Eastern Ontario 2015

[DrewCP]

OK. So it's March and I didn't see a local 2015 thread yet so here it is!

Can't believe the cold. Calling for around -20*C for 3 of the next 4 nights. Looking at the extended forecast makes me think 3 more weeks at least before our little operation taps in. I'm not sure what to think about the snow pack though. We have not had any thaws this winter. The snow has no base at all. I was out with the sled breaking trails and found that in some places I was spinning up leaves. So does this mean that when it starts it's going to go really fast? Frost seems to be deep. My front porch is heaved almost 4". Has never moved before. I really don't know what to think.

Anyway, Just spent 10+ hours in the groomer making baby bottom smooth trails for any lucky snowmobilers who don't have to work tomorrow. Sled trails will die fast as soon as the temps get up during the day. The sun already seems strong. Base is really thin.

Good luck to everyone. I think we're in for an interesting season...........

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Yes definitely going to be a tough year. I got my bush roads plowed out this weekend and started tapping yesterday. Hard work i was in snow anywhere from knees to hips all afternoon.Looks like the weather has finally turned but your right still may be two weeks before it breaks.

[sergeaubin]

Same situation here in Sturgeon Falls. Maybe 2ft of loose snow. Can't wait to start tapping figure 3,4th week of march.

[Vandy]

Finished my roads yesterday. About 2 - 4ft of powder. I scraped down to the field grass with ease.

Too cold at night.

[ennismaple]

We got vacuum pumps out and the sugar camp mostly ready on the weekend. It warmed enough for us to get 500 taps in between Saturday and Sunday afternoon. We've got almost 3km of roads to open up so we've got a dozer coming later this week to plow for us. What would take the tractor several days will take the dozer a few hours.

[Galena]

Well I did inventory of all my pails, put aside old spiles cause I now have new shiny plastic blue spiles which will need a smaller hole, have everything all set to go, even snowshoes...but of course the weather ain't cooperating in my neck of the woods! I was a little astonished and dismayed to see someone has already hung up buckets on their trees...probably city folk just moved out to the country and they don't know better :-/

[Clinkis]

It got up to 0 here today. Put in 60 taps on pipelines today. A couple were dripping a little.....was sure nice to see. Plan on putting the rest of my taps in this weekend. If you put any stock in the long range forecast then weather looks very promising

[TylerMcT]

Starting Saturday morning. 4 guys with gas drills should get them done in a reasonable amount of time.

[Galena]

Going to hold off til next early next week, want to make sure that the forecast really does pan out to be as good as it sounds. Meantime, not liking the sunny but frickin frigid -23 (-32 with windchill) Friday we have!!

[Big_Eddy]

I'm planning on blowing the snow out of my trails on Saturday and tapping Sunday. The next 2 weeks look good for the Quinte area. Given the late start, not sure how long the season will last. I don't want to miss the early runs and it's unlikely now the holes will dry out before it gets too mild for good runs.

[rtgambit]

This definitely seems to be the weekend for it!

I bought a homemade 2x2 evaporator in the fall, spent some of this morning getting the chimney pipe hooked up. Just need to pickup some firebrick to finish it off. Yes, I moved indoors this year. Gave the lawnmower the boot from the shed and setup the evap there. Lots of room!

I'd like to get most of the taps in, but this'll mean pulling out the snowshoes for the 2+ feet of snow in the back. Not looking forward to walking those buckets back, at least until the snow is gone.

[hillbillybee]

I plan to tap Sunday, don't want to miss Tuesday and Wednesday's +temps, but was talking to an old timer syrup producer this am who said he heard the trees are froze solid! Suggested to hold off. I guess I'll know by Friday if that's true or not!

Game on near Almonte!

Can't wait to sip some whiskey and half sap!

Cheers

[Galena]

I plan to tap Sunday, don't want to miss Tuesday and Wednesday's +temps, but was talking to an old timer syrup producer this am who said he heard the trees are froze solid!....

Hmm maybe he's just trying to psyche you a little? Though whenever I hear a frostquake like I did last night at bedtime, kinda makes you stop and wonder...besides, I'm going to wrap all my trees in electric blankets ;-) Hey, I only have 6 of em!

Thinking now of upping tapping date to this Sunday, if this week, Wed in particular, is as good as it's meant to be I don't want to be caught out. Will check with EnviroCan forescast shortly.

This year I am also going to try tapping a friend's virgin bush (gawd that sounds so wrong!) of, if I remember correctly, reds and sugars, try to keep her sap and syrup separate from my trees' output. I will double-check dimensions before I drill, but pretty sure most of them can take 2 spiles.

[Kyle Baker]

I'll be tapping this sunday as well. Seems as good a time as any.

[BrutemanAl]

I am sad to say, this year I will be not doing the maple syrup thing. I have no time, my wife and I are in the process of adopting to little boys and that is taking up all our spare time, they move in with us April 2nd and with everything going on over the next few weeks getting everything ready for when they come and going to see them and spending as much time with them till they come to live with us, I just don't have the time to do the Tap em and Sap em thing this year. Also have to go to Montreal for 4 days April 7th for training for my job, so that is thrown in there also.

I will miss doing it this year, I was looking forward to it, but have to put it on the back burner till next year.I will be checking in to see how everyone is making out this season and probably get jealous from hearing everyones stories. Sucks because I am almost of my Syrup from last year.

[Big_Eddy]

Al
My hat is off to you on the 2 boys. Great news there and all the best. If you're in need of a maple fix this spring drop me a line and maybe you can pop by. Hopefully be lots of steam to share :).

[nudlebush]

Today is the day! We are heading back this morning to get the shack cleaned up, ready the evap/bluk tank and and tap trees. Thank goodness for tracks on the four wheeler, been keeping the trails packed down when getting my firewood out,

[Galena]

I am sad to say, this year I will be not doing the maple syrup thing. I have no time, my wife and I are in the process of adopting to little boys and that is taking up all our spare time, they move in with us April 2nd and with everything going on over the next few weeks getting everything ready for when they come and going to see them and spending as much time with them till they come to live with us, I just don't have the time to do the Tap em and Sap em thing this year. Also have to go to Montreal for 4 days April 7th for training for my job, so that is thrown in there also.

I will miss doing it this year, I was looking forward to it, but have to put it on the back burner till next year.I will be checking in to see how everyone is making out this season and probably get jealous from hearing everyones stories. Sucks because I am almost of my Syrup from last year.

Al, sad to hear you won't be tapping...but I bet those two little boys will be getting a whole lot of love and attention! Get them hooked on sirop d'erable ASAP so they will WANT to help out when they're old enough. Teach them that lugging a full 2g pail through waist-deep snow without spilling it is a manly thing to do! ;-)

Still, glad you'll be around to vicariously enjoy our exploits, triumphs and tragedies. Will do my best to help keep you amused :-)

[keith]

Hello all,
It's that time again, I just got my shiny new evaporater home and am currently working on fire bricking it! Very excited to test it out. I had a few hours this morning were I wasn't on daddy daycare and I tried to get back to the Bush on the tractor but the blower was having trouble with the four to five foot drifts on the trail. Hopefully tommorow I will be able to get the rest of the way back and get the taps in. It seems there is more snow than last year... Didn't think that was possible.
Well I'm off to clean buckets so good luck everyone I'll keep you all posted.
Keith

[Big_Eddy]

10894Here's the view from the seat this morning. Was pretty easy blowing where the snow had not been packed down but tough where our ski trails run. All the trails are clear and 95 trees tapped today. Will do the rest tomorrow. Some of the smaller trees were damp but not really dripping

[Lespetras]

Hi fellow maple lovers. This is our 1st year tapping our maple trees. We started tapping this morning, total of 20 taps with buckets to start. We brought our 2 boys out with us, it was fun watching them get involved (actually they watched from the sleds - they are 20 months and 4 months old). We are excited and optimistic for our first batch of liquid gold.

Will keep you posted on progress and looking forward to hearing how everyone else does!

Lesley

[daverobitaille]

Hi Lesley! Welcome to the hobby! I am sure you will enjoy! All the best!

Dave

[Galena]

Welcome to the craziness of sugaring, Lesley! You may want to read the *advice* I gave BrutemanAl a few posts down, so those boys can be useful during this season in the future :-) Looking forward to your posts!

[keith]

Well I put up about 100 pails today before I ran out of battery in the drill, so it's a start. Nothing was dripping yet but hopefull for this week. I had to work on the trail to get to the Bush for about eight or so hours with the tractor but for the first time this year I can drive my truck from door to Bush. Still have lots to do for this week maybe anouther twenty pails and I have to get my new boiler ready, (which reminds me I have a 2x4 flat evaporater for sale of anybody knows any one). All in all a good day and had good fun with the whole family in the Bush three generations for the first time this year and that's really what it's all about!

[Lespetras]

Hi guys,
So.. No sap yet... Well actually that's not true because about 3 of my buckets had drops in them. It did get up to +1 today but only for like half an hour... Hope I didn't get over eager and tap too early; supposed to have higher temps this week.. I am nervous as I'm a virgin to this art! Will keep u posted.

[Galena]

Hi guys,
So.. No sap yet... Well actually that's not true because about 3 of my buckets had drops in them. It did get up to +1 today but only for like half an hour... Hope I didn't get over eager and tap too early; supposed to have higher temps this week.. I am nervous as I'm a virgin to this art! Will keep u posted.

LOL rekax, you've just got noobieitis, the anxiety that comes with the first time you do anything and worry that you might be doing things wrong. The weather will warm, the sap will flow (and may flow like crazy) and you may soon be posting 'Ahhhh! I have boatloads of sap! Help!'

I also set my spiles yesterday, as I wanted to make sure this warming trend was here to stay. At least you didn't tap last week, which I saw some people had done, when it was still far, far too cold to get anything yet....and not too good for the tree either :-/

Also something you may want to consider as you have a small bush too (ignore my puns)...I've found it invaluable to put my OCD to work and keep track of how much sap I get from each tree each time I collect. Thanks to having done this for a few years now, I know which trees are going to start producing first, and which may take a little longer to start, but REALLY produce once they do.

