It's almost go time

[Leinie]

I've got 1 yard tree dripping today (Sat. March 15 in Shakopee) Monday looks like it could be a little start, and Wednesday or Thursday things could open up !

[Leinie]

Monday, there were 2 taps with about a quart in the bucket. Today, 5 taps put out 8 gallons. The other 4 had a tiny bit in the bucket. Tomorrow and Friday might be ok then shut down till Monday . Next week looks good if you believe forcasts.

[supersapper]

I have 32 taps on boxelder and 14 on sugar maple. Boxy is producing more. Sugars are just starting. Weather is so-so in the next week and then improves!!! I need to get the rest of my taps out soon. 40 more for the sugars and then move all the boxy taps there!

[Minnesota Acer]

I'm behind the eight ball a bit. I've only got 4 taps out and have about 20 more to go. I went tapping yesterday (3/19) evening; 3 trees were dry and the other was running well, but that's par for the course on said trees. Usually the one runs very well and two of the remaining three are very poor and the remaining one is decent. They're all urban trees in Mendota Heights. I plan on checking the one bucket (5 gal) tomorrow because the tree was flowing so well. Exciting to hear others are doing so well and it was exciting to see the one tree flowing. Can't wait to boil. Yeah, baby!

[Ecpizza]

8 taps, 4 gallons today... Or at least since I last checked a few days ago when I had a pint.

First timer.

[Leinie]

For the week I put 25 gallons in the barrel, from 9 taps on 4 yard trees. 4 taps ( 2 trees ) have produced 80% of the total.
Things are froze up today and tomorrow so hopefully Monday will produce a bit and Wednesday- Sunday the flood gates will open.

[Leinie]

Well the flood gates haven't opened. Added 4 taps Tuesday so now up to 13. Only collected 15 gallons from Sunday to Friday. Once again the majority came from the same two trees. Hopefully the other 6 trees wake up soon.
I got the cooker set up and will be sweetening the pan first thing in the morning.

[RileySugarbush]

I still have some trees running and some dry. I have to believe it is about time for them all to let loose. We plan on a first boil Sunday.

[mnguy]

boiled 50 gallons down last weekend.. got 1.25 gallons of finished syrup This week only have collected 25 gallons as of today. Hopefully this weekend it will let loose.

[Leinie]

Well, I was going to start boiling first thing this AM ......BUT with things going on I forgot to insulate my barrel and now have a 40 gallon frozen ice block inside a 55 gallon plastic barrel. My wife will freak when she wakes up and sees it in the kitchen melting !

[SDdave]

My wife will freak when she wakes up and sees it in the kitchen melting !

Good luck with that one!

SDdave

[Leinie]

Upon further review- The liquid sap was encapsulated in ice so it didn't slosh when shaking the barrel. I used a broom stick to break through the top so I could get my siphon hose in. I then siphoned sap out to the pan, heated it, drained into a bucket and poured it back in the barrel. I did that 3 times and now the boil is on !

[Hungry Beaver Sugar Camp]

Tress are dry..... 9-12" of snow expected in Morrison county Monday so when it does finally turn into spring north of Little Falls, the woods will be wet. This is almost the same exact pattern as last year and that was a banner collection. therefore I am optimistic, it will repeat itself and be a great sapping year............if it ever gets here!

[Leinie]

Inactive trees are starting to flow some today. More in those bucket since noon than they've given in two weeks.

Sap is boiling in the pan, dripping into the buckets and NCAA games start in an hour ! Glorious Day !

[Leinie]

Averaged over a gallon per tap today. First time this year.

[Leinie]

Best day so far, collecting 17 gallons from my 13 taps. Slowest taps are starting to come around. We will see what this snowstorm does for sap production.

[Leinie]

I do my collection around 5 pm daily. Tonight I went back out around 9:15 and got 9 more gallons from the 9 taps in my backyard.
That's a gallon per tap in 4 hrs. 1 quart per hour ! I think they will run deep into the night as well. Doesn't look like a freeze tonight so tomorrow may be slow.

[Leinie]

6 am those same 9 taps yielded 11 gallons, and still running.

[SZimm]

So far I've only gotten about 7 gallons on 25 taps. I keep reading posts where things have taken off...I'm obviously glad to be getting something, but so far I am dissapointed with the amount or lack there of...I thought yesterday was going to be huge, but only got about 2 gallons. The weather has been pretty inconsistent so far. This is my first season so I have nothing to compare to.

[morley]

We only have 4 gallons at most off 27 taps. Tapped our trees last week Wednesday. Really hoping the wake up and start running soon.

[warners point]

I was working out in Maple Plain today and the yard sacks I saw were full this morning and on the way home were half full again. It has to be moving north soon.

[supersapper]

Still very little action here in Annandale. 100 gallons total off 60 taps. Another storm in progress as I'm writing this. The weather has to get better doesn't it???

[Leinie]

I'm just waiting for the thermometer to tick up 2 more degrees on the batch I started yesterday afternoon. The turkey fryer has about 2.5 gallons in it at 217 degrees. That will put me at about 5.5 gallons finished so far.
Next week looks like some good days are possible before the big warm up next weekend. Time will tell.

[Leinie]

I put 24 more gallons in the tank just now, they are running well today. 20 of it came from 4 trees since 4 pm yesterday. There's probably gonna be 15 more in the buckets before the sun goes down

[Leinie]

Collected a total of 37 gallons today from 13 taps- What a day ! I'll probably be pulling the taps tomorrow. No freezing tonight or all week, Buds will be coming and I'll have made about 9 gallons of Syrup if all goes well. A new high for me.

Seems like the sugar content is dropping with this latest batch. It's really boiling down further than previous batches during finishing

[Leinie]

Taps are pulled. The last collection of 15 gallons has been siphoning into the evaporator for a few hours and all should be bottled before 6 pm. Now starts the cleanup. Ugh !

[Leinie]

Everything is cleaned, cooker , cook tent, siphon feed system are all torn down and washed and 8 gallons of syrup in jars. Only thing left is to put all the stuff in the shed until next year.
All in all it was still the biggest season for me, by 1/2 gallon. I was a bit disappointed I didn't make it to 9 gallons, but the sugar content must really have dropped off yesterday and today.
I hope everyone else has as good a year as I feel I did.

Until next year- Happy Sugaring

[SZimm]

Had a great run this past weekend. got about 25 gallons of sap - a little less than a gallon (3 quarts) of Syrup. Unfortunatly, unless the forcasts are wrong looks like the season might be over allready. No temperatures forecasted to be below freezing until possibly next week. Sap stopped flowing yesterday afternoon since it did not go below freezing Saturday night...Oh well. All in all being my first season, I think things went pretty well.