Willow Creek Sugarhouse 2015

[red maples]

I was gonna wait to get this started but I am getting excited for the season. Who knows when the sap will actually start flowing. Long range forecast has changed like it always does and warm up doesn't look like its coming until March. Tapping will be a little slower because of all the snow so I will have to leave myself a couple extra days just in case. I will take it as more time to get stuff done.

I was gonna start tapping this weekend but put a hold on that since its probably gonna be single digits for highs. so I will wait until probably the end of next week to the beginning of the following. just keep watching the weather.

Went out in the woods with the chainsaw and worked up quite a sweat just from walking on untouched paths. That and snow falling on my neck from the little pines. But got all the lines cleared and had to use the snowshoe to dig out one log that fell over a lateral.

Fixed some side ties on the main lines still a little adjustment to do but for the most part that all set.

Today going out to fix some squirrel damage and boy there is a lot, replace a couple of laterals guessing deer chews and I have to replace a few drops.

Don't forget.....Avoid the crowds and don't forget the valentines stuff for the wife and/or girl friend ;) Happy wife happy life!!!

And one last note.... It might be cold out well really cold but The highest paid team in Red Sox history, spring training is just around the corner!!! Think Spring!!! Not Snow!!!

I changed my count down Russ!

[Russell Lampron]

I too was thinking about getting some tapping done this weekend but don't think it's going to happen. It's not only the single digit temps. It's supposed to be windy too so the wind chill will be below zero. That's not the kind of weather that I like to be outdoors in. Good luck with the new season when it finally gets here.

[red maples]

I just don;t like wind period!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I just don;t like wind period!!!

Me either!!!

[morningstarfarm]

Lol....wuss...ok fine I'm staying inside tomorrow too...

[red maples]

That wind sucks!!! wanted to work in the woods yesterday but since we are gonna get yet another round of snow I decided to work on the roof and get at least the edges cleared off I have already shoveled it once. but its piled right back up. ice Dams are getting bigger too. So worked on that. Today its just too dam nasty out to even wanna be outside. but running errunds and getting some more gas for the plow etc.

with the next round of snow coming another 9-16 inches or what ever forecasted this will be the first year since I have been doing maple I may have to shovel out mainlines and some laterals too. this is crazy!!! I think we will break 100 inches pretty easy after this upcoming storm and all but 14 of those inches have come in the past 3.5 weeks.

[morningstarfarm]

Well, I guess at least the bees are well insulated...

[Mark-NH]

Yup. Same story here. I was going to start tapping this weekend but no freaking way looking at the weather outside. Doesn't look like there's any hurry for it anyway. Looks like next weekend is the start.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm hoping that by next weekend we will see some above freezing temps in the forecast. This snow and cold sucks.

[red maples]

I was gonna start tapping by Wed. but well yep snow FRIGGIN' AGAIN Tuesday into wed. only 2-4 inches right now but it could turn into 2-4 feet by the way this winter is going. the maybe more snow next weekend. So I think I am gonna plan to start tapping the 23rd or 24th looks like the weekend of of the 28/1 looks like the first real warm up and then some at least about freezing temps for day highs from there through march. geez. 2 years in a row. Kinda like going back in time. I think we just got spoiled the for a while starting in early to mid Feb.

Hey Chris if you see this thining about bees if you guys are riding past the hive can you brush the snow from the front of the hive. they won't come out its too cold.

[morningstarfarm]

Can't even get a sled out there yet...god this is killing me...can't even see the hive...Not worried about them coming out...unless they have little snowshoes...

[red maples]

They should be fine...I hope that was a really strong hive going into the winter. My 2 here are still going good. sorry I didn;t return your calls both times when you called I was working on snow. I borrowed my neighbor's bob cat and moved the snow piles back took me 5 hrs. and I was pretty **** frozen when I Was done I must have dumped a few hundred pounds of snow on myself too. and then I was shoveling off the roof for 2 days!!!

So besides that stuff I was able to get out in the woods a little bit rough going got things pretty much ready to go. still a few things here and there. Started tapping this afternoon. didn;t get to many in it was warm and I was wet!!! hit alot of "quick snow" walking along fine and poof up past my waste... then I gotta get out....

[red maples]

OK so -12 here this morning. looks like most of the state ranges -6 to -32 according to WMUR. Doesn;t look like this cold weather is going away for at least and other week + maybe as long as wed/thurs next week. with the exception of monday at 35-37 but cloudy which won't help matters much being these things have been frozen solid for at least a month or more. this will be by far the latest start for me since have doing the maple thing.

anyway...that depressing news aside. I got in another 100 taps yesterday afternoon before the sun went behind the trees and I got a chill from that nasty wind. I think the temp dropped 10+ degrees yesterday when I was in the woods. gonna get out after lunch today see if I can some more in.

Some work in the house and sugarhouse this morning until things warm up some what outside!!!

Getting alot of calls for syrup as of late people asking for this year's crop... people still don;t get it. if its frozen out so are the trees can't make syrup!!!

[Russell Lampron]

It's -19 here this morning! I don't want to go to work today.

[red maples]

0 here again. I have my sister down from VT. and my Brother and his family up from NJ. Wanting to see how maple syrup is Well not yet!!! She lives just north of stowe past the notch. She was loving it outside it was 29* yesterday they have been MUCH colder than us this winter but she couldnt believe how much snow we have. snow is compacted pretty well now 7-8-9 feet what ever we got there in that 3 week period has compressed to 2.5 -3 feet in most areas. It was fluffy but I will take that over heavy concrete snow any day.

Cleaning the house and stuff has set me back on tapping but I got 300 in 200+- to go. heading shortly to get some more in. cold though. Planning to the get the RO going Monday in hopes the weather will change and we will get sap sooner. looks like wed. will now be the vacuum leak checking day. then we freeze up for a few days. then I can finish getting the SH ready.

