyone Jay

[Rhino]

Ran to the syrup house yesterday to see what ran saturday and sunday and was glad to see there was alot out there. Woke up to 6 inches of snow but as I drove south to syrup house which is 35 miles away we had about a inch. Wednesday and thursday will be our last days of collecting/cooking. Friday cleanup. With whats out in the woods we will end up with a good season. Would of been really good if we had a better sugar content. Talked to my buddy from edgar last evening and his last gathering of bags will be today. His 175 tapped superman trees gave 3000 gal. of sap and highest test was 3.2

[Rhino]

1700 gal to cook tomorrow and thats a wrap. Most of equipment put away just have to wash the cooking equipment and tanks after tomorrow. Sap was nice and clear and trees were dripping slowly today. Ice on area lakes is going off so soon I will be installing docks and boat lifts. Hope everyone got enough or had fun trying......have a great summer!

[mike z]

I wonder if it will run late this week?? The forecast shows temps just about where they should be?? The sap I collected and boiled over last weekend was good with no off smell at all when boiled. Otherwise I was going to start pulling taps. Rhino, your friend does have Superman trees. I would have settled for Super woman trees this year. I never had any really good runs, and sap sugar was blah.

[mike z]

Anyone else out there still going? I think it will run today, was 25 degrees this morning. I was going to pull buckets today, but I really would like to collect and boil todays run. Darn! What to do??? Wonder if the sap would be any good?? This is the worst part of sappin; not wanting to stop, or not quite knowing when to stop. I guess I have a few hours yet to decide....

[markcasper]

I just got in from cooking this morning. Everyone in my area that I know of hung it up between last weekend to just a few days ago. The syrup has all been Commercial since last Sunday, but it all has filtered well and tastes exceptionally well. I left the pumps running today as they were pounding pretty good. Will see later if its worth saving it, isn't going to last long now, pumps will be turned off tonight. I have not heard a frog yet.

[lpakiz]

Made some dark, but excellent tasting syrup this morning. We had a freeze here last night (Friday night) so my pump is running. If I get a decent amount tonight, the pump will run Sunday. Trees running about 60 % of a good run, so there will be SOME sap. Buds swelling, too.

[syrup2make]

It's been a great season. Pulled taps yesterday with a total sap take of 2,461 gallons. Just finishing cooking down the syrup and should be at 50 gals for a total. Im tired and don't care to emptying buckets anytime soon. Season went 34 days.

[Zucker Lager]

Was hoping for one more batch to boil but sap has almost stopped running and is getting buddy all in two days! will be pulling taps tomorrow. But ice went off the lake today so now its ...............fishing time!!!! Jay

[Merklin Maples]

Pulled my taps yesterday. Low sugar in sap all season. From 125 taps we got 1360 gallons of sap. Made 23 gallons of syrup. What a year. Already into next years firewood. All that is left is the cleanup that will begin today. Hope next year will be more productive. We did get our pontoon in this weeken so that was a plus. Went for a couple of nice boat rides. Let summer begin.

[Diesel Pro]

Our sap totals went like this: 200, 235, 365 more or less. We cooked on 3 different Saturdays and ended up just over 21 gallons finished product excluding maybe 1/2 gallon semi finished that was accidentally spilled. Second batch was noticeably lighter, all Medium amber.

[TedA]

Pulled the last of my taps on 4/12. Most of the trees were still not budding so could have gone a few more days. However, without cold nights, the flow rate was way down. Here in the Lac du Flambeau area, our season lasted nearly five weeks. I tapped 110 trees, collected a little over 2,000 gallons of sap and made 158 quarts (nearly 40 gal) of very fine syrup. The sugar content started out low (1.7%) and barely got above 2% by late season. Otherwise we would have had quite a bit more syrup. However, I have no complaints. Compared to last year's deep snow, this season was terrific. I was able to get well back in the woods and tap trees that I couldn't get to in previous years:). As I was cleaning up on 4/14, I heard the spring peepers for the first time. New additions this season included a custom made finishing pan to fit my three burner camp stove and a Smokey Lake canning pan w/steamer. I'm pleased to report that with the Smokey Lake canning setup, filtering is no longer a bottleneck. The flat filters worked very well - much better than trying to get the syrup through a cone filter. Next month we start on a sugar shack. The plan is to put a post-n-beam structure on a slab and then put up cordwood walls similar to what they did at the Merrill School Forest Education Center. By next season, we'll be inside cooking under a roof.