So relax, while you can...I think this could be another crazy year...last year I got had 3 days where I got 33l of sap!!

Well have fun

[Lespetras]

Thanks for the advice Galena, it's reassuring to hear this from experienced tapper; supposed to be good weather for sap production all week in Inverary so I am pumped!
Lesley

[Big_Eddy]

I have 150 trees tapped now. 95 with 5/16 blue taps, and 55 with 7/16 cast. I've been phasing over to the health spiles.
I had one hole where the blue spile just would not stay in, even after replacing it with a second, so drilled that out to 7/16".

Went back around later and had a few sapsicles, but nothing to speak of in any pails. I'm expecting there will be some flow today and more each day over the week.

Sugar Shack is organized (emptied of bicycles, lawn mowers, summer tires etc - thank goodness we emptied several bays in the woodshed over the winter), smoke stack is up, tanks are washed and ready. I still need to build a new grate for the arch - last year's had a melt down. Other than that - I'm ready for sap. Bring it on.

[sergeaubin]

Happy i was able to tap 109 trees yesterday with my kids. It was -5 and had about 10 trees running so should be a good mild week. So happy the season is started.

[ennismaple]

With just my brother and I drilling and a hammer-man with each of us, we got 3000+ taps done in 2 days. I feel like I've been driven over by a truck today!

Only a few tapholes were even semi-moist yesterday and our one 400 tap woods that's been tapped for a week didn't produce a drop out of the mainline yesterday. Lots of deer damage to fix (I have a .308 solution I'll use in November) plus a lot of branches and limbs down on laterals and mainlines. Walking is tough because the snow is so deep but it's light and fluffy so the snowshoes are useless. I don't expect it will run much this week as a lot of our taps are north facing. Should be enough to flush the lines so we're ready to go when the weather is right.

[Galena]

Thanks for the advice Galena, it's reassuring to hear this from experienced tapper; supposed to be good weather for sap production all week in Inverary so I am pumped!
Lesley

Glad to be of help! BTW are there any big sugaring operations in your area, or even a local farmer whom you've seen tap trees for as long as you can remember? That's how I learned, from just knocking on this farmer's door and asking if I could hang around and help out and learn the basics of how to sugar from them. (Of course that was before I found this site)

They even loaned me some spiles and buckets; in return I helped collect sap and drive the sap truck to the sugar shack. Even now, now that I know what I'm doing (I think) it's still nice to drive by their place and see that they also put up their 120 pails yesterday.

Mind, I'm single, so I have the luxury of a little more spare time than you might, but most sugarers are generous with their knowledge. You can also ask at the local co-op who in the area sugars each year and is approachable. Doesn't hurt to at least ask! :-)

ETA: Remember I said I keep records...well just saw a teeny tiny itty bit like 1 tbsp in one pail, tasted it to ensure it was sap and not snowmelt (we had a little blizzard here yesterday right after I put pails up). Checked my records from last year and eh wala, same tree, same pail, probably same amount too :-)

[Bruce L]

Put in 200+ taps late this afternoon after getting home from bus runs, not flowing enough to even get the lines cleaned out, went back to the tank expecting maybe a little dribble out of the end, but didn't see a drop

[Vandy]

100+ taps yesterday late afternoon. Only 5 wet holes...

[TurkeyJohn]

Hey Folks,

TurkeyJohn here in Kingston, first dribble of sap in one of 20 buckets yesterday afternoon. Big hopes for today with high of plus 7 forecasted. Let you know how we do...

Good luck to all of us crazy sappers...

TurkeyJohn

[Vandy]

some 1/4 pails from 4pm yesterday till this am. Lots more starting to drip at 9am.. Very good sign. I had better clean my pan and setup my gravity drip..

[Kyle Baker]

some 1/4 pails from 4pm yesterday till this am. Lots more starting to drip at 9am.. Very good sign. I had better clean my pan and setup my gravity drip..

That's promising Vandy! After seeing empty buckets yesterday afternoon I was wondering if it was coming or the trees were still on winter strike!

[ontario guy]

i have 50 out of 110 buckets out maybe tomorrow i will get the rest out. i am not close to being ready yet. Still quite a bit of scrubbing to be ready.

Mark

[Galena]

Everyone, remember that this was a brutally cold winter, so if the trees aren't going much yet, they probably are still froze up. FWIW I have only 4 going spiles out of my 18 spiles here at home, nothing so far from the virgin bush of only 6 spiles. I will probably collect that grand total of about 1l sap from my home trees later today and let it evaporate down to about 1cup on the woodstove, just to get it out of the way.

[Vandy]

Midday check and I estimate I may have 30 - 40L from 97 taps. Some are still dry. Might as well light a fire tonight :)

[Galena]

Evaporating all of 2l tonight, just cause I don't want to let it sit in the pails...and the virgin bush gave me a nice surprise, 5 of 6 spiles over there are active. Glad I chose to tap really conservatively so I don't drown in sap!

[MustardSeedMum]

Glad I chose to tap really conservatively so I don't drown in sap!

Wow Galena - I need to get some of that self-control from you. I find it sooo hard to stop tapping once I get started. Always the debate in my head..."maybe a couple
more...since it's running so good..." :lol:

[Yellzee]

Have to admit after selling the homestead I have sure been enjoying this west coast weather... but man the thoughts of missing the first sap run are killing me! Hope you all have a great season!!!

I feel like packing my drills, jumping on a plane and heading East to some sugar bushes and looking for folks needing a hand tapping!

[Maplerock]

We tapped on Sunday and the snowshoes were essential. We've got about 5 litres so far with most of our 30 spiles running a little.

See below a couple of photos of our new shack taken late last year.

Good luck everyone.

Jon

10997
10998

[Vandy]

28L of sap.. Will combine with tomorrow's take and hopefully boil...

[Lespetras]

So we collected at 2 pm this afternoon for 10.5 litres! One tap completely dry. Some slow dripping and about 13 of our 30 taps are flowing well. I did a quick scan at 6 pm and saw that there was probably another 5-6 litres to collect. The funny thing is the trees that are running the best are the north facing taps with little sun exposure which is contrary to what I read but what the heck... I
Sap is sap and we are thrilled!
Lesley

[Run Forest Run!]

Jon, so what's the cottage rental rate on that beauty during the off season?

[keith]

Hello all,
Collected 34liters of sap as of 5 o'clock this evening. Put anouther few taps in which puts us up to 118 taps and hung all of our lids this evening. I have more taps borrowed from a friend and may put up a few more tommorow depending on my day. It feels nice to finally be out in the Bush with just a sweater on, spring sure feels like it is here!
Keith

[GoldenCreek.Syrup]

Pretty "pumped" today. Collected 50 litre on my new (2015) vacuum pipeline. 75 Taps
I have 8 buckets up as well (next to my sugarhouse)..I got a whole 1/2 litre from them.
Puttered around the sugarhouse today, getting things ready.
Patiently waiting for the snow to drop some, to get into my other bush and slam up 200 more buckets.

[Lespetras]

I concur with Karen... Jon, What is the going rate on that sugar shack... Looks like a nice spot for a guitar and a hound dog along side of sap boiling of course!

[BrutemanAl]

I am definitely going to be stopping by this season to visit Big Eddy, I will bring the boys, you are the closest thing to the maple syrup season i will get this year. Reading everyone's comments is making me want to drive into the forest right now and start tapping, but by missing it this year, my rewards are bigger with the boys coming into our lives. 100% worth it I must say.

I will let you know when I am coming over !!!



I have 150 trees tapped now. 95 with 5/16 blue taps, and 55 with 7/16 cast. I've been phasing over to the health spiles.
I had one hole where the blue spile just would not stay in, even after replacing it with a second, so drilled that out to 7/16".

Went back around later and had a few sapsicles, but nothing to speak of in any pails. I'm expecting there will be some flow today and more each day over the week.

Sugar Shack is organized (emptied of bicycles, lawn mowers, summer tires etc - thank goodness we emptied several bays in the woodshed over the winter), smoke stack is up, tanks are washed and ready. I still need to build a new grate for the arch - last year's had a melt down. Other than that - I'm ready for sap. Bring it on.

[Maplerock]

Karen and Lesley ... it was going to be a humble garden shed in the off-season but now that you mention it, something like the "Maplerock Lane Bed & Breakfast" would have a nice ring to it, and perhaps recoup some shack costs. Seriously, we're looking forward to sitting on the porch and watching the kids eagerly haul sap to the tank, and late-night boils out of the snow, wind and rain!

[Galena]

Glad to see a whole page of posts full of good news! So far #5 is kicking everyone else's butts, there's approx a gallon out there waiting to be collected, but will have to wait. Eager to see what the Virgins have done so far :-)

[Big_Eddy]

We are flowing today11007

[Lespetras]

Aha! This maple virgin is doing well! We collected another 25 litres at 7 am... Every tap is now running. Total litres so far is 35 from 30 taps... Good weather again today in Inverary! Maple Rock Lane sounds like a great name for your bed and breakfast Jon, we are quite inspired by your sugar shack that I've actually convinced my overworked husband to build one for us if all goes well this spring!

[Kyle Baker]

I haven't been home yet today, but at my place near Smiths Falls ON to date we hadn't gotten even a drop since I tapped sunday. Galena, you're getting some today? My old silver maples at my house are usually slow to wake up... my sugar maples out near merrickville I haven't visited since I tapped so maybe I'll go take a boo. Not holding my breath though :p I was hoping to have something to boil by the weekend. Fingers crossed!
Cheers!

[Galena]

Kyle, you may want to go check your Merrickville trees, esp if they're sugars. I bet anything you'll definitely have sap by this weekend! One of my sugars has produced 7.5 l sap so far today. So far I have just shy of 10l from my trees..and the Three Virgins have coyly produced 1l of sap so far :-0

And Lesley, sure sounds like you're off to a good start - I'd be getting ready to boil if I were you!