[red maples]

Had a nice visit from family over the weekend. Back at it today.

Hit 35 for couple.hrs today but it didn't last. Release is not in yet and saw a few drops of super nasty stuff coming out.

Got all the tanks rinsed out, and filled and one filled with water to flush the ro. Amazing what a little insulation will do for retaining heat. Should save some money on heat which is good since the delivery rates doubled since last year. Got the cage tank just about plumbed in. That should make rinsing the ro a little easier. get the ro flushed in the am, and then on to the vac and release etc. Hopefully get out in the woods and check for leaks on wed.

[Russell Lampron]

The forecast for yesterday predicted temps in the mid 30's but it never got above freezing. They're predicting a high of 44* for tomorrow so we might see 40* if we are lucky.

[red maples]

Yeah thats what I am figuring on too. I just hope we don't get much rain thats the last thing I need is a 3 foot ice ring on the trees!!! especially with freezing temps coming thurs and Fri. The wells arounf the trees are not quite big enough yet.

Got the RO all set up today finished the Plumbing for the cage tank. Its on the final rinse right now. Has a few drips here and resealed the fittings and everything looks pretty good I have 2 small drips on the other side but I will just keep an eye on it even with high pressure they didn't increase in speed. hopefully they will seal themselves once the rubber ends warm up a bit.

Warmed up the Vac pump filled it with oil and turned that on for a couple minutes today. Still need to do a once over on the releaser but I'll do that first thing in the morning and get that hooked up. dripping pretty good even though we only hit 31* today. the sun was pretty warm today for a little while.

Its coming soon I can feel it!!! hopefully we can get some sap this weekend and maybe start sweetening pans by early next week.... 3.5 weeks until maple weekend!!!!

[red maples]

well we offically hit 45*F down here today. haven't seen that since x-mas. work up a sweat just walking with snowshoes on.

So today was a day of progress. Got the releaser all cleaned and lubed up. hooked it up was closed off the lines first to make sure everything was OK. sounded good pulling 28.5 at the releaser. opened up the lines and after the swoosh nasty stinky sap went through we were ZERO inches of vacuum HOLY LEAKS BATMAN!!! first one was a broken 90* elbow on the last line coming off the wet line. and that was like 2 leaks because it was right at the whip and was pulling from both the wet and dry lines. got that hooked up and I was at 12" getting there. a couple big squirrel chews and and a spot where I remembered I bumped the lateral with the chainsaw. Fixed those and POP up to 19"

2 loose taps and 1/2 roll of electrical tape(I was hitting every nick leak or not. Finished the day at 22.5" should be somewhere between 25" -27" . Getting there!!! hopefully Saturday things melt enough that I can get out and walk the woods some more.

Don't know how many times the releaser dumped it was pretty stinky but lighter brown by the end of the day. trees need several days like this to get good an thawed out.

[red maples]

Been working in the house on some stuff, ordering business cards, taking care of some farmers markets applications and upping my insurance Since adding on $12K worth of stuff, orderd a few stainless fittings for the filter press and a little book keeping, things are moving along quickly looks looks like boiling Tuesday or wednesday? after a 2 day warm up sunday and monday Trees should be flowing pretty good by Tues/wed. Finally!!!

Hopefully mother nature will pay us greatly for being so patient and getting many feet of snow and lots of dam cold windy days. Fingers crossed!!! maybe we'll need to go out and get some more bulk storage containers... thats not a bad thing to have to worry about!!!

Gotta finish up my woods today. Get gravity lines fixed and tapped.(only 27 taps there should take long) then get Sap sac holders all set with bags and get the taps sterilized. Just need to finish up the Evap quick rinse and put the hood on. tighten that up and be ready to go.

Those are all going up just after b-fast Sunday. Then in the woods for line maintanence and get those last 4 inches of vacuum back, guessing maybe a loose tap since its been so cold since I tapped and some little squirrel pin hole chews.

Have fun everybody!!!

[red maples]

Got gravity lines done fixed and tapped. Walked though and put in the extra drops and replacements that I had to fix. So If the counts in the CV's are correct we are at 517 on vacuum this year. 26 on Gravity and 69 buckets or uh sap sacks (there might be a few more we'll see tomorrow) that would make it 612 for this year.

I am glad I washed all the sap sack holders a nice little mouse made a nest in the box and covered them all in sticky mouse pee. AWESOME.... so gotta clean them again!!! just gonna run them through the dishwasher.

just need to add bags to the holders and away we go.

should be fun getting over the HUGE snow banks to get to the road side trees.

Still dumping sap its pretty stinky but getting better, didn't run much today anyway releaser dumped a couple of time this afternoon. I don't think the back woods ever really thawed, no sun back there yet. the smaller trees were dripping a little but the bigger ones need more sun.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Good luck and have a great season Brad!

[Russell Lampron]

It was the same here the small trees in the sun ran enough to flush the lines but the ones in the shade and the big ones didn't give a drop. The vacuum is up to 23" now but we need a good run to find the small leaks.

[red maples]

yep same here. not quite enough sap in the line to see the small leaks.

[red maples]

Got most of the sacks up lost a few picked up a few. Folks gonna do it themselves its only 10 taps, well we'll see how long that lasts. They said give us a week we'll probably be bring the sap down to you!!!

I have one more house to tap trees on but I have a bee hive there that I wanna check on that too so I will hit those tomorrow about 7 trees there. lost some big maples to tree trimming and remove from the electric company. but picked up a few more. I think I might get 10 more and put them up I still have more road side trees I can tap.