[GramaCindy]

Okay Guys and Gals, come on, admit it...we are all anxiously waiting for Maple Season. Reading posts of the folks out east making syrup already has me ready to tap! Not really. Just getting my mind right for the season. I think I hope that the snowcover stays low for the season and with the frost not too deep in the ground, I am thinking it could start quicker than past years. Any thoughts?

[WI Sugarpop]

Hey GramaCindy, haven't heard from you for a long time. You must of just woke up. We're putting our tubing up on the 20th and then we'll see if we want to put up the sacks also. We usually wait until around March 7 but we are way south of you.

[markcasper]

I think I hope that the snowcover stays low for the season and with the frost not too deep in the ground, I am thinking it could start quicker than past years. Any thoughts?

I am with you on that! I have a gut feeling its going to be much earlier this year. The big reason is no frost in the woods.

[Snow Blind]

13091Brought the collection system out today.

[Merklin Maples]

Looking at the forecast comming up and have got the itch to tap.. Anyone else going to tap soon in the northwoods???

[Rhino]

Will start tapping on Wednesday.... hope to be done by sunday. We moved the evaporator to my house this past fall and winter. Should be nice having my r.o in my heated garage and on grid power instead of a generator. Good luck to all.

[Zucker Lager]

Got my new arch bricked up and its drying at a friends heated garage. Bringing it home tomorrow then setting it up and driving taps on Friday or Saturday. Weather still has been way below freezing here, in Sugar Camp WI, daytime's but looks like by Friday its above freezing????? Happy Sapping Jay

[Snow Blind]

Looking at tapping on Friday. Temps should get above freezing and then a nice day time warm up in the following days.

[GramaCindy]

Hi Jay,
I'm planning on tapping tomorrow. Weather looks good until Monday night. dang, I hope we can get belong freezing at night next week.

[pls009]

I also hope that forecast isn't correct as far as those warm nights


Hi Jay,
I'm planning on tapping tomorrow. Weather looks good until Monday night. dang, I hope we can get belong freezing at night next week.

[jbelany]

I am going to tap tomorrow morning south of Ashland. Work most of the weekend, so hoping Mother Nature works when I am.

Joe

[wilfredjr]

Put in 8 taps all dry late this afternoon 37° overcast

[Rhino]

Up to 1600 taps in so far. Nothing dripped yesterday by us. We got about 7 inches of hard crusted snow in the woods but the snow is pulled away from the trees about a foot. Going to wash tanks today and tap again Monday. The taps I had in since wednesday.... only a few had frozen sap icicles hanging off the tap so it might take a few nice days to get them jump started into running good???

[Rhino]

Trees ran pretty good over night or yesterday afternoon.... They were dripping pretty good yet at 8a.m today.... except the soft maple...... 58 degrees out.... hope this dosnt last to long. Not going to be any snow left by the weekend.

[wilfredjr]

61° sunny
Southeast face
Added two taps to 4 ridge top sugars; still nothing doing up here.
Wallowed in snow along shore fifty feet below to tap 6 reds already in budswell, and all soon began to drip modestly.
3 sugars midslope tapped Friday only put less than an inch in the bag

[Rhino]

Slow drip today.... almost a stand still. Need those freeze/thaw cycles taking place. Rivers opened up and seen my first spring robin. Our woods roads are like the end of season condition. In 2012 we decided not to tap because of the record warm spell. I still have hopes that ma nature didnt get us this time around.

