Abbott's Family Farm 2015

[abbott]

March first already - it snuck up on me. Maybe my brain is still in the deep freeze. Perhaps since I'm not adding any taps this year, I'm having a hard time getting fully shifted into maple mode.

I've been through the whole of my main maple orchard, so all of the tubing looks good now and the actual tapping will be pretty quick. At this point, I'm thinking Thursday or Friday to start making holes.

I feel like we're set up for a good season this year, but then again last year looked good until it didn't. I'd say 320 gallons of syrup is a good target number for the year - that's about midway between the last two seasons.

As usual, I hope to get out and meet some of you other sugarmakers in the area and you're always welcome to come see my operation as well. I'm doing my best to avoid being a Facebook addict, but I'm going to try to regularly post pictures on my farm page if anyone wants to see what I'm doing wrong!

www.facebook.com/AbbottsFamilyFarm

[abbott]

All tapped in as of Saturday morning. About 760 on vacuum and 80 gravity. There was a steady trickle out the gravity line yesterday afternoon that I let run on the ground. I would have fired up the vacuum and checked for leaks, but I had a meeting to be at - couldn't even get down there to see what was running. As soon as the lines thaw I'll be out today fixing leaks. Not really hoping to collect anything to keep today, but tomorrow certainly should produce some sap to boil. Let it begin!

[abbott]

The sap ran just enough to get the leaks chased down, though there was the occasional lateral that had no sap - I'd look down the line and see that all of the taps were on the shady side of the tree. I didn't save any sap - I'd say it would have amounted to 50-100 gallons. Fairly clear color, but lots of junk in it. I'll probably let some more run on the ground tomorrow, then maybe collect a couple hundred gallons if all goes well.

I found several spots where the mainline had a small round hole. They looked to be gnawed through (or pecked?) but too neat and small to be squirrels. Any thoughts on what does that?

[abbott]

10994

Sap! I had about 200 gallons at 6 pm. May boil tomorrow, may wait and boil it all on Thursday, depending on how it runs tomorrow. I'm a bit concerned that I won't get a freeze tonight and tomorrow will be disappointing.

[abbott]

1180 gallons of sap in one end of the beast and 14 gallons of syrup out the other end. Sap's been about 1.7%, syrup has been "Dark Color with Robust Flavor". Both of those are fairly normal for the first of the season. The syrup should lighten and the sap should sweeten. I've been extremely happy with the ease of filtering thus far. Sometimes there's a really fine sediment that clogs the felts at the beginning of the year.

14000 gallons of sap to go! Run, trees, run.

[abbott]

A little sap on Friday and Saturday at 2.3% and a bit of a run today at 2.5%. I can work with that sugar content. Should be enough for a boil tomorrow.

[abbott]

Made about 20 gallons of syrup over the last two days to bring the season total over 50. It's nice to work with 2.6% sap - normally that's about the high point for me in terms of sugar content. The vacuum pump is still inducing a trickle of sap, so I'll have a bit to boil today. Then lets hope the next week plays out like the forecast - we're starting to run short on time.

As I was walking back up the trail after checking in on the vacuum pump last night, I stopped to add my contribution to the stream running through the huge culvert under the road. Except there was no water running through the culvert. And this is a stream that only dries up in a dry summer. Well I don't think the ground is thawed enough to absorb water, so it must be that the snow wasn't yet fully saturated. Then I got to thinking... how can the tree keep pumping out sap if new water isn't yet reaching its roots? And is that why the sugar content of the sap is still rising - there's only so much water to work with? Perhaps you'd need college degrees in physics and chemistry to understand it all.

Anyway... season total is just about 3000 gallons of sap... 12000 to go!

[abbott]

Well it was 31* up here on the hill at 6:30 this morning, but still 33* down at the sap house, and no ice in the lines. But by 10 am it was down to 29* at the top of the hill and there was at least a partial freeze in the woods, with sap flow really picking up around 11:30. Not to say the sap ran hard, but better than it could have been!

I planted beets this morning (in the hoop house), cleaned the evaporator early afternoon, and still managed to boil for a few hours after that. The syrup has been Amber color. I don't really expect to make any Golden, but with clean pans and hopefully some good sap flow coming up there's still a chance.