Finally found the big leak, and wouldn;t you know it, last tree farthest corner squirrel chew about 1.5 inches long 1/2 way through the lateral tubing. a few other little squirrel chew some saddle tightening, tapped in a few taps, and now we are a solid 23" still about 175 taps to walk but its getting up there now I feel a little better probably a few taps need reseated and a few little squirrelk nicks here and there and we should be right back up to where we should be.

Not much happening today AGAIN road sides are always good runners and they had their initial dripping and slowed up too. but with the low vac pressure and trees just not ready to break yet not much sap to speak of. BUT ITS COMING!!! I am almost ready I can start to concentrate ( not sap ) but start working in the sugarhouse more that things in the woods are just about done.

[red maples]

I think I have some leaks at the releaser possibly the lid not sealing everytime after it dumps. the vac pressure kinda bounces around 21" then 24" then 22" then back up to 24" I will have to put a little food grade grease on the gasket and make sure everything seals properly. Guess I will have to play around with it tomorrow.

checking things off the list. Trees in the woods are gettiing better but the snow is deep and the wells are growing but not quick enough sap was coming a little better today I only got about 60 + gallons today I dumped the first 25 or gallons because it was still a little nasty but I got about 30+ gallons I guess its still a little cloudy but getting better. tomorrow will be better and wednesday should be the day things break loose I hope!!! counting the days to maple weekend and I need syrup as we all do.

The good news is I was able to start feeding bees today they were flying around and all 5 of my hives are alive and well and very strong.

[Russell Lampron]

It looks like the sap is running a little better for you than it is for me. I think that when I shut off the vacuum tonight that I will probably have about 50 gallons for today. Like you I dumped the sap from the first 3 days flushing the lines and will be keeping today's sap and what I get from now on. The sap coming into the releaser today is nice and clear.

[red maples]

ha I just asked that question on your post but you just answered it. yeah its getting better every day and the no teens tonight so hopefully that helps things along. at this point I think the big road sides are giving more sap but 1) they are sugars and most are pretty big 2) they are all in the sun and 3) the snow is really begining to melt away from them. my woods are always last to go. I really wish I had the time I think I would go shovel out all the stumps so they run finally. hoping tomorrow I will break 100 gallons on sap that would be nice.

[red maples]

HAAAA HHAAAAA!!!! Finally got Vac back up to 26.5 tonight!!! found another big squirrel chew!!! fixed a few little pin hole chews here and there re fixed the big squirrel chew I found the other day and replaced 2 drops that were in pretty bad shape. and found a stubby that I must have missed putting on up to the second barb and was leaking pretty bad.

very excited I am at 100 gallons for the day and with no freeze tonight pump will be on for the night. see what we have by morning. sap is still coming in OK good. it was almost running pretty hard until the clouds really thickened up.

Got sap pump all squared away, worked on Evap and had to level that out a little bit. so thats all rinsed put together and ready to go. list is getting down there. Sugarhouse is still a mess but getting there.

have to take may daughter to children's hospital for a new back brace (sculliosis) sp? she won;t have the brace all her life just until she is done growing she had one for a few years now. then once I get home its back at it.

[Russell Lampron]

Got 250 gallons and counting here. It was still running good at 7:00 when we pumped out the tank. We've got the vacuum up to 25".

[red maples]

Thats good. I wish I was at 26" all day didn't get into the woods until 4:00. just did a quick check on the pump topped off the oil and vac is at 26" and sap is coming in pretty good I finally ordered an inline water meter so I can keep track of the sap that gets pumped up. should be here by about friday I guess.

So not counting buckets I guess I am about 150+ with buckets I would have to guess 185. I'll take it. hopefully 100 + on the over night.

[red maples]

Well after it was said and done I had 425 gallons of sap at 1.65% sugar. I was hoping it was a little more but, buckets ain't doin' notin' yet... out of all the buckets and gravity got roughly 25 gallons. driving by they looked alot fuller than what we actually got. Even the big ones which can easily give you a full bucket a day only 1/2 since sunday afternoon when they went up. so everything else was vacuum over 2 days 1 night.

So after bringing that to 14% you know I didn't have much left after I filled the evap but still got her fired up and got the everything dialed in and cooked it down in about 45 mins or so. I didn't push the evap right away I kinda too it easy since I really wanted to boil more but just not enough sap/ not alot of sugar in the membranes either they were nice and clean. Shut er down by about 10:00 or so. I was VERY close to some syrup I just drew a little off into a cup and it looks to be pretty light not quite golden but it could be not filtered so hard to tell but nice light buttery flavor with a hint of vanilla and steam smelled oh... man!!! but that will sit for a couple days before I have enough sap to boil again... so it will go darker. I am sure.

Hope everyone had a smooth evening. and got some steam.

[red maples]

getting a little nervous about maple weekend in just 2 weeks. need some syrup to get started on confections!!! Considering finishing out my syrup pan and start making candy.

[Amber Gold]

I hear you on maple weekend. Hopefully we get some good runs and can start making syrup quick.

The syrup I made last night had a nice flavor. It'd be a dark amber.

[red maples]

no its not dark amber and more just Dark. I have to get used to that. and that being said if its Dark amber its a good chance by new grades it could be Amber. thats why I called mine amber.

[Russell Lampron]

I didn't have enough to filter last night so I don't know what it will grade out at. It's either light or amber. Like you guys, I'm starting to get worried about maple weekend. We still have 2 weeks though and a lot can happen between now and then.

[red maples]

light is now golden.... (I personally like light better) I let mine sit and clearout by itself and its solid amber. I hope the grade stays. got 59 gallons yesterday. I love the water meter!!! exact counts for the first time!!! SO NICE!!!

Don't know what to expect today. 15* here this morning but we might hit 40* today and the sun is VERY warm.

