How are you ENJOYING sugaring 2013?!

[Oddmott]

Lots of threads with gripes, questions and concerns... but not much mentioning how fun, relaxing, inspiring or enjoyable this season is (or isn't) for you!

It's my second year running a bush with my brother & parents and it's going much smoother and is far less stressful than 2012 was. Part of that is a better, more normal season.
But a larger part of it is just the fact that everyone is more content to let go of the reins and let everyone help however they like most.

We expanded our little bush from 40 trees with 58 taps last year to 60 trees and 80 taps this year. Unfortunately many are on 5/16ths with drop lines and they just aren't producing much at all.

Still managed to make about 8 gallons of syrup so far though which surpasses last year's tally. Likely another 2 weeks before we pull our taps and clean up and store all the equipment.

Since everyone has relaxed and seems committed to getting along, I'm now moving forward with my plans to develop our big bush and get up to 1500 taps by 2015. Will also be building a 2 story, 30'x30' log cabin on the same property, so we've got lots of heritage projects to look forward to.

Wish you all the best, may your buckets be overflowing and your sap running clear.

:D

[PerryW]

yes, less streesful that last year the the 2 week cold snap in late march started getting me nervous. Luckily we had some decent sap runs over the last 10 days to put me at 92 gallons and the sap weather looks great today and tomorrow.

I think my current sized 700+ gravity taps setup is about the most stress I can handle. I don't know how the big guys do it? Yunno, where one valve left in the wrong position ends up being a several thousand dollar mistake. Or driving to Quebec City for a pump bearing knowing that all your sap tanks are running over! Or one falled tree branch disables tho whole vacuum system.

Being just a portion of my income, sugaring is not a necessity. I made up for the 2012 lost syrup sales by cutting & splittting 55 cords of hardwood off the sugarbush last summer. Hopeflly, the thinning will help my scraggly woods trees hanging to the side of the hill.

[sugarin' in the hood]

Been a great season for our backyard operation we are at 4-1/2 gallons looking to break our record of 6 gals two years ago, buckets may have gone up early after last years quick and early season. We actually had slab wood stacked with some even split, that proved to be a little more relaxing than cutting pallets as we went last year. It has been an on again off again season with temps in our neck of the woods, the breaks seem to have come at the right time. My father has been a godsend with boiling mid week during a few of the days. Have hopes for a sugar house next year which will bring more efficiencies and more enjoyment. As busy as life gets, can't imagine not sugarin in the spring. Hope everyone has a decent year.

[happy thoughts]

I enjoy every season, good or bad. It's the best antidote to cabin fever I've found yet. I am always sad to see the season end and start thinking about next year long before that. I like that every season is different and that there's no way to predict what you'll end up with. As long as there's something for a few stacks of pancakes I'm happy. Next year, I am particularly looking forward to the men of maple calendar :) I know oddmont is in (and deserves a shout out for the idea!) How about you Perry?

I always enjoy this forum for it's helpful nature and generally good spirit and kindness to others. Thanks to all the posters here, each of which helped to make this season special by sharing their help and experiences. An especially big thanks to Dr Tim who somehow manages to find time to answer our questions even during what is likely the most busy time for him. This is without a doubt one of my favorite places to visit on the internet. Thank you most of all, Maple guys!

[Russell Lampron]

This has been another fun year for me. I always enjoy maple season because it is something to do to get me out of the house and into the woods. This season has been one of the best as far as syrup production goes and the problems have been few and far between. No complaints or gripes here!

[bowhunter]

This is my first season and it was a huge success. We made 16 1/4 gallons of good syrup and everyone who's tried it says it tastes great. I had some problems with filtering, but who doesn't. My sugar bush performed very well producing about 12 gallons of sap per tree on buckets. All my trees are sugar maples and the sugar content averaged about 2.5% over the last 4 weeks of our season. The boiling went well once I learned how to fire the half pint. I never boiled the pan over or scorched it...pretty lucky I guess. It made winter pass much more quickly and I got a lot of really good exercise. I even lost 5 pounds carry sap buckets and splitting wood. It was also a lot of new stuff to learn and even though I'm retired, it's still fun to learn something new. And finally I met a lot of really nice people on this forum. I couldn't have done it without a lot of helpful ideas from everyone here. Thanks to some great ideas I found here, I'm going to try a small RO unit next year and double the number of taps. We'll see how that goes.

