Whats everybodys current status?

[PATheron]

Nothing has really happened here in Pa yet. Were still using our time to get more and more ready. Going to be warm today and tomarrow so hoping for a run. Been running a little but doesn't really add up. Feeling pretty good this morning about things with the last big jobs pretty much done. All the pumps are running and the vac is pretty good everywhere so now just need the warm temps. Whats everybody think is going to happen? Theron

[SeanD]

It's pretty much the same up here in eastern Mass. Things are starting to get going now, but we had the long winter followed by another almost 2-week cold snap. I'm going to boil tonight, but that will be the first boil since two weeks ago yesterday. There's still a bunch of March left and the snow pack is still pretty high, so we could go strong for a while.

The most surprising thing I think is the very small runs even when it has hit the 50s. I keep expecting it to gush and it doesn't. Last year right at this time we had a bunch of snow and cold come in that shut things down for a bit, but I'm still way below where I was last year.

Sean

[maple2]

made a little syrup over the weekend. Cold bush still froze solid.Sunny bushes ran pretty good. Still havnt taken the snow plows off

[doocat]

It is a crap shoot in out neck of the woods! There are some good days coming followed by a lot of cold still...

[lew]

This cold has been a blessing of sorts to us. I am just finishing up the sugarhouse so we can boil. I think I bit off more than I could chew last year.
Will tap the last 600-800 this afternoon. and turn on the pumps. Have one problem that I haven't fixed yet though. Fishers have just come to our area in the last couple of years. We repaired lines this past week and when the boys were tapping yesterday they came upon a spot that they had just repaired last week and it was all torn up again, with the culprit spotted laving the scene! Gonna have to figure out how to get rid of that problem.

Sap tried to run yesterday with the warm sun, but it was too cold in the shade, as soon as the sap entered a shaded area it just froze up.

[Cabin]

Most of my 32 taps are running. A few on the nirth side of the trees just started to drip yesterday. Got 25 gallons plus over the weekend given the temps I think I will have to boil tonight but I was hoping for more sap(maybe today will be good). Got the tarp up over the arch and changed a few things to try and get a more even boil on all the steam pans.

[happy thoughts]

Ran a little yesterday but not enough worth boiling. Still below freezing here this AM and cloudy with snow flurries. I'll be surprised if we hit the low 40's as predicted today. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. This season is killing me. It's getting harder and harder to think happy thoughts! Is this season ever going to really start?

[optionguru]

Made a quart and a half of syrup 2 weeks ago after tapping about 1/4 of my trees and getting a mini run. Really hope to get something tomorrow since it wont get to single digits tonight and it will be mid 40's.

[COMSTOCK MAPLES]

Same thing here in NY short runs and slow going. Hoping to get enough sap to go on a good boil for this weekend!!

[nymapleguy607]

Sap ran Saturday, but there wasn't enough to start the evaporator. Todays weather isn't looking promising either, Tuesday looks to have potential of running good. I'm still trying to get all the vacuum leaks taken care of, Saturday we were holding 26" so I'm not too diappointed.

[harrison6jd]

here in northern rhode island, the taps ran some but not much. over the weekend, they didnt get moving until after lunch and shut down before dinner. grabbed 50 gallons of sap from 115 taps. ground here is snow and ice covered and everything in the soil seems locked up. still 10 inches covering the ground out in the woods. will fire her up tuesday and sweeten things up and be sure there are no issues.

[spud]

I'm just sitting around eating Sarah Lee pound cake and chasing it down with Green Mt. Coffee. We better get some sap real soon or my new diet will be Ramen Noodles. :)

Spud

[Sandersyrup]

Started out slow in FEB but in the last week things let loose a bit. I've had 8 boils this year, sap consistently running at 3%. The first 6 runs/boils each produced 20 gallons of sap 3/4 gallon of LA (4.5 gal LA total), Boil #6 was Fri about 35 gallons of sap and 1.25 gallons of MA and my last boil (yesterday) was about 60 gallons of sap and 2.5 gallons of MA.

Good season here so far. Soft maples were tapped in early Feb. Sugars tapped Mid Feb. going on 4-6 weeks and things are only flowing stronger.

I'm sending good sap vibes your way.. I was really nervous about a snap into permanent warm weather but temps keep dropping and sap keeps flowing at least once a week. Hopefully some ideal weather will settle in for you guys up north!

[PerryW]

still holding off tapping for now. too much cold in the ground for tomorrow's 42 degree high to get anything running.

[JEHardy01-Ohio]

I tapped 10 trees on Saturday and put 5 gallon buckets on them. In less than 24 hours I have 25 gallons of sap. This was in wood county WV (mineral wells area)

[eustis22]

Well, I'm single but messing around with a cute Mainer.

[KGodshall]

I'm in Bradford County PA. Have 23 taps in. Since Saturday, I've collected 23 gallons. I'm pretty happy with that. Tomorrow looking good as well.

[happy thoughts]

Things ran much better than I expected today once it warmed up and the sun came out. Had enough for a small boil of about 15 gallons. Things are still dripping. With rain in the forecast tomorrow and the next and night temps just above freezing for a couple of days, this has the looks of a looooong run. Hoping they run like crazy until weds. PM when the next cold snap moves in again.

May we all have a good season!

[Russell Lampron]

Had a good run that I boiled up on Feb 23rd and I haven't boiled since. The sap has tried to run but the overnight lows have been too low and the clouds and wind have made for late starts and early stops when it has run. I pumped 200 gallons out of my tank tonight from what had ran from Friday through today. I still have a 150 gallon block of ice in the tank from sap that had ran on Feb 23rd before the last big freeze. The old timers didn't normally start until after town meeting day which was last Saturday here. There is still hope for a good season but that hope is fading with every disappointing day.