[twitch]

Abbott did your sugar content go down like you thought it would mine was 2.5 and is now just a little over 2 hope to see it climb back up



Made about 20 gallons of syrup over the last two days to bring the season total over 50. It's nice to work with 2.6% sap - normally that's about the high point for me in terms of sugar content. The vacuum pump is still inducing a trickle of sap, so I'll have a bit to boil today. Then lets hope the next week plays out like the forecast - we're starting to run short on time.

As I was walking back up the trail after checking in on the vacuum pump last night, I stopped to add my contribution to the stream running through the huge culvert under the road. Except there was no water running through the culvert. And this is a stream that only dries up in a dry summer. Well I don't think the ground is thawed enough to absorb water, so it must be that the snow wasn't yet fully saturated. Then I got to thinking... how can the tree keep pumping out sap if new water isn't yet reaching its roots? And is that why the sugar content of the sap is still rising - there's only so much water to work with? Perhaps you'd need college degrees in physics and chemistry to understand it all.

Anyway... season total is just about 3000 gallons of sap... 12000 to go!

[abbott]

Still going up, somehow. Sap volume has been disappointing, but I've been consoling myself with the fact that its been 2.8% the last two days. I keep checking the calibration of the refractometer! I'm surprised your sugar is down - usually that doesn't happen until the weather warms up a bit more. Seems like the sugar usually goes down when we get a couple nights with little or no frost and goes up with a couple of cold nights.

[abbott]

If only the calendar said it was two weeks earlier, I'd feel really good about where we're at. I'm getting the feeling that in a couple more weeks I'll be saying, "If we can just get a couple more cold nights..." I feel like we're running out of time and every day I don't get at least 500 gallons of sap is a disappointment. But February and March were colder than normal, so as long as April is too, we'll be good to go!

5000 gallons of sap down, 10,000 to go!

[Mitchman]

We are finally getting some decent sap day's, and thanks to Maple Trader my brother and I built an R.O. system and a cooler vacuum system. Both are running decent. They will help us get to our goal of 4 to 6 gals of syrup, the most we have ever done in a season. Made our first gallon of finish syrup today, the sky's the limit !!

416 Cat backhoe
Polaris Indy
12x16 Sugar Shack
27 buckets
39 taps on line

[abbott]

We are finally getting some decent sap day's, and thanks to Maple Trader my brother and I built an R.O. system and a cooler vacuum system. Both are running decent. They will help us get to our goal of 4 to 6 gals of syrup, the most we have ever done in a season. Made our first gallon of finish syrup today, the sky's the limit !!


Sounds like you've got enough taps to make at least ten gallons! Don't settle for less!

[abbott]

The sap ran in faster today than it has all season so far, though it wasn't a terribly long run... looks like it will freeze up soon with the total around 500 gallons. That brings the season tally over 7000. My goal of 15000 seems a long way off, but with the sap still pretty sweet (2.5 brix now) the syrup is adding up quickly. I haven't checked the tank on the gravity line today, but those taps may have actually passed last season's total at about 5 gallons sap/tap.

Looks like we'll get another productive week, then ???

[abbott]

Get ready. I think tomorrow will be a big sap day!

[Mitchman]

Steven, I'm only getting dark syrup, no amber, and it's usually the other way around for us ? Think I missed that train ? Not that I'm complaining as I have 3 gallons and the best I ever did was 4 1/2 gallons. I should beat my record soon the way it ran today !!!

[abbott]

Steven, I'm only getting dark syrup, no amber, and it's usually the other way around for us ? Think I missed that train ? Not that I'm complaining as I have 3 gallons and the best I ever did was 4 1/2 gallons. I should beat my record soon the way it ran today !!!

Hard to say why you've only made dark. Some years I make some light (golden now) but not this year. I've made almost all amber with a bit of dark at the beginning and a bit of dark after that 60* day. You might make some amber if you boil yesterday and today's sap promptly, but in general the syrup will only be getting darker from here on out.

Not sure how much more ran after I left the sap house, but I got about a gallon per tap on the vacuum yesterday - best total yet this year but I was actually hoping it would run harder than it did. Just about 200 gallons of syrup made to date. I'd be disappointed with anything less than 300 when all is said and done.

[twitch]

Same here abbott little dark bunch of amber 1 dark boil back to amber and would suspect that would go back to dark. It's looking like the season may get cut off here soon. I am up to 65 gallons 70 is the most i have ever made i think i will be over that can't get to collecting tonight so will see in the A.M. Boiled off yesterdays run tis mourning was running 2.75% sugar i think it was up because my road side buckets ran really well the last couple days I left them till they were full since the weather was nice and cool got some that are 3.5 - 4% they help out a lot made around 8 gallons 250 gallon of sap. In comparison to last year when I made 30 gallons this has been a great season would like to hit the 100 gallon mark some time will probably need to tap more trees....