[Maple Man 85]

Same here, frost is going out of my logging trails and very little snow in the woods. If I didn't know better I'd say it was mid April...

[Rhino]

3 inches of snow here and 32 degrees....test trees started dripping a drip every 2 seconds. Could be a great week ahead.......

[Snow Blind]

Buried in snow the last few days. Hap 35 tapped and added another dozen. Back to freezing nights and thawing days. Had a bummer when I was not able to find any of the caps that I purchased with my bottles. Got some replacements coming soon hopefully. Had all the nutrition labels in the same spot as the caps. Where ever that is.

[Rhino]

Got 1800 gal. to run through today. Im glad we gathered the bags yesterday. There was alot of ice to deal with but right now its 16 degrees and they would be solid rocks today. We left the woods at 2 p.m and taps were just getting wet. When I got home (35 miles away) my test taps were pounding. Should of been a nice afternoon run in the woods. Today should be another one with such a cold start.

[GramaCindy]

We gathered about 27 gallons late yesterday off of our 140 taps. I knew they were going to run late in the day. I wish we could get some earlier warm ups, as most of my trees are at bottom of a west facing hill.

[Rhino]

Nice quantity and quality the last 3 days....running the r.o now. Estimated 1800 to 2000 gal. In the woods yet. Will try to beat the storm and get some of it. Sugar maple buds are tight by us yet.... soft maples just appearing. Next weeks weather looks awesome.

[Jeff E]

I am by Spooner, and it ran great Sunday and Monday, even Monday night.
On a trip south last week it seemed like from Eau Claire south, it looked 'buddy'.

We will see how the quality holds out. My finished syrup looks and tastes good.
With the forecasts, I think if could be done between next week and May. :)

We will see!

[Rhino]

Cooked off 50 gal. of syrup. Early this morning I went after the bags that were full before the snow storm and cold night forecasted for thursday night. I got to the point of leaving a gallon or so in each one just to save time and get to more of them. Sap is really clear but on the way home I cant ignore the soft maple buds and even the poplar buds.... Ii am a tad worried this could turn bad in a hurry even with the good forecast. I would hate to truck alot of sap 35 miles to have it turn out ropey.... always interesting how each season is different and challenging.

[markcasper]

Rhino, I'm down by Menomonie and as of this morning the syrup doesn't have a touch of bud to it yet and I am cooking probably off 25% soft maple. The syrup was real close to medium or whatever new grade its called, but technically would be DA. I was disappointed with my southern most woods with the quality going out the back window however. The tubing has just gotten so contaminated this year there is not much one can do. One sunny 50 degree day at this point sends things on a downward spiral even with all white colored tubing.

[Rhino]

Thanks for that update in your area Mark. I read a post from a member from plymouth who is still going which gives me hope but like your idea about the next 55 or warmer day...... ya.... nuff said.

[Rhino]

Local weather has it forecasted for warm days and nights this upcoming thursday.... gonna get as much as I can the next 4 days and pull the pin. Will have plenty for farmers markets.... good luck for the final push.

[Rhino]

Arctic air mass forcasted next weekend so we decided to keep the taps in and see what happens. I see some members are still going with nice sap yet so we should be good up in our cold hole up here. Got 500 concentrate in the tank and 1600 in tanks to get early this morning. Tomorrow get the rest before rain on wednesday and see what happens after that. With temps forecasted to not get above freezing it will be a welcome rest to get geared up if season goes on after cold snap

[Rhino]

Some members down south of us is what I should of wrote.......

[Maple Man 85]

Made 10 gallons of med amber this morning not buddy at all! Collecting and cooking tomorrow morning, keeping taps in, still have tight buds. Hoping the cold snap gets me one more batch.

[mike z]

I collected this afternoon and definitely noticed the sap has taken a turn. Will boil it tomorrow. This is the first sap of the year for me that was not crystal clear. North side of the trees putting out much more sap then south side too.