[Clinkis]

Anybody checked their brix? I just came in from collecting and was reasonably please with what I picked up but my sugar was 1.1%. Never seen it that low. Usually I'm always around 3%. I'm hoping its a fluke or my sap hydrometer is messed up.

[Bushfrosh]

I really enjoy reading everyone's observations. I tapped on Sunday but won't be back to the bush for about about another 40 hours (Friday morning). Sounds like it has been an okay start to the year although I doubt I'll encounter any overflowing buckets yet. I can't wait to have the first bug gulp of sap!

[Run Forest Run!]

Anybody checked their brix? I just came in from collecting and was reasonably please with what I picked up but my sugar was 1.1%. Never seen it that low. Usually I'm always around 3%. I'm hoping its a fluke or my sap hydrometer is messed up.

Clinkis, my experience this year regarding brix is identical to yours and I'm mystified. I'm registering half the normal sugar content at best. I'm freezing the sap tonight and chucking the ice to raise the sugar content of what remains. Thank goodness the weather for the next day or so will facilitate this. Not a chance that I'm going to boil 1.5% sap over propane.

[Clinkis]

Thanks for the reply Karen. So I'm not crazy. I was thinking of ordering a new sap hydrometer. If I didn't have an RO I'd probably be dumping out the sap as I use propane too. I really hope it improves or it will be a tough season!

[Run Forest Run!]

No problem Clinkis. I taste each tree every day (yeah I know...I take this hobby a little too seriously) and I instantly knew something wasn't right. My hydrometer just confirmed my suspicions. If I can't get this sap frozen down to something useful I'll fill and freeze 1L bottles with it and use them as ice blocks in my large storage container. Good luck with your season. :)

[MustardSeedMum]

Hopefully the sugar content will increase as the season progresses. In the meantime, I've been trying to find the threads that talk about sap to syrup ratios and can't find what I'm looking for. When I explain to folks how much sap it takes to make syrup, the general rule of thumb is 40:1 ratio correct? (I realize that ratio dependent on the sugar content of the syrup). So what does that 40:1 ratio translate to in terms of % sugar content? Anyone want to weigh in on the mathematical calculation req'd?

[Maplesapper]

2.5 % sugar content equals 40 gallons

[Run Forest Run!]

MSM, you use The Rule of 86. The gallons of sap needed to produce 1 gallon of syrup is 86 divided by the % sugar content. For example; 86 divided by a 2% sugar content = 43 Therefore you'd need 43 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of syrup. I made up a whole chart so I know what I'm dealing with when faced with sugarless sap or sugary sap. Hope that helps. If I'm totally off with this information, I'm sure someone will be quick to show us the light.

[Run Forest Run!]

MSM, here's a chart you can copy and paste in your sugaring journal.

http://www.momandpopsmaple.com/how-maple-syrup-is-made.php

[MustardSeedMum]

Thanks Karen and MapleSapper! That's a great chart Karen.

But wow, so if I go by your readings on sugar content, I'll be boiling way more than 40L to get my 1L. Suddenly, my 100L of sap
sitting in buckets outside seems so little. haha.

On a positive note, my steel grate came in from Amazon today. Hopefully it will survive the high temps better than all my other makeshift grates I went through
last year in the block arch.

[keith]

Funny to hear you all talking about low sugar content, I tasted my sap this afternoon and it tasted very different from usual. But as of 4:00 this afternoon I collected 56 more liters of sap, totaling 90l. My plan is to have everything ready for Sunday and boil then. Good luck everybody.
Keith

[Vandy]

47L today totaling 75L on hand. I was going to start a fire for almost 2L of light syrup, but after reading this 1% crap...

Was under the impression best to boil very soon after collecting...

[WI Sugarpop]

Hopefully the sugar content will increase as the season progresses. In the meantime, I've been trying to find the threads that talk about sap to syrup ratios and can't find what I'm looking for. When I explain to folks how much sap it takes to make syrup, the general rule of thumb is 40:1 ratio correct? (I realize that ratio dependent on the sugar content of the syrup). So what does that 40:1 ratio translate to in terms of % sugar content? Anyone want to weigh in on the mathematical calculation req'd?

Check this out.
http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/jones.pdf

[Galena]

I do this as a hobby, so I don't have a refractometer, so not worrying myself over the sugar content. I don't care if the trees take a little longer to hit their stride and we're only getting icewater in the meantime. I'm collecting sap and boiling it down to nearup mostly for storage purposes. Once I get 40l into my grubby little paws I'll make a batch and go from there.

Meantime, this little, very mild cold snap may be enough to help right things. Hope so! :-)

[Clinkis]

I talked to a couple local producers last night and they are also seeing sugar contents less then half of their norms. They didn't seem super concerned yet. I'm used to making syrup at around 30:1 ratio. The sap I've collected will be 80:1. One of the local producers did say that low sugar content early usually means a long season so let's hope their right!

[Lespetras]

Hmmm we didn't even check our sugar content as we don't have a proper sap hydrometer... So we went ahead and started our first boil yesterday afternoon anyway as we had 50 litres to work with. I've read that the first sap of the season should have the highest sugar content... But obviously I am misinformed as the consensus on here says different. Hopefully this does mean a long season.. That would be awesome! We set up a sap drip as per the local suppliers advice and things ran rather smoothly, the sweet smell of the sap boiling down was enough to send my husband into maple bliss and now he has officially taken over the household role of maple CEO! Come 10 pm we were exhausted and shut it down. Stored the partially boiled sap and will start it up again today.
Can't wait to taste the first completed batch!
Hope everyone else is not too bummed about their hydrometer readings...

[WI Sugarpop]

Hmmm we didn't even check our sugar content as we don't have a proper sap hydrometer... So we went ahead and started our first boil yesterday afternoon anyway as we had 50 litres to work with. I've read that the first sap of the season should have the highest sugar content... But obviously I am misinformed as the consensus on here says different. Hopefully this does mean a long season.. That would be awesome! We set up a sap drip as per the local suppliers advice and things ran rather smoothly, the sweet smell of the sap boiling down was enough to send my husband into maple bliss and now he has officially taken over the household role of maple CEO! Come 10 pm we were exhausted and shut it down. Stored the partially boiled sap and will start it up again today.
Can't wait to taste the first completed batch!
Hope everyone else is not too bummed about their hydrometer readings...
Welcome to the maple addiction.:)

[Run Forest Run!]

Lesley, congratulations on the excitement of your first boiling session!! There's nothing quite like it is there? Just wait until that first batch is finished. You'd better have some fresh homemade waffles or pancakes on the menu! :)

As for the low sugar issue, at the moment it's more of an observation than a consternation. While this is only my fourth year sugaring, by the end of my first year I knew that Mother Nature loves to jerk our chain and sugarers love to compare notes. That's all part of the fun.

[Bushfrosh]

By my calculations, last year started slow in terms of sugar content too. I made 9 batches of syrup last year and my estimated sugar contents were as follows. Keep in mind I do not have a hydrometer and I deem my syrup finished by it's viscosity (as suggested by Rink Mann in his amazing book). My later batches of syrup were more thick than the others which could partly explain the observed lower sugar content values at that time.

Date Batch finished - ratio of sap to syrup - estimated sugar content
March 16, 2014 - 48.777 - 1.76
March 23, 2014 - 47.110 - 1.83
March 31, 2014 - 38.618 - 2.23
April 5, 2014 - 39.301 - 2.19
April 6, 2014 - 40.940 - 2.10
April 7, 2014 - 24.673 - 3.49
April 9, 2014 - 51.122 - 1.68
April 11, 2014 - 50.286 - 1.71
April 17, 2014 - 54.341 - 1.58

[Vandy]

I couldn't resist, heck - it's only wood. My saws aren't put away yet and I've been eyeing a naked elm anyway...:D

My 75L of sap is now reduced and simmering over some nice coals waiting to be finished later today...

Felt good to get boiling again and test my new gravity feed setup..

http://vandy.ca/maple/2015firstmar11.gif

[ennismaple]

I've read that the first sap of the season should have the highest sugar content... But obviously I am misinformed as the consensus on here says different.

The first few days of the season are always poor sugar content, it rises for a bit and then slowly declines unless we get a hard freeze for a few days. It always drops off at the end of the season too. It's hard to keep your spirits up when you've barely slept for 6 weeks, you're making syrup that looks like road tar and the sugar content is 60:1!!

[Galena]

Hmmm we didn't even check our sugar content as we don't have a proper sap hydrometer... So we went ahead and started our first boil yesterday afternoon anyway as we had 50 litres to work with. I've read that the first sap of the season should have the highest sugar content... But obviously I am misinformed as the consensus on here says different. Hopefully this does mean a long season.. That would be awesome! We set up a sap drip as per the local suppliers advice and things ran rather smoothly, the sweet smell of the sap boiling down was enough to send my husband into maple bliss and now he has officially taken over the household role of maple CEO! Come 10 pm we were exhausted and shut it down. Stored the partially boiled sap and will start it up again today.
Can't wait to taste the first completed batch!
Hope everyone else is not too bummed about their hydrometer readings...

Aha, another helpless noob in the throes of their first batch...she's hooked, people, hooked I tell you! MUWAHAHAHAHAAAAA...

Good thinking to shut down the operation when you're tired and you've got some decent near-syrup (aka nearup). Finishing off syrup can be trying, esp the first few times you do it, so you want to be alert at all times to prevent boilovers and other possible disasters. Whatever you do, don't turn your back on some almost-done syrup that's sitting there throwing off a million teeny bubbles at the bottom of the pot - guaranteed it'll suddenly froth up like mad!

Have fun, be extra careful and let us know how it works out! Eager to hear how your first batch turns out :-)

[Clinkis]

Sap actually ran quite well here today. Didn't have time to collect so never had a chance to see if sugar content came up any. I'll do a big collection tomorrow night and keep my fingers crossed! Putting the finishing touches on my new RO so hopefully have it operational by tomorrow night and start boiling this weekend. Here's hoping everyone has a productive weekend!