[twitch]

sorry abbot not trying to take over your thread thought i was on the Maine tapping 2015 woops

[abbott]

sorry abbot not trying to take over your thread thought i was on the Maine tapping 2015 woops

Take it over? Nah - make it better.

[abbott]

So I left the vacuum pump running last night not expecting a freeze. Got there this morning at 7 to find only 20 gallons had run overnight. Wet line full of ice as far as the eye could see. A trickle coming out the dry line, which soon was full of ice too. It took until about 10 am for the dry line to clear up and about 12:30 pm the wet line let loose. Quite something to have the releaser dump every minute for 10 minutes.

Really looks like that might be the last freeze for me - but it was a surprise to get that one. Usually if its borderline we stay too warm up here on the hillside. I have no plans to pull taps yet, though.

10,000 gallons of sap down, 5,000 to go. Fat chance.

[twitch]

I hope you have more unexpected freezes must be one more


So I left the vacuum pump running last night not expecting a freeze. Got there this morning at 7 to find only 20 gallons had run overnight. Wet line full of ice as far as the eye could see. A trickle coming out the dry line, which soon was full of ice too. It took until about 10 am for the dry line to clear up and about 12:30 pm the wet line let loose. Quite something to have the releaser dump every minute for 10 minutes.

Really looks like that might be the last freeze for me - but it was a surprise to get that one. Usually if its borderline we stay too warm up here on the hillside. I have no plans to pull taps yet, though.

10,000 gallons of sap down, 5,000 to go. Fat chance.

[twitch]

I got 30 at my house and 32 at the bush thats a freeze

[abbott]

I got 30 at my house and 32 at the bush thats a freeze

36 at my house. I'm not feeling very hopeful that it froze.

[abbott]

Sap ran pretty well overnight, boiled off 760 gallons of sap today and made 19 gallons of syrup to bring the season total to 272. Sugar content has been dropping, but still way better than it normally is toward the end of the season.

Mostly sunny with a high around 50, huh? Try 45 degrees and mostly cloudy. Not that I'm complaining - it was a very pleasant day to make syrup and now that the sky has cleared maybe - just maybe it will freeze tonight!

[Mitchman]

I was shaken my head also Abbott, it only hit 39 here, some flurry's with the clouds. Dollars to donut's we go below freezing tonight, which is a good thing. And maybe just maybe see some 50's for highs tomorrow.

[abbott]

37* at the top of the hill here - unlikely its enough lower down in the woods. Hopefully some of you fared better. There's still a chance for tonight and Wednesday looks hopeful - I'm sure the buds won't have swelled yet at that point. Until then we'll just have to see how long the vacuum can keep sucking those trees dry!

[bagpiper]

27 F. here at 6:00 this morning and ice in all the buckets. It'll be interesting to see how the trees respond today; it's supposed to get up into the mid 60's.

[abbott]

Well the sap ran quite well under vacuum today and even the gravity line ran a bit. With the ground still frozen I may be able to keep the sap coming with the vacuum, but the sugar content will continue to plummet. It's 2.1 now. Looks like the valleys will get a freeze again tonight, but not me. Good for growing vegetables, not for growing sap.

With my longest boil of the season I pushed the syrup total to 292 gallons - more than last year even though I've had considerably less sap. The syrup total will at least come close to average with the possibility of going over if the weather cooperates.

Nearly 12,000 gallons of sap now, just 3000 away from the preseason goal!

[West Sumner Sugar]

Good for you! That is a very impressive total! We finished out at about 30 gallons (so no need to worry about us out producing you at this point). We cannot complain since last summer we had doubts any of us would even have the time to do it. Time was short this year and we came out about normal for final product. Hopefully the sap still comes for you this week and you can crack 300 gallons! Good luck!

[abbott]

Good for you! That is a very impressive total! We finished out at about 30 gallons (so no need to worry about us out producing you at this point). We cannot complain since last summer we had doubts any of us would even have the time to do it. Time was short this year and we came out about normal for final product. Hopefully the sap still comes for you this week and you can crack 300 gallons! Good luck!