[TreeTapper2]

Well, It has been a wonderful experience. Somewhere in January I got a whim to do this. Wife said don't because I'm busy enough. Then I bought tubing and taps and tried it. Then I bought more tubing and taps. After the first taste of syrup everyone was on board. Sugar addiction I think ;) but don't tell em that I said that. We have been blessed with over 16 gallons per tap and 6.25 gallons of syrup. I have about 3.5 to finish off, waiting on different filters.
Looking forward to next year God willing and planning out equipment to purchase.

Have a blessed one all!

[backyard sugaring]

Best season yet. Neighbor joined us bringing his sap and filtering, bottling experiance made for a great season. We made 16 gallons with 40 taps. The color of the syrup stayed light all season.

[Oddmott]

Good comments by all!

I forgot to mention that our syrup has been dark all season long. Like, REALLY dark, but it's quite tasty. And our sugar content must be through the roof because we're getting between 1.2-1.6 Gallons of syrup (usually quite thick syrup) from every 36 gallon storage tank we boil off. Pretty impressive ratio.

Oddly enough, our first batch had a particularly fruity flavour to it... there were hints of maple but stronger hints of apple & strawberry. We can't figure out why... all our equipment is the same as last year and cleaned before the season, and we only bottle in freshly sterilized glass jars. Absolutely no idea where the fruity flavours came from.

[Run Forest Run!]

I'm having so much fun this year. I've made close to triple my syrup as compared to last year and I'm nowhere near done yet!

[DASH]

As a young one I helped my uncle make maple syrup... Then this year my wife said "lets try our hand at making maple syrup" And so once again years later i'm at it again and enjoying it! my sweetie has got it ( making maple syrup fever) bad! Has been a good year, looks like we will be at it again next year. Thanks for all the great posts!!!:)

[MapleLady]

This has been my 2nd season and I've had a lot of fun with it and it is a great reason to spend time outdoors each day. I have looked forward to checking my buckets at the end of each day to see 'what I've got'! There is also no better place to relax and read a good book than sitting outside in the sun by my evaporator! :D In many ways, this season has been a lot easier than my first season -- where that learning curve is pretty steep! Even with all of the lugging of buckets, sap and such, it can be a very relaxing past-time.

Some of my trees have continued to run this week, but half are now done. I plan to do one final small boil today and pull my taps this weekend. It's time to start the clean-up and begin plans for next year!

My syrup production is double + from my first season and as of today, I have made 4.36 gallons of syrup! :)

[highlandcattle]

We tapped in January and got a couple of good runs. We have maxxed out at 400 taps, that's all we can handle. Need to tweak the system this summer and install a wet/dry line. Sap is stuck in the lines(vapor lock). Ron is boiling off about 200 gallons of sap that was collected last night. Windy, sun was out but now cloudy. about 47 degrees. Barometer is dropping. Everyone should invest in a weather station. They are very affordable and fun to use. as of today, 1700 gallons of sap about 1 3/4 % sugar and about 37 gallons of syrup. But we will try again next year.

[Sengelaub Farms]

Been a great season.. But We've been in the woods for 4 weeks pretty much and My Wifes getting stir crazy.. So the sleds are loaded and We're UP bound for 1 last weekend of snowmobiling.. The crew at the shack will keep the fire burning while We're gone.. Made 80 gals so far and should hit 100 with no problem.

[moscowmule]

just curious is your signature supposed to say "3x10" evaporator? also i am curious, how many gph does your rig evaporate? i did 300 taps this year and am planning on trying to move up to 500-600 next year.