[Vandy]

Made close to 2L from approx. 75L of sap so sugar content can't be too much off as that's what I was expecting.. Not as light as my early stuff last year and I didn't filter enough (bit cloudy) but still has distinct woody flavor. Yumm!

[Lespetras]

Thank you so much for all the nice words of encouragement. This forum has really helped us achieve our first completed batch of maple syrup without a hitch or a divorce! We had 70 litres and boiled it down to 1200ml! Not sure what that would work out to be using the rule of 86 but it looks and tastes like the best **** syrup we've ever had!
Thank you Galena, if not for your warnings of boiling over... We sure would've gotten a divorce.. We came close, but as you said didn't take our eyes off the stove once it was to 216 degrees... And then 219 degrees and then it happened, it was complete and we are hooked! Already talking about building a sugar shack and arch!!!!!
11056

[Vandy]

Awesome! Looks great.

[MustardSeedMum]

Good to hear some of you starting to boil down and some finishing their first batch! It's so exciting, whether the 100th or the 1st!

Started my boil this morning on my crude concrete block arch. Got a good rolling boil going on my 3 steam pans and was in the middle
of boiling the first 80L of sap when the block chimney came crashing down....thankfully backwards instead of into the pans. :(

Going to have a word with the builder (DH) tonight who is responsible for the non-level build of the setup... :evil:

[Galena]

Thank you so much for all the nice words of encouragement. This forum has really helped us achieve our first completed batch of maple syrup without a hitch or a divorce! We had 70 litres and boiled it down to 1200ml! Not sure what that would work out to be using the rule of 86 but it looks and tastes like the best **** syrup we've ever had!
Thank you Galena, if not for your warnings of boiling over... We sure would've gotten a divorce.. We came close, but as you said didn't take our eyes off the stove once it was to 216 degrees... And then 219 degrees and then it happened, it was complete and we are hooked! Already talking about building a sugar shack and arch!!!!!
11056

Glad to be of help, Lesley, and that is a VERY nice looking batch of syrup, clear and that lovely first-batch golden colour. Does it taste like vanilla and marshmallow? My first batch always does, though of course you have different terrain and trees.

Congrats, you're no longer sugaring virgins! So how much is left or are you going to preserve the bottles for posterity? Lovin the moose bottle in particular. And now that you've got your first bath made, the rest should be easy. Again, huge congrats to you both! :-):D

[Kyle Baker]

Still waiting on sap here near Smith's falls, but my taps were wet with a few drips this afternoon so maybe tomorrow with a warmer day I'll be in business.

[WI Sugarpop]

Thank you so much for all the nice words of encouragement. This forum has really helped us achieve our first completed batch of maple syrup without a hitch or a divorce! We had 70 litres and boiled it down to 1200ml! Not sure what that would work out to be using the rule of 86 but it looks and tastes like the best **** syrup we've ever had!
Thank you Galena, if not for your warnings of boiling over... We sure would've gotten a divorce.. We came close, but as you said didn't take our eyes off the stove once it was to 216 degrees... And then 219 degrees and then it happened, it was complete and we are hooked! Already talking about building a sugar shack and arch!!!!!
11056

70/1.2=58.33 then 86/58.33=1.474% Hope that helps.:) Great looking syrup.

[hillbillybee]

I have a sap tester (Hydrometer) and it says : Brix scale for sap @ tp 38F 3.3C.

Is the brix scale sugar content? Or is there some calculating factor needed to get my sap content? Q#2 if I'm testing sap @ 1 deg. C instead of 3.3C how will that change my tester reading?

[Big_Eddy]

I'm making steam today. Lit the first fire of the season at 10:45. Had a full boil at 10:58. About 100 gallons left to go. 11071
Had to make a run back to the house for defoamer as the bubbles were rising!

[Big_Eddy]

95 gallons of sap to boil
95 gallons of sap
It smells so good,
So add more wood
89 gallons of sap to boil

89 gallons of sap to boil
.......

I love watching the gradient develop for the first time each season. I'm only about halfway to sweetened but I can clearly see the colour in the syrup pan whereas the flue pan is pure sap.

Here's a picture from last year after the first 80 gals of sap.

11072

[Run Forest Run!]

That right there is a thing of beauty Big_Eddy. All the best for a great season. It looks like you and I are sharing the excitement of a first boil on the same day this year.
P.S. Does it make my sugaring experience all the more Canadian this year in that I was being watched by a beaver yesterday while collecting sap?

[Clinkis]

Had a mishap with my RO but luckily was able to get most of my sap through once. Got the evaporator going and working great. Nice to smell that sweet. Another positive is my sugar was up to 1.6 yesterday so it's heading in the right direction!

[Lespetras]

I absolutely love your song big eddy!
I've now added more taps since my first batch yesterday and now have 33 taps on 28 trees! Collected 35 litres this morning and gonna do another collection this evening as the buckets are filling pretty fast and hopefully do another batch tonight, Saturdays are sure fun with a beer and a boil!!
Lesley

[Run Forest Run!]

Lesley, I was looking at the photos of your setup and am wondering if your propane burner is attached to a home supply or a BBQ tank? My first year I only had one propane burner, but bought a second one the next year. Because most of your time is spent just waiting for the sap to boil, waiting for two pans to boil takes the same amount of time as it takes to wait for one. I was able to double my output for the price of a second burner - $60. If you are planning on building an evaporator next year, then I suppose it's neither here nor there, but since this year is only just beginning you might want to consider it to make this year even more successful. Just my two cents.

Cute kids BTW!

[Vandy]

I absolutely love your song big eddy! fun with a beer and a boil!!

+ BBQ

just no too much beer.. Had some close calls last year. lol

[Big_Eddy]

We had a good hot fire going today. Kids will be kids. https://vimeo.com/122200039

[Galena]

All quiet on the front here. Trees been off for a couple days due to bad weather - though it may say +4 outside, that freezing rain/rain sure as heck killed the possibility of a run in a hurry! So amusing myself twiddling my thumbs...spring cleaning....and may really liven things up this evening by doing my taxes!! Woohoo!!! Do I know how to party or what? :-D

[Bruce L]

Galena, let's not think of the taxman for awhile!!!!!!! We tapped another bush this morning in the freezing rain, got soaked to the hide!!!! Sap started running late this afternoon while I was hooking the pans together, hooked the vacuum lines up to the releasers, anything to get done and stay undercover

[Galena]

Galena, let's not think of the taxman for awhile!!!!!!! We tapped another bush this morning in the freezing rain, got soaked to the hide!!!! Sap started running late this afternoon while I was hooking the pans together, hooked the vacuum lines up to the releasers, anything to get done and stay undercover

Ah, may as well just get it over with while it's still quiet here...we all know how quickly it can turn around! BTW I would love to come and visit your bush sometime, definitely interested to see what I can learn from a 6th generation sugarer!

ETA: Decided to at least pretend I'm sugaring...batch #2 from last year has big fat crystals in it, and is from my trees anyway, so loosened them with some distilled water and chucked it into the current 2l batch of nearup from my trees this year. I once did let a jar of nearup go a little too long, and got that horrible ropey slime..ugh!

And I've got a shot glass here, 50% batch #2 my syrup and 50% Jameson...I'm happy...*hic* ;-)

[Lespetras]

Yes, Karen we took your advice as we collected too much sap to keep on top of with one burner tonight. So now we have 2 propane burners going on 20lb tanks working on our second batch! Borrowed the second from our next door neighbour... It is much quicker...
Love your video big eddy.. That's one hot fire!
Galena, a taxation party does not sound nearly as fun as a sugaring one but hey... Good for you!
Lesley

[Run Forest Run!]

Lesley, I'm so pleased to hear that you've borrowed another burner. That will make a ton of difference! What is the price of propane out your way? A 20lb. tank fill here at Costco is $9.99! I can't believe there's been such a drop in price as compared to last year. Costco was $24ish last year, and a few times I had to bite the bullet and pay close to $28 at Home Hardware. I'm one happy propane fueled sugarer.

[Lespetras]

Same here Costco for us too!! I can't believe it was 24$ last year

[Galena]

Haven't yet had the need to fire up my propane burner this year and probably won't for awhile...getting snow this morning and forecast for coming week not too promising.

However last March was also pretty punky, but then along came April...and BLAM! Out blew the spiles. Craziness for the next three weeks. So, being very patient, and planning to try and visit other people's sugarbushes so I can see how they do things and help out a little at the same time.

[BrutemanAl]

OK enough is enough, I'm to addicted to the Maple syrup thing... I am off to Niagara Falls with the boys for a few days, come back on Wed I believe, the boys will be returning to their foster home till Sat when they come for their first over night with us, so my plan is to get into the forest when I get back from Niagara Falls and tap some trees, I want to have some sap for when the boys come on Sat so we can boil some and make syrup, and take them into the forest to collect some sap.

That is my plan anyhow, cant stand reading all your posts on here and not doing it myself this year.

So as of Wed of this coming week.... tap em and sap will commence here at Wooler Acres !!!!

I'm back Baby !!!!!

[Kyle Baker]

Haha. Get to it!

[Galena]

Woot! WTG Al, get out there and start drilling! I was wondering how long you'd be able to hold out ;-)

[Run Forest Run!]

OK enough is enough, I'm to addicted to the Maple syrup thing... I am off to Niagara Falls with the boys for a few days, come back on Wed I believe, the boys will be returning to their foster home till Sat when they come for their first over night with us, so my plan is to get into the forest when I get back from Niagara Falls and tap some trees, I want to have some sap for when the boys come on Sat so we can boil some and make syrup, and take them into the forest to collect some sap.

That is my plan anyhow, cant stand reading all your posts on here and not doing it myself this year.

So as of Wed of this coming week.... tap em and sap will commence here at Wooler Acres !!!!