[morningstarfarm]

Glad you made some syrup brother...I am jealous...my pans are about 2/3 sweetened...need sap!

[red maples]

well a cup pans are 100% sweetened. need sap too.

Got another and 65 gallons probably missed maybe 10-15 gallons or so. sap pump for some reason got fouled up I think because of ice in the tank or ice in the line. sugar came up to 1.75 guess we just needed a good freeze. sap sacks aint doin Squat. I gotta fix em up I don't think its gonna be a banner weekend for them anyway. a few are messed up form the wind. GOt some runnign around to do tomorrow most of the day so I won;t get to em until sunday AM. Wish I had some sap to boil.

[Russell Lampron]

I think that when I filter and grade mine it will be amber too. It sure taste more like it should be amber, there's too much flavor for it to be golden. Mine has a slight honey taste to it that we could also smell while it was boiling. I hope that it stays that way for the next boil, I really like it.

[red maples]

yes I am trying to figure out the what the smell is not sure if it honey but man does it smell good. everytime I go into the sugarhouse it just smells great. I hope it stays too. but it will be a long time between boils. still consider just filtering out the syrup pan and making candy out of it. that would give me probably 2-2.5 gallons maybe. which is just what I need then at least that would be done. I think I am gonna do that sunday morning.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap ran a little bit here today. I have about 200 gallons in the tanks and buckets. I am hoping that the trees will run during the stormy weather this weekend. It would be nice to boil again Sunday.

[red maples]

not much going on here today. didn't get much sap at all I had the pump on but lines were full of slush and ice blocking things sap was coming in through the dry line. It never warmed up to where they said it was gonna it was flirting witht the freezing point most of the day its 34 right now and any air in the line is causing some slush and screwing with the releaser. most likely the sap ladders with intentional leak added in.

Got a total of about maybe 150 gallons the last few day including today's estimate. I'll have to see what I get when I pump everything up into the sap shed. guessing I only got 25-30 gallons today. I doubt its gonna reach 38* like they say its gonna tomorrow. I was really hoping to boil tomorrow but just not enough sap. thats OK I don't have any syrup to sell anyway. just a few jars of maple mustard some cream and a few 1/2 pints thats it man!!! Need at least twice what I got to even think about starting up the machine. anyway I know everyone is in the same boat!!! looks like the sap will start running again by monday. I got a few gallon of sap in the sacs too. not much but there is a little.

[red maples]

well 4 day total 255 gallons... whoopie. I am gonna squeeze that and cook it out I think. The evap has been sitting for 4 days and sap has been sitting for 4 days so its time to freshen everything. maybe some more sap for monday and tuesday. then freeze up for a couple of days. I think the trees are really trying to give us sap but the weather is just telling them no!!! total sap is at 1.75 for sugar thats with a some bucket sap mixed in there too thats still at 2.5 and vac is about 1.6 or so hasn't really changed that much. 4 day total on bucket is 30 gallons I think it's 100 of them including gravity. .075 gpt per day. and
.112 gpt per day. thats pretty bad... but what are you gonna do right??? if I had alot of sap I wouldn;t be sitting here doing calcualations like that....

[red maples]

ah... got a few gallons in the canner. wish I had more sugars. reds don't wanna run good yet. Sap didn't really start coming in good until 2pm ish. Cooked off everything that came in since thursday or so. Sap is coming the best it has this year. hope it stays for a while. wed. looks pretty cold AGAIN... so thursday will be warm up and friday will be better... unless that changed...

[Russell Lampron]

The forecast is saying 26* for a high on Wednesday and 33* for a high here Thursday. The low temps, 16*, 10* and 15* Tuesday through Thursday.

[red maples]

yep it changed a little to the colder side... grrrr

[red maples]

What can I use to seal a seam on an extractor/releaser. its a vertical mechanical and the bottom has a pin hole in the seal. Can I use a clear silicone caulk for that? I am gonna use it today and bring it in while it freezes up for the next couple of days and seal it up.

[red maples]

sap update: Sap is running the hardest I have seen it run in 2 years... that is all.

[Ridgeland Farm]

I use epoxy 200. they sell it at home depot. My releaser did the same thing. One of my elbows on the releaser leaked at the seal to and it fixed it right up. Make sure its good and dry if you use it. doesn't do well when its wet before it cures.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rectorseal-EP-200-2-oz-Epoxy-Putty-Stick-97601/100124697

[Greyfox]

Another options is JB Weld, the quick setting kind. It sets up as hard as steel, is machineable, and seems to stick to anything....anything dry at least.

[Russell Lampron]

I got some silicone sealer that is made for aquariums and is food safe at Home Depot. It is in a green tube and can be found in the paint section.

[red maples]

thanks for the tips guys I am gonna try the silicon first. If that doesn't work I will try something else.

Had the best day for sap so far with 250 gallons and I had to leave about another 25 gallons in the bags so the wind wouldn't blow them away. I even got sap from a red maple with a sack. too bad it was only running for about 6hrs if it were 10-12 hrs I would have 400+ for sure. OH well thats weather in New england...

I was watching NECN at lunch yesterday and talk about a perfect forecast. The weather changed exactly like he said dark cloudy a little rain wind, hail sleet snow the temps dropped about 20* in 2 hrs. pretty crazy...

Figures though sap is just starting to run better with each day and poof... freeze up for a couple of days... dam.. Probably not much sap until tues- or wed of next week. maybe a little this weekend.

Sugar is up too averaging just over 2% in the tank right now thats great!!! butter than 1.5% from last week.

[red maples]

I REALLY hope the forecast changes for maple weekend...weather doesn;t look too good!!! good for sap bad for customers!!!

[red maples]

sap was dripping today but only because the sun was so warm. Made approx. 7 more gallons of syrup so I am about 12 gallons could have kept drawing but didn't wanna run pans too shallow. Started just over very dark and went just barely into dark but all went to the canner.