[SWEETER CREATIONS]

Spud : already on the crackhead soup here, I'm coming to get some of that pound cake!! Just sitting here idle like the rest of you. Hope it breaks soon Maple Weekend coming on the 22nd might sell a gallon or two if we make some by then.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Getting sap in southern WV, but not what we should. Had quite a few warm days the past couple of weeks but the north side ground is still frozen hard as a rock to the top. It has been this way for 2 months and season will be over here in 2 to 3 weeks and probably wont thaw until after season is over.

[maple2]

Just sitting here with my coffee watching 9 deer in my back yard, waiting for temps to rise so we can walk pipeline

[Buffalo Creek Sugar Camp]

Been tapped here for over a month. It was slow starting, but its seems like its going to take off now. Saps been running decent the last day or so with more to come.

[PATheron]

Been tapped since January. Got several thousand gallons last two days, made 120 gallons of syrup tonight. Sap weak. Makes a difference what hill it comes off. The north hills very low sugar with the ground froze. Sunny hills sugar coming up as the sap is starting to come up through the roots. All b syrup tonight with all the tanks clean. The trees are progressing even though its been cold out. Today it was in the 50s and the sap ran good and even though its warm right now as soon as the sun went down the sap slowed right up. Even with good vac. This is going to be the year where your going to have to want it to make a lot of syrup. Better not mess up much. I think were going to make a fair amount of volume but its definitely going to be dark syrup. Its going to take a long time for the frost to go away and that's going to make a lot of syrup but its not going to be easy. Were going to have to wannnnnnn it. All you can do is not mess up on your part. No way to boss mother nature around. Still figuring on making a lot of syrup. Gonna try to sugar till the leaves come out. Might make some stuff that even Bruce Bascom has to stop and think about when he puts the turkey baster in the barrel. Thee(so much sap line you can see it from outer space)roooon

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Theron,

I am right there with you. Been tapped since Jan 8th and 9th and been a lot of same struggles you are having this year but I want it. All new taps and drops and keep adding taps. Ground still frozen hard on the north side and have never seen it frozen like this when we are 10 days from normal end of season and no sign of ground thawing out. 60 yesterday and 66 today and not doing much to thaw it out.

[ennismaple]

Theron - We're tapped and waiting. Sap ran some today but it was the first run that would even wash out the lines so it went on the ground. Plus, with the long range forecast we would have concentrated, boiled and had to boil everything through to keep the pans from freezing solid over the next week.

[PATheron]

Brandon- What do you do? You work so hard to get the sap but if its frozen you cant counter act that. I spent a month tapping and thousands of dollars to do it but mother nature is in charge. No matter what the technology you cant get sap if its frozen. I figure if you don't screw up and you do the part your in control of that's all you can do. No amount of money or technology or hard work can make syrup if its frozen out.. That's that. I hate to see anyone have a bad season but I guess that's why maple syrup is valuable. Its hard to make. I had a friend call me up and ask me some questions about his ro. This is his first year. He told me he felt lucky to have smart friends like me so he wouldn't have to struggle his first year. I helped him all I could and told him good luck because I haven't made a gallon of syrup without struggling. Every gallon has been hard. You wouldn't think so, youd think after a while it would be easy but it hasn't happened for my dad and I yet. No matter how much prep I do its always a struggle. Hasn't been an easy gallon yet. Theron

[PATheron]

Marty- That early stuff is tough. Its usually not much and then you have to worry about your flue pan and everything. Hows it looking for you guys? Are you guys all froze up and snowed in? My hats off to you guys up there. I hate all that snow. Usually we struggle to get freezes but at least with the vac pump we can make it run anyway. This year were getting a taste of your guys typical problems. How is quebec? Are they like everywhere else or are they looking at having a decent season? Theron

[brookledge]

This season sucks!! Started tapping on Feb 20. First boil on the 24th then froze up second boil March 11 Third boil will be this afternoon from yesterdays run. Then record cold for tonight and tommorrow. Then maybe just maybe we will begin to see sap run for more than a day or so without frezzing solid for another week. I know I still have good snow coverage but the sun is getting so much stronger that it is melting it every day even though the temp only gets into the upper 20s or low 30s. I'm starting to get nervous as for my area never made syrup beyond mid April and Ive been at it since 1974
Keith

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Keith,

Same here. Tapped 9th of Jan and been pretty cold since then. Had some warm days but now ground is finally about thawed out and it is normal end to season. Problem is taps installed 9.5 weeks ago are about dried up. Don't see much benefit to new drops and spouts. My drops were getting yucky so they needed changed. Some research is beneficial and a lot of it is funded to sell more equipment and supplies.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

what trying to depress us all PATheron :lol: well permeatea tank froze solid, bulk tank with 150+ gal sap froze pretty good, two RO membranes went south on me, wife left me took the dogs having a beer as we speak. came down with something the other day, soar throat, fever yellow stuff coming out of nose and when I cough.
fuel oil is 4.39 a gal, our govt is literally playing Russian Roulette, but hey they say the economy is picking up, minimum wage is going to be raised.

Oh yea on a positive note I have made approx. 20 gal dark robust US Grade A dark Amber

[heus]

I've been able to make around 100 gallons so far. It's all been dark amber or grade b(my favorite). My hope is to make 200 gallons, which would be much less than last year's 248.5 with almost 200 fewer taps.