I'm back Baby !!!!!

Mwahahaha! Welcome back to the dark side Al! All you did was miss the bad sugar content. Perhaps that was your plan all along....... :confused: Have a great time in Niagara with the little sappers.

[MustardSeedMum]

OK enough is enough, I'm to addicted to the Maple syrup thing... I am off to Niagara Falls with the boys for a few days, come back on Wed I believe, the boys will be returning to their foster home till Sat when they come for their first over night with us, so my plan is to get into the forest when I get back from Niagara Falls and tap some trees, I want to have some sap for when the boys come on Sat so we can boil some and make syrup, and take them into the forest to collect some sap.

That is my plan anyhow, cant stand reading all your posts on here and not doing it myself this year.

So as of Wed of this coming week.... tap em and sap will commence here at Wooler Acres !!!!

I'm back Baby !!!!!

Bwahaha. We've all been bit hard by the maple bug. I got sucked into this year's operation when I saw my neighbour's buckets on the trees. This after vehemently saying I was going to take a pass this year.

Came home, took out the drill and went trigger happy.

Welcome back!

[Clinkis]

OK enough is enough, I'm to addicted to the Maple syrup thing... I am off to Niagara Falls with the boys for a few days, come back on Wed I believe, the boys will be returning to their foster home till Sat when they come for their first over night with us, so my plan is to get into the forest when I get back from Niagara Falls and tap some trees, I want to have some sap for when the boys come on Sat so we can boil some and make syrup, and take them into the forest to collect some sap.

That is my plan anyhow, cant stand reading all your posts on here and not doing it myself this year.

So as of Wed of this coming week.... tap em and sap will commence here at Wooler Acres !!!!

I'm back Baby !!!!!

Hey Al, had my 3 & 1/2 year old with me last weekend helping my tap and hang buckets. Snow was up to his waste but he was determined to keep up and loved every minute of it. I think he's hook and gets very upset if I collect sap without him. I'm sure your boys will love it too. Some of my fondest childhood memories are spending time at our family's sugar bush. One of the best things about this hobby is being able to spend time and sharing it with family and friends.
11110

[Lespetras]

Ok.. Finished another batch this morning.. This time we had 78 litres boiled down to 1765 ml.. By way of rule of 86, this is 1.95% sugar content.. So much improvement from the 1.74% from 2 days ago!
I am going to purchase a sap hydrometer though just as I like the way Karen has set up her system.. Knowing How long the boil will take etc.
Three questions...
Galena, you mentioned the first batch of the season always tasting like marshmallows... My first two do have a distinct flavour to them... I guess that's normal? I'm assuming that the syrup would never taste like the store purchase maple syrup.
Second question is 2 of my trees are putting out sap that has a slight tinge of clear but tan colour.. Just a hint of brown... They both taste like sugar water... But is this normal because I can't find anything in the literature that's speaks to this issue..
Thirdly, does anyone let it boil to 220 degrees farenheight as opposed to 219? I've read you can do both. Will this change the colour or grade of the syrup or just consistency?
Sorry.. I know lots of questions but if I'm producing the stuff I may as well get a little guidance from the more seasoned sugar makers on this forum..
Thanks again
Lesley11111

[Lespetras]

Oh also, welcome back Al! And Clinkis, we are looking forward to doing the same with our two boys... Just a bit young yet but, it's great to hear how much you enjoyed that with your 3.5 year old!

[Galena]

Hi Lesley

Below is the link to the AgriCan maple flavour wheel. It lists approx 90 flavours which maple syrup can taste like, and for some years now my first batch is always a nice clear gold and though of course it tastes of maple, there is also a distinct undertone of vanilla and marshmallow...both flavours of which are on the flavour wheel!

http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/science-and-innovation/research-centres/quebec/food-research-and-development-centre/maple-syrup-flavour/flavour-wheel-for-maple-products/?id=1231363888838

I doubt that store-bought maple syrup would ever taste as good as what we hobbyists and the mom and pop operations who sell their own can produce. I've often get people telling me my syrup tastes a lot better than store-bought; I bet many others here hear the same thing. You've heard of the European wine lake? Well, there's basically the maple syrup equivalent of that in the industry, too. I read a book called The Sugar Season last year, it tracks how the Bascom family of NH buys millions of gallons of sap and syrup...then sells it, blended and bottled, to major retailers. Odd that for a product that can have such a range of flavour, that they grade it only by colour...go figure.

As for the coloured sap, so long as it's clear and doesn't stink or taste bad, it's fine to boil. Some just dump it on principle, but I just call it tree pee and chuck it in with whatever sap I'm boiling. Usually it's just an indication that some rain or snow got in the pail. I found some just now while checking my trees.

As for 219 vs 220...if you boil too long at too high a temp, you get crystals forming in your syrup. They're still perfectly edible, it's just sugar, but that's a sign of a slightly overcooked batch. Sometimes if I'm sending someone a jar of syrup from a batch that has crystallized, I mention it to them so they know that it's perfectly safe to eat (so long as you don't break your teeth on them!) Last night I posted that I dissolved some of the crystals from a batch of last year's syrup with distilled water (as I had no fresh sap available), got the crystals out and dumped it in with my nearup.

Hope this has been helpful!

[Lespetras]

Thank you so much Galena for your help.. I will look at the wheel and let you know what mine tastes like!

[Galena]

Thank you so much Galena for your help.. I will look at the wheel and let you know what mine tastes like!

You're more than welcome, Lesley, to whatever knowledge I've gleaned over the mere few years I've been doing this. And there is no such thing as a silly question; answering them helps keep me out of trouble til my trees get going again! :-)

ETA: I noticed that what I have left of last year's first batch has an even more pronounced marshmallow flavour, so much so that it almost overwhelms the maple now.

[Kyle Baker]

Any sap running today Galena or Vandy? I don't get to find out until I get home from work later.

[Galena]

Any sap running today Galena or Vandy? I don't get to find out until I get home from work later.

Visited Big_Eddy today, got to see his well-run syrup operation and all-bucket tapping setup. I think seeing his trees doing so well made my trees jealous (bush telegraph, y'know) cause I came home to 7l in my home bush and 1 Imperial gallon from the virgins. So happily boiling away, kitchen windows open and fan going :-)

BTW Eddy, when I went to check that spile I'd told you I was talking of removing and retapping? Today that spile finally started and was actually one of the hottest ones going! Thanks for all the advice and humouring me for a few hours :-)

Finally...Lesley...I didn't know Inverary was so close! I drove through it on a somewhat long meandering drive home!

Hopefully by now you've had a chance to check your trees, Kyle. Any luck?

[Big_Eddy]

Boiling away again this morning after boiling off 110 gallons Saturday and 50 each Monday and Tuesday. Started with 60 gallons this morning so another hour or so to go. I've been consistently boiling off 20 gallons an hour this year which is great for my setup.

Had a nice visit from Susan yesterday and chatted maple for a while as we made some steam and visited the trees.

Bush is still pretty mucky in spots but a day or 2 of sun should dry things up nicely. Where we had 3 feet of snow last weekend it has shrunk to under a foot, and our collecting trails are pretty solid.

Syrup so far has been a nice light colour with great flavour. Mmmmmm!

March Break week timing has been perfect.

[MustardSeedMum]

Big_Eddy,
Been looking at your block arch tutorial.
I will have to get serious in building a better one after this season is over.
This is my 2nd year on the block arch - built with the cinder blocks with holes in them.
Problem is that they crack a lot quicker and this year we really screwed up the setup.
Totally not level and there are gaps in lots of places.
So I am getting smoke from every crevice as well as the between the steam pans ad also between where the lip of the pan sits on the blocks. Most un enjoyable as I am smelling smoke all day long instead of sweet sap.

ANYHOO, my question is this - do you get smoke escaping between the bottom of your pan as it sits on top of the blocks? Trying to figure out what I can do to improve my setup this season, short of taking my setup apart... I already have the beginnings of a cinder cemetery.

[Kyle Baker]

surprisingly I barely got anything the other day. I haven't collected any sap yet at all. This weather is starting to piss me off! lol

[TurkeyJohn]

Filled up a 20 gallon garbage can in 48 hours from our 12 measley Freeman and Silver maples. Of course, it'll boil down to only about a litre of syrup, but pretty cool to finally see things start to get rolling. Hoping for a boil down this weekend and cooler weather forecasted should slow things down a bit.

Question though, seems the trees are budding already, not sure, but look like the leaf buds are starting early this year....anyone have opinions as I've understood that once the budding starts the syrup season is soon over. Anybody else have trees "budding"?

Turkey John

[Run Forest Run!]

Turkey John, my Freeman and Silver maples have large, fat looking buds all winter. I can guarantee that what you are seeing has been there since Christmas. We've got a long way to go yet. One of my Silvers was offering 3% sap yesterday, so your 'measley' maples might actually be superstars.

[Galena]

surprisingly I barely got anything the other day. I haven't collected any sap yet at all. This weather is starting to piss me off! lol

*scratching head* strange...I wouldn't have thought there would be much diff in temps and usually our runs pretty much sync. But maybe it's because Smiths Falls and area are a little more downslope than Oxford Mills and cooler air pools there?

And today was one freaky weird day for sap collection. Collected this morning from my 3 best trees; it rained all night so the sap ran quite well. Then after work went to go see the virgins, and those 3 had almost as much as my 3 big home trees!

Sunny today but mind, as there was also a lot of really strong wind today - 50km gusts I think - coupled with -3 cold, I wasn't expecting much - but the trees were, and are, running. And the sapcicles on all the spiles are freezing up so quickly in this cold gusty wind and literally plugging up the trees, that once broken off, the sap came flowing out immediately :-)

So all in all I have 14l to get down to nearup tonight...and yet more to collect soon from my trees.

Karen, I need to picka you brain re how long a tank of propane will last. I am getting close to that level where I will need the propane burner going!