Definitely need to visit Russ sometime this year and see the bubblemaster I am gonna build one in the off season. tired of making dark syrup that tastes like medium or light syrup. it tastes good smelles even better but would just like to match the color. and it would be nice to make some lighter syrup for a change.

[Russell Lampron]

I'll be on vacation next week if you can make it up here Brad. I would like to show you around if you can come up.

[red maples]

I'll try I got lots to do!!! Gonna start tomorrow!!! the sooner the better. My brother is a plumber and he has lots of fitting I can go through I just have to by the tubing and pipe but he can get it for me at a huge discount. but he's in NJ.

[red maples]

Nice article in the Union leader weekend section. They used the same picture as last year though, I gave them new ones to use. Good for Brian last sunday right on the front page that was nice. The freelance writer is in the next town so she loves that I am right here she visits on maple weekend every year and buys syrup from me. so this is my I think 3rd or 4th year getting in. I missed a call from the portsmouth hearld so didn't get in there.

The new pic is on the website:
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150319/NEWHAMPSHIRE07/150319009

[Russell Lampron]

Nice Brad, good publicity.

[red maples]

thanks... yes should bring in some folks. I hope it helps out the fire house too!!!

today's goal is bottle up everything I have made so far, get at least 50 gallons of sap. If more, than even better. It is coming in but quite slow but thats to be expected so setting the bar low. If time a batch of jelly trying it for the first time just a case for the weekend we'll see how it does. and maybe get some nuts done. a little ambitious but doable... :)

[red maples]

happy Spring I think.... doesn't seem like it. Got some syrup bottled (need alot more) and jelly made. Got a whopping 26 gallons of sap. dam. a little shy of my 50 gal goal. Hoping we at least get a little today, not expecting too much with no sun but fingers crossed. then another freeze up $%%#@@%$^^&$%%........

[red maples]

Anybody get anything yesterday? Got a little but not really much. Not thinking there would be I didn't check sap sacks but they are 1/2 full and frozen... OH well at least they won't blow away!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I turned the vacuum on at noon yesterday and my releaser that holds 25 gallons dumped for the first time at 3:00. At 6:00 I had 100 gallons. I turned the vacuum off at 2:30 this morning and had 175 gallons of ice in the tank this morning. The gravity lines and buckets ran a little bit too.

[red maples]

Well took forever for everything to thaw. I had 150 gallons of sitting around so I decided to squeeze that and cook it down to refresh the evap which has been sitting for way too long. made a few more gallons of syrup. not even the buckets ran today. perfect sap weather but thigs need to re-thaw again. Guessing there will be no boiling until thursday. tomorrow looks good as well should be able to get some sap tomorrow. That didn't take long cleaned out the wood shed a little, did the big spring cleaning on the chicken coop things were still a bit frosty so it was a little tough to peel up but got it all out.

Don't think I will have enough syrup we'll know shortly I guess.

Did make alot of candy, cream, lollipops, maple drops. still more stuff to make but getting low on the main ingredient!!! :(

For those who sell them what are you charging for lollipops?

[red maples]

just try to get geared up for maple weekend still alot todo and time is running low!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I'm pretty much ready for maple weekend. I'm not boiling tonight so I can move the canner out of the RO room tomorrow and set up the sample table. Now to find a solution for mud at the bottom of the stairs to the sugar house. The piece of plywood that I want to put there is frozen into the snow that slid off of the woodshed roof.

[red maples]

get a few bags of stone from lowes or home depot or what ever I do it every year. stairs ways etc. drop a bag of stone and it will usually get walked into the mud. keep a few bags on hand for when the mud getts too soft again.

[maple maniac65]

wood chips hold up better than stone. Some loggers use them on woods roads to fill in mud holes.

[Russell Lampron]

I was thinking of putting a piece of plywood down as a temporary bridge. When the season is over I can store it in my woodshed and use it again next season. It is about 8' from the stairs to the RO room door. The plan eventually is to haul in gravel and build up the area to fill in the low spot. I have to do an engine swap and some rust repair to my dump truck first though. The area is too small to get a 10 wheeler into.

[red maples]

Well ended up with about an hour of sleep on Friday night, but I made it though. Saturday wasn't the best turnout but Sunday was excellent. Sold my last pint of syrup at 2:50 on sunday we closed at 3. athough everyone was gone by 4:00. Great weekend over all. broke my single day sales record on Sunday which doubled what I sold on saturday. Broke the record for my weekend sales as well. Everyone had a great time regardless of Saturday's weather.

Only 1 issue my cashier called out on Friday night. My great neighbors bailed us out!!! couldn't have done the weekend without them. my Kids were great my son was in charge of the tasting table He knows all about the different grades of syrup now and how the jelly, cream, mustard, and BBQ sauce is made.

My daughter sold 200 hotdogs cooked in sweetened maple sap. Overall She made over $400 to donate to the 3rd grade(my son's class) for their 5th grade class trip to camp sargent and some of that will go to the NHSPCA.

My Wife had her studio open and broke her maple weekend sales record as well.

Made about 15 gallons of syrup over the weekend. It was nice to get some sleep. Now to clean the kitchen its trashed and then get ready for my maple tours this week.

Glad to hear everyone else had a successful weekend as well. Its always a ton of work but worth it in the end.

[Russell Lampron]

Saturday sucked here too. I wasn't going to open until 11:00 on Sunday but the crowds started rolling in at 9:30 and by 11:00 we had already passed Saturday's sales total.

[red maples]

Nice to be getting sap Finally!!! Same exact pattern as last year. slow start to the season sap here and there then after maple weekend BAM. I hope it keeps up. 450 gallons monday, 450 gallons Tuesday.