[Rhino]

Got 1800 gal. to r.o tomorrow. Sap is clear and the 35 gallons we just cooked through this afternoon good taste and smell...... seen a grass snake today in the woods and heard peepers but I think this year the peepers are not the gauge to go by..... hard maples still look tight up by us. Friday and saturday we will get out of the woods before frigid nights come... will we get more good sap after that is the question.

[Rhino]

Uuuugh... I should really proof read.... should of said we will get all the sap out of the woods before frigid weather comes....

[mike z]

Boiled today. Syrup was darker but had good taste. I was surprised there wasn't any off smell to the sap boiling. Not the slightest bit. I think good syrup can still be made during/after this cold snap. I heard frogs today. No leeks yet.

[Snow Blind]

Just put up 11 quarts of med. to dark. Very tasty. Can't get to my buckets until Friday. Weather still holding fine here in Douglas Co.

[Rhino]

Made just shy of 40 gallons this morning. Still good taste and smell. Sap thats in the woods that we will get tomorrow is clear. Going to try to let everything fill up through next weeks cooler temps and wrap it up the following weekend. If nothing happens theres no loss in leaving the taps in.

[Rhino]

Trucked home 975 gal. with 650 to get in the morning. Will r.o it all and cook in afternoon. Ice was in the bags today with a cool snowy day. Trees started dripping slowly at noon. Peepers got kicked in the teeth by ma nature today and a few more after. Glad we will be caught up finally.

[Rhino]

Went to get the rest of sap early this morning and with the snow which was heavy at times...it forced me to just fill my 425 gallon truck tank and leave the trailer and rest of sap in the woods. Roads were terrible and i didnt want to take a chance pulling all that weight. Ran it thru r.o and we just finished 50 gal..... I sound like a broken record but still a nice product. Sideway blowing snow as we cooked. Last push this week. Looking forward to warmer temps and non sap related work.

[Rhino]

31 degrees it held at all day with a cold wind...test taps never got started here at home... got alot of other work done. Chicken coop for my month old 150 laying chicks is done. Looks like a few more days of slow sap then hoping to finish strong.

[GramaCindy]

I still have some taps out in the woods. High of 30* yesterday, low of 20* this morning. Looking for one more push of sap before I call it a season. Weather totally sucks, though. Cold, snow, rain, clouds. Mother Nature is really giving us a taste of her winter blahs for the last Hurrah. I went out yesterday afternoon, pulled the rest of my taps on reds, no sap anywhere for days. Hopefully today and for the next few. The weekend looks good for sap as well.

[Rhino]

Looks like we will finish strong going into early next week. Yesterday trees started dripping at noon. Today just now at 1:30. 1600 gallons in woods as of now.... lots of ice in the bags. Going to have to wait for monday with them. Lows in the teens friday and saturday night so they will be solid until then. With 95% of our tapped trees being hard maple im confident the sap will make good syrup. 3" of snow in the woods again. Went around the woods with atv to check the 10 black colored taps I put out as a test compared to the clear ones. Hardly anything in those 10 bags. Absorption of heat thru them must really hasten the bacteria growth like they say. Never will I use anything but clear or white.

[Rhino]

More snow!!! Funny how we will be working in more snow in the woods then we did our first collection in early march. Forecast tonight is 12 degrees... that will make any budding activity come to a screeching halt. For sure by wednesday I am done. Lakes up here are clear or almost clear of ice and we got to start putting docks and boat lifts in.....

[Zucker Lager]

Got about 5 to 6 inches snow here in Sugar Camp the lake is still about 70% frozen but its a dark slushy ice. All my buckets are a solid ice chunk....................now what? he he Jay

[Rhino]

Nice segment on polaks maple hollow by merrill on channel 9 tonight. They were cooking (probably sap from yesterday. Way to cold to run today). Joe mentioned how they are going strong yet and how this cruddy weather is great for us and sap flow. Reporter had it goofed up im sure by saying polaks trees so far gave 6000 gal. Of sap but should of been 6000 gal. Of syrup im sure with their size operation. Unless yesterday they got 6000 gal. Of sap.... confusing reporting but nice to see sap is still good. They are straight east of our sugar bush about 25 miles....