ETA: Oh yes, that nice strong wind made sure a few empty pails were rolling around on the ground, and thanks to the sapcicles coming from the tap holes, I knew exactly where to replace the spiles.

Anyone want to guess what colour all those downed spiles were? All 5 of em?

So...if anyone wants to come visit, you can count on leaving with a handful of pretty blue spiles!!! No, really, I am going to keep the banged-up old metal ones. I may get some of the 5/16ths but it's gonna go back to all metal next year.

[Run Forest Run!]

It was a quiet sap day because of the vicious wind and cold temps. I doubt I'll be able to check on my second location until it gets above freezing because my car was sliding sideways when going both in and out along the roadway. Not good, especially since it's hilly.

As for propane tanks Galena, I can usually expect 10-12 hours of boiling time. It seems to me that the BTU capacity is reduced during the final one or two hours of boiling. Can't explain that, just my experience anyway. Perhaps it's my burner acting up.

[Galena]

[QUOTE=Run Forest Run!;273937... It seems to me that the BTU capacity is reduced during the final one or two hours of boiling. Can't explain that, just my experience anyway. Perhaps it's my burner acting up.[/QUOTE]

Maybe due to sap getting denser as it approaches nearup? How far do you try to finish a batch on the propane before finishing indoors?

[Run Forest Run!]

How far do I try to finish it on propane? Well, that depends on how cold it is outside. lol Putting the nearup on a slow simmer on the stove is so civilized. I don't try to be a hero outside and just bring in my batch when I want a change of scenery or to catch up with my PVR. :lol:

[Lespetras]

So we taste tested our syrup Galena, and we both agree on the vanilla but I also taste a buttery flavour. The vanilla though is pretty overpowering!
I guess we do live close.. Are you in Westport area?
It's crazy how some people only 50 km north of me I.e. Smiths falls haven't had good sap flow... I guess the next few days are going to be slow according to the weather predictions.
We are continuing our boiling and syrup making.. Currently on our 4th batch!
Also, I've been told that the maple season is just getting started... Is this correct? How long does it usually last?
Lesley

[Lespetras]

Oh and I totally agree on blue spikes.., they suck!

[Galena]

Oh and I totally agree on blue spikes.., they suck!

LOL attagirl, I knew I wasn't the only one :-)

Cool that you pick up a buttery note along with vanilla. Probably it's due to your terroir (like the vineyards say), the climate, altitude, land, soil, number of trees and their age etc all affecting the syrup, just the same way those same qualities affect grapes used for wine. A really good wine connoisseur can tell which vineyard a wine came from by taste alone.

Also wondering too if it may also be because you're a mom, I've often heard moms have better palates than those who don't have kids. I should ask my dad, he's a retired ob/gyn so maybe he's heard this too. Ironically he has an amazing sense of taste and smell; mine are OK but I wouldn't call my palate great.

I'm located just outside of Oxford Mills, so I'm approx 35 km n/e of Kyle Baker. Like I said earlier, totally befuddled by all the sap I got today, I didn't think I'd get any at all! I believe that last year when things were going nuts at my place, poor Karen was getting barely anything. Then just as things were slowing up here, they sped up for her and she ended up having a decent season.

In terms of how long the run will last? In my experience, 4-6 weeks, though the longest I ever tapped was in 2013, when I started Feb 13 and pulled spiles April 9. Last year I tapped March 9-April 21. I usually see my trees output start to drop if not just dry up almost overnight; I don't keep tapping til I get icky cloudy/smelly sap. You do NOT want that!

So now that you know how long the run will last, hope you have lots of bottles and jars and propane! Muwahahahaaaa....;-)

[Run Forest Run!]

Galena, in keeping with our sap history together, today you got sap and I got squat. :confused: It's how the seasons always seem to unfold with us.

[Big_Eddy]

Big_Eddy,
Been looking at your block arch tutorial.
I will have to get serious in building a better one after this season is over.

So I am getting smoke from every crevice as well as the between the steam pans ad also between where the lip of the pan sits on the blocks. Most un enjoyable as I am smelling smoke all day long instead of sweet sap.

ANYHOO, my question is this - do you get smoke escaping between the bottom of your pan as it sits on top of the blocks? Trying to figure out what I can do to improve my setup this season, short of taking my setup apart... I already have the beginnings of a cinder cemetery.
The best solution to avoid smoke is also the best for a good hot fire. Lots of draft. Make sure you have lots of stack height. You should have 12' of 7" or 8" stove pipe for a typical block arch. The extra height causes increased draft and will suck air in the cracks instead of letting smoke seep out. Make sure there is a good opening at the bottom edge at the front to allow air in, and once you get a fire established, the draft will keep the area clear of smoke. You do have a grate of some kind to keep the fire off the ground and let air under it - correct?

There will always be some smoke when you first light, but once it is roaring there shouldn't be enough to bother you.

[TurkeyJohn]

Thanks Karen,

Puts my mind to ease, that I'm not done before I've started. Yea, I'm surprised at the amount of sap I'm getting, I don't have a meter to measure the sugar content, but they've all performed well in years past. Another surprise is the difference you see from one side of the house to the other, west side trees are all running well, east side not so much, just the way the sun is warming things I suppose.

Expecting a slow day today with cooler temps, but may be a blessing as getting concerned on storage until the weekend when I can do my first boil down. Evaporator is all set up and ready to go, just need the time...

TurkeyJohn

[MustardSeedMum]

The best solution to avoid smoke is also the best for a good hot fire. Lots of draft. Make sure you have lots of stack height. You should have 12' of 7" or 8" stove pipe for a typical block arch. The extra height causes increased draft and will suck air in the cracks instead of letting smoke seep out. Make sure there is a good opening at the bottom edge at the front to allow air in, and once you get a fire established, the draft will keep the area clear of smoke. You do have a grate of some kind to keep the fire off the ground and let air under it - correct?

There will always be some smoke when you first light, but once it is roaring there shouldn't be enough to bother you.

Good hot fire - check (i think anyway - at least 2 of my pans are usually on a good boil and the 3rd goes as well when all the sticks are burning)
Fire grate - check
Stack height - no where close to 12'
My stack is 4 concrete blocks with 2- 2 ft stove pipes shoved into the concrete
blocks to extend the height. So what's that? - 4.5ft tops. :(

My front is pretty much open right now except for a couple of blocks
that cover the side of my front pan. Is that a problem?

[Big_Eddy]

MSM
Sounds like stack height is the issue. With a short stack you essentially have an open fire and the smoke hat goes with it. No draft to pull the heat under the pans and up the chimney. I used 4x3' sections screwed together with sheet metal screws into a single piece. I drilled 3 holes in the top piece 120 degrees apart and twisted about 5' of fence wire into each hole. I then attached bright ropes to the wires and extended them out to the ground. I tied each rope around a cinder block for an anchor. Works well, but be sure to put something in the way to block the path below them or you'll end up hanging yourself on them and pulling the smoke stack down.

I'd give that a try. Should improve things.

[MustardSeedMum]

MSM
Sounds like stack height is the issue. With a short stack you essentially have an open fire and the smoke hat goes with it. No draft to pull the heat under the pans and up the chimney. I used 4x3' sections screwed together with sheet metal screws into a single piece. I drilled 3 holes in the top piece 120 degrees apart and twisted about 5' of fence wire into each hole. I then attached bright ropes to the wires and extended them out to the ground. I tied each rope around a cinder block for an anchor. Works well, but be sure to put something in the way to block the path below them or you'll end up hanging yourself on them and pulling the smoke stack down.

I'd give that a try. Should improve things.

Thanks Big_Eddy. Will see if I can cajole the husband into fiddling around with the stack before my next boil this weekend.

[Galena]

Ok I think my trees have it backwards. Lots of sap in the pails, but all frozen up, so going to wait til it's warm before I go and collect. Puzzled though cause been pretty cold and windy but sunny...I suppose the sun alone is enough this year round. But clearly they ran yesterday after the 4:30 collection time, so go figure...*sigh*

Karen and Bruce, sorry to read about your respective syrup spills :-( Use lots of hot water...

[rtgambit]

Definitely an odd year for sap production.

Day 1 - 9 gallons
Day 2 - 12 gallons
Day 3 - 9 gallons
Day 4 - 9 gallons
Day 5 - 42 gallons (Saturday when it was raining)
Day 6 - 4 gallons
Day 7 - 46 gallons
Day 8 - 15 gallons

That puts me at 142 gallons (536 L) without checking todays sap run. 11188

Picture is the first finished jars for this season. Tastes great!

[Run Forest Run!]

Bring on the pancakes tomorrow in Kingston!

[Lespetras]

Great looking syrup!

[TurkeyJohn]

Where are you in Kingston Rtgambit? I'm on the east side off 15 and sure aren't getting the runs you are but then we only have 12 trees tapped.

TurkeyJohn

[Lespetras]

TurkeyJohn,
I am off of 15 also, how much sap have you gotten from your 12 trees so far?

[Vandy]

Been Boiling away here in Portland, except for the last few days frozen sapsicles and ice buckets - so time to finish and bottle. So much work collecting 100 taps for this early stuff, but well worth it..

3 batches done, 430L of sap making 13.4L of syrup. Numbers are approx as you can see from the poorly filled bottles. First 2 batches strangely dark, third nice light.

Batch 1:
Mar 10th - 28L sap
Mar 11th - 47L sap
1.9L syrup.

Batch 2:
Mar 12th - 12L sap (partial collection)
Mar 13th - 72L sap
Mar 10th - 74L sap
Mar 10th - 50L sap
6.3L syrup.

Batch 3:
Mar 16th - 146L sap
5.2L syrup


http://vandy.ca/maple/IMG-20150319-00284.gif

http://vandy.ca/maple/IMG-20150319-00285.gif

[TurkeyJohn]

TurkeyJohn,
I am off of 15 also, how much sap have you gotten from your 12 trees so far?

We've been able to fill 2-20 gallon cans and starting on the third, hoping to do a boil this weekend. How far up 15 are you Lespetras? We're right at Rideau Acres campground.