300 is pretty much guaranteed with what is in the evap and I'd consider 320 "Average" for the number of taps I have this year. In 2013 I made 340 as my all-time high. There's so much cold still in the ground its going to be hard to declare my season officially over for a while yet.

Sounds like you guys came out all right then!

[abbott]

Joe Cupo says its going to be 23* inland Wednesday night. I'm not sure I believe him, but the only reason to pull taps before then is if you're ready to move on.

The sap still came in good today under vacuum, but the syrup is darkening up in a hurry. I'm on the verge of making "Very Dark with Strong Taste" which is good because I've got orders for 8+ gallons of the stuff to fill and plenty more people will be looking for it. I don't enjoy making it though - lots of scuzz in the pans, thick black niter, and it always seems trickier to get the draw-off right. Not to mention that boiling when its 70* out isn't so fun. But at $50 plus a gallon, might as well make what I can.

[Mitchman]

I'm gonna go the rest of the week or so also Abbott, we should be in the low 20's next 2 nights. I pulled all the buckets, tree's were stopping, and tired of fighting the mud and slush. The lines are still going pretty good so we will make some of that "Very Dark with Strong Taste" also. And I just love freaking doing it and don't want it to quit !!!

[twitch]

I took most of my buckets down( had enough of them time sucking bucket). Both bushes with gravity are still plugged in we will see what they do. All the people that lend me a hand in trade for syrup want dark they want the darkest syrup of the season I really have not pulled any off so I need to. It is also what I like on my ice cream. So the show goes on would like to see one more nice run cloudy or not. I find that most people who know what they want ask for dark.

[abbott]

I took most of my buckets down( had enough of them time sucking bucket). Both bushes with gravity are still plugged in we will see what they do. All the people that lend me a hand in trade for syrup want dark they want the darkest syrup of the season I really have not pulled any off so I need to. It is also what I like on my ice cream. So the show goes on would like to see one more nice run cloudy or not. I find that most people who know what they want ask for dark.

I keep thinking I should go pull the few taps I have in reds. The general consensus is that we'll get a freeze tonight, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it doesn't quite make it here. I would think you could get one last run, though.

I've still been getting sap every day on vacuum, but it is quite cloudy. The syrup is now in the Very Dark category (the old Commercial Grade.) I don't know if its technically an off-flavor or not, but the flavor of the syrup changes enough at this point in the season to where I don't think it tastes as good, though some folks still love it. Last year I had like 50 gallons of the stuff and I sold it all to restaurants and folks who want the very darkest and I charged less for it. Now that its grade A no matter how dark it is I'll probably only charge less if I really think the flavor is off. Either way I know I have market for it, so I might as well keep making it!

Yes, most people ask me for dark as well, but on the new grading system I'll probably steer those folks to "Dark with Robust taste" and only sell the "Very Dark with Strong taste" to those who are sure that's what they want.

[Mitchman]

A balmy 23 degree's here Abbott, these next 2 day's will tell me if it's time to clean er up for the season, it's great when you can walk across the frozen mud in your slippers and light the fire!!!! And the birds are just a chirping !!!!

[abbott]

A balmy 23 degree's here Abbott, these next 2 day's will tell me if it's time to clean er up for the season, it's great when you can walk across the frozen mud in your slippers and light the fire!!!! And the birds are just a chirping !!!!

Now that's quite the mental image... hope the sap's still a runnin' (and I don't mean Mitchman scooting across his dooryard in slippers.) Nowhere close to freezing here last night. I shut off the vacuum pump this afternoon and cleaned up the sap I had. Tonight will determine whether I'm done or not but either way the season has been above average.

[abbott]

Not a bit of ice in the lines this morning, so it's official here. Ran the back pan sweet through the front pan and will bring what's left up to the house to finish off. Might as well get every drop.

The sap total per tap should be almost identical to last year, but much better sap to syrup ratio. I'll post the figures when I get them all totaled up.

[abbott]

332 gallons of syrup produced from 13200 gallons of sap- I consider that 104% crop - slightly above average. Last year was 290 gallons on slightly fewer taps.

16.7 gallons of sap/tap on vacuum - nearly identical to last year, but the sap averaged out quite a bit sweeter.
8.5 gallons of sap/tap on gravity. Those taps only average 6 gallons/tap, so this was excellent. It ran hard when it ran.

249 gallons of Amber, 54 gallons of Dark and 29 gallons of Very Dark. No Golden, but I often don't make any. Much lighter average color than normal, though.