Over the weekend I just cycled sap through once so I was boiling 4-5% sap then at 2:30 on sunday I recirculated what I had left and boiled everything out. made a bunch of very Dark which was a good thing actually great flavor too. lots of orders for it. Sap is back up to 2% average between buckets 2.6% and vacuum 1.8% so thats good.

busy as hell yesterday. 36 second graders for a tour. a gentleman wanted to see the vacuum system set-up as he is putting one in. A guy I used to work with came up from boston haven't seen him in 10 years or so. was there the whole time I was boiling. luckily everything went smooth as could be, But I was beat!!!

Just about back into Dark now took a while to get things running smoothly again Flue pan is lightened back up again as well. filtered syrup yesterday when I was done boiling loaded with niter. I know flu pan is loaded too. so I will drain that out and filter it through after everything cools down tonight looks like its alot of sludge back there. should lighten things up a bit just from that. hopefully get close to amber again.

got 17 -2nd graders today, 36 thursday AM , and 40 on fridayAM . then 15 seniors on friday afternoon. and then I am done with tours.

Baseball and softball starting for the kids so throw that into the mix now!!! GEEZ!!! Easter coming up we'll be boiling then too... thats a good thing!!!

Red Sox first game against Philly monday 3:05!!! We'll be listening to that in the sugarhouse!!! can't wait!!!

[optionguru]

I love that you get all those school tours. My friends are from all over the country so I'm always teaching someone about Maple. I love when newcomers stop by on boiling days, I get to teach them about the process and show off the homemade evaporator.

[red maples]

not a good sap day... alittle too cold last night I think. Things took a little longer to to get going and then it ran the hardest I have seen it run yet this year... releaser was dumping every 5-7 minutes. for about an hr then the wind picked up and it was windy as hell here then things slowed way down. The buckets didn;t do well today either. only ended up with 280 gallons of sap. hmmmm darn wind anyway. Vac pressure settled in at 26" today too.

See what we get tomorrow.

The 10 day forecast doesn;t look too bad. I am trying not to look too far past that as its NEVER accurate, but its making me a little nervous... day temps look OK but nights are a little warm. vacumm Vacuum Vacuum!!! Need more syrup FINALLY past the 50 gallon mark today!!!

[Russell Lampron]

My gravity tanks and buckets are running good here and I got over 1/2 gpt on the vacuum yesterday. Made 21 gallons last night and will be boiling again tonight.

I've said enough about the 10 day forecast. I'm keeping my thoughts on that to myself so as not to jinx anything. I'm not looking past 3 days out.

[red maples]

same here brother!!!

[red maples]

OK, So, We all get some really "out there" questions... here's the best one of the season so far, not sure if it beats last year's " what kind of trees to you make maple syrup from? " WOW

Today one of the parents on the tour asked me "What kind of wood did you use to build the sugarhouse to give the flavor to the maple syrup? " What? Huh??? Wait What??? How do you even answer that?

[red maples]

Man too cold then no sun to get things going, 12:00 and the ice finally came out of the lines. but sap is just trickling out, 1:00 46* and trees are still frozen sun is trying to creep out. need those trees to warm up!!!

[PerryW]

Man too cold then no sun to get things going, 12:00 and the ice finally came out of the lines. but sap is just trickling out, 1:00 46* and trees are still frozen sun is trying to creep out. need those trees to warm up!!!

My thermometer had been stuck at 30 till 11 AM, but jumped to 37 in 30 minutes. Sitting at 41 degrees now, but not even the icicles on the roof are dripping yet. Was planning on checking for leaks but it needs to start running first.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap started running late here too but when it did finally start it ran good. Between yesterday and the day before I got 130 gallons out of my buckets and gravity tanks. That's 17 buckets and the rest on 5/16" tubing.

[red maples]

Well this week was kind of a blurrrrrrr!!! :) made some syrup had tours almost everyday. lots of sap. still way down on syrup numbers though. only around 65 gallons total not happy with that but better than nothing. If we get freezes and my estimates are close we willbreak 100 gallons this year... I hope.. Lots of hoping in Maple sugaring... I hope the temps are good, I hope I get sap, I hope the sugar content is good. I hope... well you get it.

I was really dialed in yesterday sap as been really nice to process made a little over 10 gallons, been making Dark pretty consistently since last weekend's Very dark simmering weekend. With the pans really lightening up and almost into Amber but ran out of sap, dam. Was able to get the machine to get sugar up to 15% its been running great. The RO is still amazing to me to see how much water comes out just magical. Evap was running great. had a nice steady drawoff. I have finally got the fan blowing just right that I can add wood without turning off the blower and adding wood and not blowing ash and coal all over the place. So I get a more consistant boil. just a good boiling day I guess.

Didn't get much sap yesterday. was good in the morning the sun came out for a few minutes trees were dripping pretty good but once it clouded up everything slowed. and I went out about 11:00 and there was pretty much nothing comng in the releaser shut off the Vac. Trees have been running in sun this year I don't know why except for Thursday night trees just don;t wanna run in cloudy skies or at night. ??? I don;t know. Sugar has been steady over 2% all year thursday it dropped to about 1.75% and by Friday sap started crystal clear but by the end of the day pretty cloudy and coming at 1.4%.

Just have to see how the real temps play out this week might be done by mid to late week. just need 40 gallons I just wanna be over 100 Gals gotta beat last year. and need to find some sugar maples for next season Reds give you syrup but sugars give you ALOT of syrup!!! Right Josh!!!

[Russell Lampron]

You turned the vacuum off??? Even when I have just a trickle coming in I have it on.

Looks like you found the sweet spot with your blower. I found that sweet spot with mine and it is nice to be able to fire without losing your boil.