TJ

[Run Forest Run!]

That's a nice haul Vandy! BTW, what have you got started in those Jiffy 7s? You're obviously a gardener too.

[Vandy]

That's a nice haul Vandy! BTW, what have you got started in those Jiffy 7s? You're obviously a gardener too.

I don't even know what a jiffy 7 is? LOL. Wife is gardner - I do syrup and livestock. Whole bunch of stuff started there.

[Run Forest Run!]

The Jiffy 7s are the small peat pellets that are on the left side of your metal shelf. When you add water to them they puff up so that you can add your seeds to them.

[Galena]

Well, finally caved in and made my first batch of syrup today - from both bushes and am somewhat surprised and happy with the results.

My home bush batch boiled down from 38l sap to an anticipated 1l...but there's still another guesstimated 300ml in the strainer. Colour is a nice clear red amber, which isn't that unusual, but for last 3 years or so the first batch has been pale gold. Still seems to taste of marshmallow though.

Then the virgin bush really surprised me. At just under 20l I was expecting to get 500ml if I was lucky. Well that first jar is now almost full and have a 250ml on standby. I may have overcooked it a little as I wasn't expecting to make anything but nearup today, so it caught me off guard! This batch is the more expected first-batch gold.

So overall pretty happy with this afternoon's work!

Oh btw Big Eddy, I took your advice with the filtering off. What I've basically done is made a couple of baine-maries. I filled saucepans approx 1/3 full of water, then put in a stainless steel bowl, then the jar of syrup with filtering rig atop it. Now they're both sitting atop the woodstove, syrup staying nice and toasty warm though of course the drips are painfully slow now :-)

[rtgambit]

Where are you in Kingston Rtgambit? I'm on the east side off 15 and sure aren't getting the runs you are but then we only have 12 trees tapped.

TurkeyJohn

I'm at the very west end of Holmes Rd, about a kilometer from Loughborough Lake.

[Run Forest Run!]

Great to hear that you made syrup today Galena. Even better that it's more than you thought you'd get! I had such a brutal time with my filtering the other day that I've got some settling in jars to decant later. Usually it's not quite as difficult to get through the filters, but you never know what curve ball is going to be thrown your way when sugaring.

[Galena]

Yeah, that's just it, esp with this year's run so far. BTW the two noobs, saphound and 67Heaven, might benefit a little from your experience with propane burners and hydrotherms...been trying to help them as much as I can but not really good at either yet!

[Bruce L]

Finally got first boil in yesterday, lots and lots and lots of problems getting going. 400 gallons of sap, just enough to basically sweeten the pans because of low sugar. Started boiling at 3:30, shut down by 5:00 ,no syrup on a short 1.5 hour boil for first time.

[Lespetras]

We've been able to fill 2-20 gallon cans and starting on the third, hoping to do a boil this weekend. How far up 15 are you Lespetras? We're right at Rideau Acres campground.

TJ

I am on Washburn road!! This is our first year.. I think we've done okay. To date we have made close to 8 litres of syrup! It's crazy how different our sap flow is when we live in the same area.. like you've collected 40 gallons and we have collected close to 100 gallons. To date 357 litres on 30 trees. Perhaps just early in the season and your flow will increase?

Also, Vandy.. That is an amazing batch of syrup you have, congratulations!


And Galena, you've finally made some! That's great, still tastes like marshmallows you said? I actually went out and purchased a small sample of pure maple syrup from the grocery store to taste test for a real good comparison. And I can't believe how much better ours is... I'm not going to be able to go back... Like ever! It's crazy the difference!

Oh and our sugar content is finally increasing... Last batch 2.4%.. Yay!

Lesley

[WI Sugarpop]

And Galena, you've finally made some! That's great, still tastes like marshmallows you said? I actually went out and purchased a small sample of pure maple syrup from the grocery store to taste test for a real good comparison. And I can't believe how much better ours is... I'm not going to be able to go back... Like ever! It's crazy the difference!

Oh and our sugar content is finally increasing... Last batch 2.4%.. Yay!

Lesley

Once you get bit by the maple bug you will never want to stop making it for yourself.:D

[Galena]

....And Galena, you've finally made some! That's great, still tastes like marshmallows you said? I actually went out and purchased a small sample of pure maple syrup from the grocery store to taste test for a real good comparison. And I can't believe how much better ours is... I'm not going to be able to go back... Like ever! It's crazy the difference!

Oh and our sugar content is finally increasing... Last batch 2.4%.. Yay!

Lesley

Ended up with 1150ml of my first batch, and 700ml of the virgin bush. What didn't go through the respective filters made its way into my salvage jar - no way am I chucking a filter caked up with even 50ml of my liquid gold!!

And yes, my first batch is insanely marshmallowy. Ridiculous! :-) The virgin batch is, too, but not nearly as pronounced. And yes, the stuff from grocery stores will never taste as good again, it's blended from so many different sources that it's almost...dare I say it?...bland.

[TurkeyJohn]

I'm at the very west end of Holmes Rd, about a kilometer from Loughborough Lake.

Same road as Fruition, know where you're at now, not far from us at Rideau Acres Rd.

[TurkeyJohn]

I am on Washburn road!! This is our first year.. I think we've done okay. To date we have made close to 8 litres of syrup! It's crazy how different our sap flow is when we live in the same area.. like you've collected 40 gallons and we have collected close to 100 gallons. To date 357 litres on 30 trees. Perhaps just early in the season and your flow will increase?

Also, Vandy.. That is an amazing batch of syrup you have, congratulations!



And Galena, you've finally made some! That's great, still tastes like marshmallows you said? I actually went out and purchased a small sample of pure maple syrup from the grocery store to taste test for a real good comparison. And I can't believe how much better ours is... I'm not going to be able to go back... Like ever! It's crazy the difference!

Oh and our sugar content is finally increasing... Last batch 2.4%.. Yay!

Lesley

Hey Lesley,

Yeah, seems to be alot of differences regardless of territory. Seems you're tapping twice the trees though and I don't have any Sugars so that's likely the difference there. If you're going by will likely see me boiling off in the back yard on Sunday!

I turkey hunt on Washburn Rd so know where you're at with the apple orchard on the corner..

Turkey John

[Galena]

Ok, after looking at various linkies showing how to calculate sugar content, I've decided that The Rule of 86 is too confusing, esp as I collect in litres, not gallons, be they Imperial or US.

So I've invented The Rule of Galena, and I think it's pretty danged close to what the Ro86 would give me. This is how I worked it: # of l of sap collected x 1000, divided by the number of actual mls made into finished syrup, and move the decimal over one place to the left.

So for the virgin bush, that works out to: 19.8l sap x 1000 = 19800 / 700mls syrup = 28.2. Move the decimal one place to the left and I get 2.8% sugar content.
For my home bush: 38.1l sap x 1000 = 38100 / 1250mls syrup = 30.48 works out to 3.0% sugar content.

What say the rest of you? Want to get out the calculators and see if I'm close? Of course if I'm wildly off too, feel free to say so :-)

[Lespetras]

Hey Lesley,

Yeah, seems to be alot of differences regardless of territory. Seems you're tapping twice the trees though and I don't have any Sugars so that's likely the difference there. If you're going by will likely see me boiling off in the back yard on Sunday!

I turkey hunt on Washburn Rd so know where you're at with the apple orchard on the corner..

Turkey John

Too funny! My husband also turkey hunts on Washburn road!! I think we are probably running in the same circles as most of the hunters up this way know each other!
Lesley

[Lespetras]

Ok, after looking at various linkies showing how to calculate sugar content, I've decided that The Rule of 86 is too confusing, esp as I collect in litres, not gallons, be they Imperial or US.

So I've invented The Rule of Galena, and I think it's pretty danged close to what the Ro86 would give me. This is how I worked it: # of l of sap collected x 1000, divided by the number of actual mls made into finished syrup, and move the decimal over one place to the left.

So for the virgin bush, that works out to: 19.8l sap x 1000 = 19800 / 700mls syrup = 28.2. Move the decimal one place to the left and I get 2.8% sugar content.
For my home bush: 38.1l sap x 1000 = 38100 / 1250mls syrup = 30.48 works out to 3.0% sugar content.

What say the rest of you? Want to get out the calculators and see if I'm close? Of course if I'm wildly off too, feel free to say so :-)

Galena, your formula is genius! This is how I often view math...
.11215

Lesley

[cheesegenie]

Has anyone in the east end of the province get a decent run yet? One small one here only Monday, maybe today, but still seems cold.

[Galena]

Has anyone in the east end of the province get a decent run yet? One small one here only Monday, maybe today, but still seems cold.

Well, Cornwall is right on the ST Lawrence Seaway, and seas are always kinda cold, so wouldn't surprise me if you get a late run. I'm up the road aways from you, things have been really sporadic this month. I expect April to be really good.

ETA: Lesley, that maff thing is PRICELESS! No wonder I was no good at it in school.

[cheesegenie]

Bit of a run today, not enough worth picking up, an inch or so the buckets.

[Newby14]

Not much here either today,it's been slow so far this year.Only 10 litres so far from 105 taps. We are in Prince Edward County

[Vandy]

Some of my buckets were half today, some were empty. Hoping to collect tomorrow before rain/snow:cry:

[Galena]

Once again I am convcinced that my trees have tossed out the rule book. And the virgins too. Yesterday my trees only had one spile producing anything, and I left it in the pail. Went this morning to check, expecting to find nothing much more, and am now evaporating 10l of sap. Visited the virgins and got a couple litres yesterday and today. So back in the sap again.

[67HEAVEN]

Sorry, wrong section - I'm moving the data to Central Ontario.

[cheesegenie]

I did the first boil, 6 litres, wow. (that was a sarcastic wow). But I did get to use my propane burner to make some sugar syrup for my bees in the meantime.