Compared to last year, this season was a lot less work. Last year I started sooner and there were a lot of times I had to go light a little fire to keep the evaporator from freezing solid. I spent a lot of time shoveling lines out of the snow last year and this year the sap was sweeter so I spent less time boiling and used less wood. I also never drained and cleaned the flue pan this year mid-season because it never got too nitered up and the syrup wasn't getting dark so why bother? It didn't look good for a while there, but ended up being a good season!

[West Sumner Sugar]

Impressive! We weren't far behind you...well only 300 gallons or so. Great job!

[twitch]

Looks like you had a great season. Pretty impressive sap intake. I got a question. What does mofga want you to use for washing tubing. I really want to wash or rinse mine with something this year there is a lot of debate on what to use and as stricked organic mofga is their plan is probably pretty safe and effective.

[Mitchman]

Yes Abbott very good season!!! I wasn't that far behind you either at 8.75 gallons LOL !!!! We doubled our best, and are calling it quits. What do you use to rinse the tubing ?? My small runs I take down and use a very diluted bleach mixture ?? My long run, 600 ft. and goes to the cedar shingle mill where I have power, I shoot it down with a 3600 psi hot water power washer. Is this OK, or do you know of a better food grade cleaner.

[abbott]

Looks like you had a great season. Pretty impressive sap intake. I got a question. What does mofga want you to use for washing tubing. I really want to wash or rinse mine with something this year there is a lot of debate on what to use and as stricked organic mofga is their plan is probably pretty safe and effective.

Anything allowed for cleaning/sanitizing in an organic kitchen can theoretically also be used to clean tubing. The most common would be bleach, but regular household bleach may contain fragrances and surfactants so it is not approved. My certification manual makes mention of Ultra Clorox Germicidal Bleach as being ok to use. Bleach can be used "up to maximum label rates" and it must be followed by a rinse with potable water.

If you're going that route, I think the key is to be sure you get all of the bleach out of the lines by draining and then completely flushing with water. I have never put anything other than water in my main woods, as I see crud and bacteria growth as less of a threat than bleach. Before I was even certified organic I did flush my 80 gravity taps with bleach once. I'm able to hook a tank of water on at the top of the mainline, plug the bottom, and fill the tubes under gravity. I did that with a highly diluted bleach solution and let it set for a day, drained it the best I could, then hooked on a tank of clean water and ran enough through each tap to feel confident that the bleach was out. I know a lot of people pump from the bottom and I'm sure that can work well, too.

During my long days at the sap house, how I'd like to clean the lines is one of the things I contemplate. What I've been doing is to run the vacuum pump while pulling taps, trying to let the sap get sucked out as I go. Then I go back through carrying a gallon jug of water and suck some water through each tap. Even with a gallon of water in hand and a couple more in a backpack I can only do about 200 taps before I refill. A couple days later I run the vacuum again and go through and drain the water again. Come spring, there's still plenty of junk in the lines.

I'd like to fill the lines completely and I may try to hook a big tank of water on at the high point this year. I also think that it would be really nice to flush the lines again with water in the fall since bacteria shouldn't grow after that, but that would require fixing leaks in the fall (which would probably be a good thing.) I don't think I want to put bleach in the lines because it would be hard to be confident that I flushed it all out. The junk that comes out in the sap is a nuisance but not a threat to "organic integrity."

Steve

[twitch]

Thanks Steve that makes up my mind for me nothing but water in the lines which is what I was leaning towards. I would rather deal with the crude that I know is 100 % natural that i can see i have filtered out of the sap then ever worry about bleach or any other chemical in my sap or syrup.

[GeneralStark]

Something to consider for rinsing the tubing is using a 50/50 water/distilled vinegar solution. I have been pulling a little bit of this through each drop with the vac. on when pulling taps for several years now and it seems to work quite well. The solution and air mix really scrub the lines and any residual solution left in the lines is harmless. Any sap left in the lines will turn to vinegar anyway. The next season I let a little sap run on the ground at first, but not much. This year I made a bit of dark syrup at the beginning of the season but the flavor was good.

[abbott]

Something to consider for rinsing the tubing is using a 50/50 water/distilled vinegar solution. I have been pulling a little bit of this through each drop with the vac. on when pulling taps for several years now and it seems to work quite well. The solution and air mix really scrub the lines and any residual solution left in the lines is harmless. Any sap left in the lines will turn to vinegar anyway. The next season I let a little sap run on the ground at first, but not much. This year I made a bit of dark syrup at the beginning of the season but the flavor was good.