Is your Dark tasting like Dark? If I don't start getting an improvement in my grade soon I may have to trade some of my Amber for some dark. I'm at 101 gallons now and it has all been Amber.

[red maples]

Flavor is a little lighter than dark. not quite a true dark but good none the less. went a shade darker today today into some very dark but thats a bit expected since we have lack of freezes. I made 7 more gallons today so that put over the 70 gallon mark today. Wish I had more saved up though blew through everything I made up to maple weekend. blew through everything I made over maple weekend into monday. and its just flying outta here. I can't keep the little very dark I made on the shelves its just going as fast I can bottle it and I only have a little bit.

With some freezes coming over the next several days I should break 100 by maybe tues/wed.

I turned the vac off because there wasn't even a trickle coming out have about 65 gallons so far today though. Buckets and gravity are done for now... but they should be going again tomorrow.

No boiling tomorrow, gotta save everything until monday AM.

Nice being open today though made alittle bit of money in 2 hrs.

[Russell Lampron]

The vacuum is still pulling in some sap here. I've got 500+ gallons to run through the RO and boil tomorrow. Taking a much needed night off tonight.

[red maples]

I got about 90 gallons today. and we are frozen up at 9:00. just shut everything down. Coloring Eggs with the kiddos!!!!

[red maples]

Sap ran great today, got about 375-400 + the whopping 80 gallons from yesterday. to boil out tomorrow looks like another freeze tonight so that will help things along.

[red maples]

Still slugging along. When the sap is running good I think big roadsides I have on buckets are running about the same as my reds on vacuum. but Vac still far ahead as GPT's go from night runs and no freeze days. but its nice to see full bags none the less.

I took a walk back into the woods today which I haven't done in some time. would you believe I still have 1-1.5 feet of snow in some places and even a few trees with rings of friggin' ice. and trees that aren't running. CRAZY!!! now I know why my GPT is down. I think some of the dam trees are still frozen back there. you can feel the temp drop by at least 5+*F as you get back there too!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I can feel the temp difference when I go down the hill to my releaser too. It's always colder down there.

[Dill]

I can't get over the amount of snow that's still on the ground in the woods. Unless we get the kind of rain they had been calling for its not disappearing in the next couple days. And that rain in the forecast seems to have been reduced. Gravity taps have slowed right down here too. All that messing with vac seems to be worth it all of sudden.

[red maples]

buckets are still going good. Probably not so much from here on out, with freezes only to 30*...maybe for the next few days then none. Gravity tubing really not doing much. Average Sugar was way down the end of last week to 1.4 lowest of the season so far but back up to 1.9 as of this morning. but guessing that will drop drastically over today and the next several days. Praying for freezing nights!!! Come on maple gods do us a solid here we can use it!!!

[red maples]

averaging 1.4 again and even sap sacks on big sugars are coming in under 2 now. sap has changed from the that rich slightly yellowish color to clear slightly cloudy water looking sap even from the big sugars. So I got a 2 day total of about 400 gallons so may only finish with about 6-7 gallons of syrup since the sugar is so low. but that will put me at last years total.

Scary how much this year is like last year except I didn;t make any Merch. and we will be done before the trees bud. but we will see how things go with vac on we did get the freeze up here @ 33* the releaser was full of slush last night shut it down. Didn't want any flappers sticking open or closed. but woke up to 31* this morning. roads are OK though.

[Russell Lampron]

I shut my vacuum off at 9 pm Wednesday night because everything was frozen. The forecast had said that it wasn't going to freeze until 1 am! Last night I left the vacuum on and as far as I know it didn't freeze last night. It rained overnight and is sprinkling now. I hope I got a tank full.

Nothing darker than mid amber here this year with the last 2 boils being the lightest syrup that I have made in years. The flavor went with the color too. The maple flavor is all but gone now just the way that the yuppies like it.

[red maples]

Who are these yuppies you speak of??? I get maybe a handful of people that are looking for light syrup. I tried to sell it one year and sat on it for ever. Ended up dumping the bottles and making candy out of it. it also darkened to medium.

Well its April 10 which was my last official boil last year. I am at 89 gallons for the season so far 1 gallon shy of what I did last year. I have sap in the tank sap in the buckets so I with 1 boil I will break last year if we can squeak out 1 more real boil after that, I will break 100 gallons and pass that with finishing out my pans. I also have a chance at some extra sap after noon time on saturday from a friend. so if its still running after that time and its not merch by then I can make some more. So a little better than last year, no bumper crop by any means, but we'll take it.

Sugar is 1.8 on buckets and 1.4 on vac. Starting to get an end of season smell to the evap. but syrup still tastes good. Went just hair into very dark yesterday its been teetering back and forth between the dark and Very dark all week. Syrup still going through the press pretty easy as well. Probably pulling buckets on monday or tuesday. we'll, see the bigger trees are really running good on buckets....finally surprising they haven't done that good the smaller and medium ones have been better.

Had a little trouble getting a good exact density draw off yesterday. I always like to draw 1/2 to 1 point over but I was like 3-4 points over couldn;t get it right no matter what I did even over drawing just couldn;t get it right. Had to thin it out at the end. I always draw a little over thats easy to fix. Its always harder to fix thinner than it is to fix heavier.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Your syrup pan may be getting a lot of scale on it is why temp is climbing higher.

[red maples]

no scale its clean as a whistle. I just couldn't get the temp correct. I think my cup was cold when I was setting the draw off temp then once my draw off bucket was full it was too thick. its all good. sometimes things just don;t smoothly.

Actually got alot of sap the last 2 days. doesn't smell that good kinda grey, I am thinking it might be metabolism. Hope it cooks out OK. low sugar too. it just keep dropping.

