Taps pulled, stove shut down in Kalamazoo

[cjric]

We ended up having a pretty good year. More syrup than last year at least. This last boil was still good but VERY dark. Looks like used motor oil. RICH flavor and still sweet though. Does anyone mix this end of run stuff with early extra light grade A stuff?

First year on an old Leader 2x6 we bought from a fellow maple trader in NY. SO much less work than last year on an old oil drum stove and flat pan. 29 gallons of syrup from 120 taps. Very sporadic sap runs, only collected 6-8 times. Never expected to beat last years totals, even with more taps. The 2x6 sure made it seem easier. I feel like I hardly boiled at all this year! Guess that means I need to scout the woods and make plans for more taps next year.

[Ausable]

cjric - Just came in - from doing my last boil of the year. I have some near syrup to finish - but I should end the year with about 17 to 19 gallons. Had a lot of help with the sap as my own run was poor. Had a Son, a Daughter, a Grandson and a Granddaughter and her husband haul sap up from Bay County on four different occasions. Worked out both ways - Was able to visit with Family and got some much needed sap. Funny how sap runs go - last year was my best sap run ever and this year not so good. I wouldn't mix the two maple syrups - but - that is your call. I guess I did though - as I had syrup in the filter - canner from four different boils and it had a maple - buttery flavor that both I and the Mrs. like. I'm not sure what the outcome would have been if I kept the four boils separate.

[MidMichMaple]

I'm all done now too. Decided not to wait for the freeze. Too many other things to get done, and sap jugs were starting to get funky. I collected and boiled on Friday and ended up throwing it out because I didn't like the smell. Finished my almost-syrup that I had saved up in the freezer today and ended up with 3 quarts of medium. My first batch in March was medium also. No dark syrup for me, for whatever reason. Got almost exactly one gallon of medium amber for the season from 7 taps. It probably helps that I was able to boil almost every day in very small batches. I did not let sap sit around for more than a day without boiling it or freezing it. Probably went a little overboard with babying my sap, but I liked the results!

[rayi]

Bad year down the road in Fulton. Almost 400 taps only 15 gallons but nice light amber. Maybe cause of new evaporator. Six very small runs only one over 300 gallons.

[michiganphil]

I have my taps just south of kzoo, in Schoolcraft. I pulled my taps Saturday.
There may be some flow this week, but my buckets were getting nasty. My last couple runs produced some very dark syrup as well.
I had a good year too. Collected 845 gallons of sap from 55 buckets, and produced just over 27 gallons of syrup. My roadside sugars usually give up about 1.5 quarts of syrup per tap, and this year was almost 2 quarts/tap!