Not to be a naysayer here, but...

I also run a bit of sap on the ground. This year it was probably 100 gallons for 750 taps. I also make a bit of dark syrup before it lightens up. I'm not convinced that there is an advantage to running vinegar through the lines, especially if the sap turns to vinegar anyway. I'm also skeptical about how brief the contact time is, whether its long enough to kill bacteria.

That being said, do you feel that there is less bacteria in the lines since you have been doing this? Are you comparing to just running water through or to just sucking the sap out? I'm willing to be convinced, but I'm wary of adding in extra steps to the process. Thanks!

[abbott]

Thanks Steve that makes up my mind for me nothing but water in the lines which is what I was leaning towards. I would rather deal with the crude that I know is 100 % natural that i can see i have filtered out of the sap then ever worry about bleach or any other chemical in my sap or syrup.

I hear ya. Believe it or not, I don't even filter my sap, though that is something I would like to do better. Whatever junk makes it into the flue pan turns to scuzzy foam and I try to keep it skimmed off. I really don't think it hurts the integrity of the product, but sometimes I wonder if it makes the syrup harder to filter. Its just one of those things that you feel like you should do better about, but I'm not sure how much difference it really makes. I know what I do results in perfectly good syrup so I'm in no rush to complicate things.

Of course, I'm not exactly the most experienced sugarmaker either. My system works well for me, but I'm sure there are lots of tricks left to be learned.

[GeneralStark]

Not to be a naysayer here, but...

I also run a bit of sap on the ground. This year it was probably 100 gallons for 750 taps. I also make a bit of dark syrup before it lightens up. I'm not convinced that there is an advantage to running vinegar through the lines, especially if the sap turns to vinegar anyway. I'm also skeptical about how brief the contact time is, whether its long enough to kill bacteria.

That being said, do you feel that there is less bacteria in the lines since you have been doing this? Are you comparing to just running water through or to just sucking the sap out? I'm willing to be convinced, but I'm wary of adding in extra steps to the process. Thanks!

The water/vinegar solution will not kill microbes. My only intention with doing this is to rinse as much of the sap slime that develops late in the season out of the laterals. In my experience and based on what I have heard from others, just using water to rinse can lead to the growth of algae in the lines. The vinegar/water solution, primarily due to the lower ph, will not provide as ideal of an environment for algae growth.

There is really no way to kill the microbes that grow in the tubing, and I don't think there is much reason to try to do so as it would require some pretty serious chemicals to do so. In terms of syrup quality, I don't think we have much to worry about if your mainlines and laterals are stretched tight and well-sloped.

[abbott]

The water/vinegar solution will not kill microbes. My only intention with doing this is to rinse as much of the sap slime that develops late in the season out of the laterals. In my experience and based on what I have heard from others, just using water to rinse can lead to the growth of algae in the lines. The vinegar/water solution, primarily due to the lower ph, will not provide as ideal of an environment for algae growth.

There is really no way to kill the microbes that grow in the tubing, and I don't think there is much reason to try to do so as it would require some pretty serious chemicals to do so. In terms of syrup quality, I don't think we have much to worry about if your mainlines and laterals are stretched tight and well-sloped.

makes sense. makes me think that a rinse of the lines in the fall would be really good (whether vinegar or not) to have them as clear as possible going into winter. As for tight laterals and good slope... I don't have much slope to work with, so that's a bit tricky here.

[Mitchman]

Hey Abbott !! What do you make out of this early spring??

[abbott]

Hey Abbott !! What do you make out of this early spring??

Sorry for the slow reply... I've been doing my best to ignore weather reports, mapletrader, etc. It hasn't worked - I'm still stressed about the weather.

I think that the path to the most syrup this year would have been to tap already. I have check valves and vacuum. But there were too many other things going on and no way I was going to be ready. And then there's the question of whether not it would have been worth it. I would create a lot of extra work by tapping early. I'll be ready when it warms up again... looks like we have a couple of weeks.

[Mitchman]

Nice to hear from you again Steve!!! I know spring is right around the corner when looking out my bathroom window, Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal land in a tree 20 ft. away. I don't need that furry rodent telling me. Hopefully this is the last cold shot we get, and on to warmer weather. Dollars to donuts we will get a storm or 2, Sap Snow !! I'm crossing my fingers !!