[red maples]

saving everything for tomorrow. I have almost 800 gallons now(thats a couple of days worth). Getting some additional sap as well so that a huge help. I can't believe sap is still coming in as good as it is. Buckets are somehow still dripping too. I am guess what I am getting for sap is the trees in the back FINALLY waking up for the grand finnally....

[Russell Lampron]

The sap has been running good here too. I boiled in 1000 gallons tonight and have 700 for tomorrow with more coming in. The buckets and gravity are done for now but we may get a frost tonight to get them flowing again.

[red maples]

We got a frost..... although not much of one hit 31*F for about an hr. but it was 32* fro a while. What a surprise!!! not much sap on the over night, We'll see how things are today. might get a little more in the buckets today??? especially since the wind isn;t supposed to be as bad today.

[Russell Lampron]

I think that the wind actually helped here yesterday. It kept the temperature down so that the sap would keep flowing. My tank in the woods was nutted at 2 pm and had another 175 gallons in it at 7:30. It got colder here than what was in the forecast overnight so the buckets and gravity should start running again today too.

[red maples]

I hope so we just keep slugging along... I don't know how much longer it will last but if I can still keep on making syrup I will be happy, as will the rest of us... :)

[red maples]

Well we got the slight freeze last night and with about 350 gallons from Chris(thanks) while he was at a horse show this weekend, and the remainder mine I had approx. 1150 gallons to deal with today. It was a challenge making holes to put it. Started the RO early this morning. collected all the sap and by the time I was done boiling I went from a tick over Very dark to the lighter side of dark almost close to the lightest I have made all season except the second boil of the year. Finished with 18 gallons for the day. My single best day to date. That puts me at 107 gallons for the season.... So Far. Finally broke 100 gallons and close to 20 gallons better than last year. Sugar has really dropped off but still making nice syrup. Thank goodness for the RO. I wouldn't wanna be boiling that approx. 1.3% sap out (it was a little warm so hard to get a good true reading with the sap hydrometer) so pretty close to 60:1 sap to syrup.

Very hot in the sugarhouse once things got going today, a little sweaty and a nice case of swamp ***!!! :cry:

For such a rough start to the season it is sure ending good!!! might be pulling buckets tomorrow they were actually running a little today. We'll keep the vac going for a while not sure how long things will last.

[red maples]

So I think thats it here... Time to call it a season rough start REALLY strong finish and ended up to be a good season no bumper crop for me but will end with approx. 115 gallons finally broke into the 100 club. and most syrup I have made in a season so I will take it. Some day I will make a quart per tap on my reds!!! :) the suck part of the season is now upon us pulling taps, finishing out the evap, cleaning stuff. I need to bottle about 20 gallons of syrup, then on to trout fishing, bees, baseball, softball, gardens, the honey do list!!! etc etc etc

Good luck with the remainder of the season for those who are still plugging away!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I didn't get a quart per tap here either but it was close. I need to make just under 200 to make it and ended up with 178. Now on to the clean up and other things none maple.

[red maples]

yeah need 150 gallons to reach a quart. some day. If the beginning of the season sap flows matched the temps we got then I would have hit it easy.

[Russell Lampron]

I did the math and actually made .23qts per tap. That 600 gallons mistake on Easter Sunday and finishing the evaporator would have gotten me there. It will happen for you Brad.

[red maples]

Yeah mine worked out to be .193 We did have good sugar again this year. buckets and gravity was well over 2% most of the season except the end and even hit 2.8-2.9 on some days. and vac. reds averaged 2% most of the time as well which they rarely are that high. last year was a pretty good sugar year too So even though sap was down with high sugar I averaged 48.5:1 which was the best sugar season I have had. I also had pretty exact numbers this year too because I bought a water meter for raw sap. but trying to RO 1100 gallons of sap at the end of the season when your at 1.3% sap takes a long time!!!

[Russell Lampron]

The next big thing that I have to do is upgrade my RO or replace it with a bigger one. It takes forever to process large amounts of sap.

[red maples]

mine does a pretty good job. but I don't have 1000 gallons of storage space If I had all my stuff plumbed in maybe but I have a just shy of 600 gallons stainless and several 150 gallons white totes. but like to keep the majority of it in the stainless...much easier to keep clean. So I have to remove water add sap remove water add sap. so it takes alot longer.

[red maples]

Well so far on cleanup... Evap is boiled out and added water and 5 gallons of vinegar while it was still hot niter peels right off its magic swear. I will do a little fire this afternoon after it starts to rain SOOO dry outside. Just a little light scrubbing then over fill and let it set some more. try to get some scale off the sides.

The RO is cleaned and membranes removed plugs removed membranes are in preservative. cleaned a few barrels, broke down the filterpress got that and the hoses and the cart all wiped down. still lots to do... floor is a mess but I'll get there!!! I usually like to scrub it during the season but I was so dam busy I never did it...

[red maples]

Well ended up not going to the BBQ... Friend's daughter woke up with a stomach bug, don't need that!!! so they had to cancel. have a big bowl of coleslaw to eat now kind of enough for my whole neighborhood!!!

so turned it into a productive afternoon. trip to Lowes to pick up stuff to expand the and fix the chicken coop and run. Then turned to tank scrubbing. and cleaning the Tank/RO room. and scrubbed the floor. cleaned an hand full of white 5-gal buckets. flushed out the sap pump. and put the dehumidifier in there for a few days to dry things out in there.

Got that stale sour maple sap smell around the sugarhouse that I always get at the end of the season. usually lasts a couple weeks until the rains wash things out and the soil and mud dry up around.

Not sure if I will get to pulling the taps in the next few days I really have to get the chicken run fixed in the next few days because they are digging up the wife's gardens.... not good for me... so thats priority right now!!! :(