[Rhino]

6 degrees right now.... had to monitor my heat lamps for my baby chicks last night. Will be really interesting what will happen from now thru this week in the woods. Might be some of our best days? Still ending it on wednesday though.

[GramaCindy]

I'm doing the same Rhino. If I even get that far. 4* here. Probably no sap here today, High of 35. Tomorrow looks great.

[markcasper]

Kind of a shame this weather is about 3 weeks too late to do any good. I had 14 here this morning, not going to turn the pumps on anymore and feels real strange.

[mike z]

I remember a couple years ago pulling buckets with snow on the ground. May be the same this year. I tapped on March 4 this year, and I'm thinking now, I should have waited a week.

[Rhino]

Mark.... not sure if u ran out of time or you have mostly reds (soft maples) but I would think your sap should make sellable syrup yet. I heard a producer far south of us quit but turned his pumps back on early in the week and sap cleared up and was back at it. I know every bush is different though. The reason he quit also was that his trees just quit no matter how long his pumps were on. This season for sure will go down as the biggest head scratcher I seen. The one year we went close to the month of may cooking so really this isnt to far fetched to be making good syrup yet. Hopefully you can get a few more runs....

[markcasper]

Well....back in for one more round. Went and started back up after giving my dad a sample. Trees ran over a gallon per tap overnight........

[Rhino]

Had high hopes with the cold clear sap from yesterday but its a tad ropey.... color and taste and smell is awesome just maybe sat to long even if it had ice chunks in it. Made 40 gallons of it... if it had any bad smell or taste I would of pulled the pin and dumped it but it's just the texture not the taste. Will make commercial and help pay some bills. Hope everyone had a safe season and made their goals. Till next spring....take care.... Rhino

[Gizzy]

Shut the vacuum pump off last night to end our season, kind of a bittersweet feeling.Still made light colored syrup with a stronger maple flavor. Had a very good year! Very anxious for next year as after 16 years of selling sap we have decided to start cooking our own. Will start breaking ground on the syrup shack within the next few weeks. A lot of work ahead but it still will be fun!

[Jeff E]

I'm done as well. Shut of the vac last night. Finished with Light to Medium syrup. I tasted it last night and it seemed good. I will reserve judgment until a taste today.
Now the other side of the work begins-cut wood, pull taps, scrub scrub scrub, sell sell sell.

[Zucker Lager]

Pulled taps yesterday but when I did I was having second thoughts, Ice in the buckets and most of the taps were still running and those were running clear................Will boil today and see what I get. Jay

[Rhino]

Had to share this interesting end result..... after making that syrup that had a ropey texture to it yesterday...today was my day to drain out our 5x18 evaporator and finish it in a regular flat pan. Our rig holds 250 gal. But I cooked it down to around 175 before I let evaporator coast down. This morning I took our gas powered centrifigal pump and sucked it all out of the evap. (Goes alot faster then draining). The concentrate came out as white foam like melted marshmellows. It did turn back to liquid though as it sat. As I cooked it down through out the day there was a ton of thick foam to skim. As I came close to syrup I noticed there was no ropeyness to the syrup. It ran out of the flat pan valve with no rope texture what so ever! Im not sure if it was the high speed spinning effect of the pump or the long cooking of the flat pan that took the rope out of it? My guess is the pump just because of the crazy foam that it turned the concentrated sap into. I pulled off 40 gallons that I for sure thought was going to be added to the commercial stuff I made yesterday.

[mike z]

Sold a 511# of amber to Grapes in Holcombe today and bottled the last 10 gal. Season over. I finished just over .26 gal. per tap. Think I would have done better if I would have waited one more week to tap. Have a good summer guys.