[Lespetras]

Looks like a cold spell coming in, boiling down 5th batch tonight of 60 litres.. Hoping to get close to 2 litres from that but we'll see. I've heard that a cold spell may kick start the sap again... Here's hoping!

[Galena]

...I've heard that a cold spell may kick start the sap again... Here's hoping!

Relax, Lesley. It will.

[Lespetras]

Okay guys... This is by far the best batch yet!! Using only 60 litres of sap we were able to make 2225 ml... For a Sugar content of 3.23%!!!!!! Almost double last weeks batches, now I understand why people do not want to boil anything less than 2%
Lesley

[Run Forest Run!]

Way to go Lesley. I think you are having too much fun. :lol:

[MustardSeedMum]

Thanks Big_Eddy. Will see if I can cajole the husband into fiddling around with the stack before my next boil this weekend.


MSM
Sounds like stack height is the issue. With a short stack you essentially have an open fire and the smoke hat goes with it. No draft to pull the heat under the pans and up the chimney. I used 4x3' sections screwed together with sheet metal screws into a single piece. I drilled 3 holes in the top piece 120 degrees apart and twisted about 5' of fence wire into each hole. I then attached bright ropes to the wires and extended them out to the ground. I tied each rope around a cinder block for an anchor. Works well, but be sure to put something in the way to block the path below them or you'll end up hanging yourself on them and pulling the smoke stack down.

I'd give that a try. Should improve things.
OK - popping in to say thank you Big_Eddy!

Hubby put another 2' pipe and it made a HUGE difference. I'm sure going even higher would be better but we'll save that for our next set up and do it properly the first time.
Boiled friday and saturday and was able to enjoy the smell of sweet sap a lot easier this time!

[jnexus]

Has anyone in the east end of the province get a decent run yet? One small one here only Monday, maybe today, but still seems cold.

I'm about 100km NE of you, and I haven't gotten much more than 4l per tap. Nothing is running right now.




275 taps spread out over 125 acres
2.5 x 10 Drop Flue on masonry arch ( takes 10 ft logs )
Ski doo Expedition when there is snow
500cc Foreman and Kubota l5740 when there isn't

[Galena]

Welcome jnexus, and hey, at least you're in the Land of Beaus...can't be all that bad! :-)

[TurkeyJohn]

Hey folks,

Boiled down our first batch, and though not as thick as I would have liked, took too long as it was, quite happy with the colour and taste.

Took 18 hours to get my 40 gallons down to 5 1/2 375 ml bottles. Used my barrel boiler and then finished on the Bar B Q and the electric element I picked up this year just for syrup.

Trees took the weekend off with the cold, but expecting big runs later this week with milder temps..

Good Luck to all,

Turkey John

[Galena]

*Crickets chirping*

All is very quiet in my neck of the woods during yet another mini coldsnap. They are getting pretty tiresome! So when I visit the trees I pet them and tell them I'm not worried, this cold will finally end, and none of them are going to be firewood next year.

[Big_Eddy]

Well - it's back to work for me after a good March Break off. We boiled Saturday through Wednesday, then had Thursday through Saturday off so cut firewood instead. Had enough sap again by Sunday to boil, even though it was -19C in the morning. I still have about 80 gallons of sap (ice?) in the tank to boil later today. I think we've boiled about 300 gallons of sap so far. The first 120 sweeten the evaporator, after which about 25 liters of syrup has come out.

Our first runs were low on sugar (determined by the tried and true tongue taste test method) but mid-week made up for it with 2 nights that froze just enough to discard the ice when collecting. Syrup has been light to date. We have some goods days in the near term forecast, so we're expecting to have lots of sap by the end of the week and with cold nights forecasted, we should be seeing light syrup for another week at least.

Here's wishing for cold nights and warm days for another few weeks at least. :)

[Galena]

Sitting here twiddling my thumbs and as sap not running - this year so far has been as stop and go as a teenager learning how to drive standard - so I have to boil something...and so I am making stock from lamb bones, veggies, herbs and h20. Almost accidentally threw in a batch of nearup from the virgin bush too, but didn't :-0

Big_Eddy...you got those pics ok?

[cheesegenie]

Galena, you mean a teenage girl learning to drive standard? Useless.

[Galena]

Galena, you mean a teenage girl learning to drive standard? Useless.

Heh, this former teenage girl drives nothin but standard and I'm **** good at it! And I've known teenage drivers of both sexes to mash up the gears pretty badly :-p

[cheesegenie]

When I was dating my wife, she was 16, she just couldn't get it. I kept trying but never did she learn. That was only 40 years ago, should I give up? Hey guess what? -11 last night, sun is coming out, sap might run!

[Big_Eddy]

Big_Eddy...you got those pics ok?

I did - thank you.

[MustardSeedMum]

Galena, you mean a teenage girl learning to drive standard? Useless.

Hey! Another one to dispute that statement! This former teenage girl drove standard and good too! Ask my hubby.
At one time we both had VW scirroco's and we did a little drag to prove my shifting abilities. Left him in the dust Bwahaha.

[Run Forest Run!]

Every one of my cars has been a standard shift, including my current one. But then, Galena and MSM, we MapleTrader girls make our own maple syrup. Not exactly typical gal stuff, so of course we all drive standard. ;)

[Lespetras]

Hey..I just have to get in on this one!

I agree with karen... I too drove standard vehicles from age 17 on! I also changed my own oil! It's one of the things my husband found most attractive about me.. LOL!!! That's what makes us girls such great maple syrup makers.
Too funny!

Lesley

[MustardSeedMum]

MapleTrader girl power! LOL!

Still waiting patiently for the trees to bust open today. Freezing rain right now.

[Run Forest Run!]

Freezing rain here too MSM. I really thought today was the day.........

[cheesegenie]

Seeing how you girls ganged up on me, I will say I am sorry and I can't take much pain. No sap again today, all the right conditions but a raw east wind. In 2012 I had all my buckets and stuff washed and put away by March 21. Had that big heat wave for a few days 85 F plus, sap stopped, bugs and flies to no end in the buckets and worst of all, buds broke open on trees.

[Galena]

Hey MT Girl Power drivers, just remember that if you can drive standard...it means you can also drive a tractor! Which I had to do in my past life, many times esp during winter, doing crazy things like put on the hayspike, spearing a roundbale, driving up an icy hill to where the school ponies were kept, getting in without letting the little monsters out, dropping the round bale and yanking off the twine while the ponies circled like hungry sharks. Fun fun fun!

And more than once I have been able to get behind the wheel of a total stranger's pickup truck and get them unstuck from ruts that were bad enough that the truck's owners - guys in these cases - couldn't get them out.

ETA: Oh yeah...only about a couple litres out there in my home pails, so left them there. But did bring home 3l from the virgins, so I have something to boil tonight :-)

[67HEAVEN]

Well this is frustrating. No sap flow for a few days now. Rainy, gloomy weather. Just above freezing, but here we are in late March.

http://i50.tinypic.com/30hlllj.jpg

[Run Forest Run!]

Didn't get a single drop. :confused: I thought today was going to be the day.

[Galena]

Ok. This is now officially The.Most.Aggravating.Season.EVER.

However supposedly it's going to be +3 tonight so that give me SOME modicum of hope. Hurry up and get here, April! Prove that last year's unstoppable run from April1-21 was no fluke!!!

[Run Forest Run!]

Didn't get a single drop. :confused: I thought today was going to be the day.

I take it back. I just saw two drops. Maybe the taps will drip a little overnight?

[Vandy]

It's pretty wacky. On a single tree with 4 buckets, 1 is full, 1 is half, 2 have none. 40 feet away in another large tree, not a single drop..

Some are drippy drippy, some not. I'll collect tomorrow and hope not too much rain in pails.

[Asthepotthickens]

Hello Ladies, frustrating for sure I made two gallons so far and today it ran for two hours and then the rain and wind started. Rain is okay but the trees do not run when it's windy. SUNDAY will be the day.
Rob

[Lespetras]

Hello Ladies, frustrating for sure I made two gallons so far and today it ran for two hours and then the rain and wind started. Rain is okay but the trees do not run when it's windy. SUNDAY will be the day.
Rob
I collected 39 litres between yesterday and today!! Mind you some trees were taps were dry (normally good producers) and other taps great... Like more than a gallon each. It is weird the way the sap runs... I'm starting to think its got to do with the wind also and sun! I'm hoping that we get a better run tmw, I don't want to wait until Sunday!!
Lesley

[Galena]

Yep, wind and sun both affect my home trees. The virgin bush seems a little less affected, though they are located only 5 min drive from me, but they are also much smaller trees than mine and in a little bit of a hollow so the wind doesn't hit them as hard. And the tree that first started to produce on all three spiles, in any significant quantity, was #5, who is located almost directly behind my woodshed, so the most out of the wind.

Only SW winds benefit all my home trees equally - all others pretty much kill or slow the run.

[ashadedacre]

Ok don't post much but thought I'd show current bottling. Looks like everyone is getting going now! Nice production everyone. Here, DH is in charge cause he's home. Back injury makes for just enough collection possible for our needs plus Xmas gifts. He can manage 20 or so spiles in about 8 of the closest trees in what had been a magnificent 80 + acre sugaring bush in years past. March 11 finished first quart syrup almost exact 40:1. Finished 3 quarts plus taster mini St Paddy's day. Now another quart Sunday. All light and butterscotch like last year early syrup. Not complaining of slow cause it suits his speed but complaining cause he looks forward to it and wants more to do :) 11367 Know more is coming just getting antsy ! Especially seeing the gallons some are getting around us at Rideau Lakes area.

[Run Forest Run!]

Looks delicious ashadedacre. Post pics and details about your next batches!

[rtgambit]

Seems like my trees took the last week and a bit off. Sap just started again yesterday - maybe 3 or 4 gallons at the most. I just left that in the buckets. Heading out after dinner with the oldest daughter to collect tonight.

[Galena]

Well my trees ran overnight, so collected from my three best this morning, then again from all the trees after work. Approx 12 1/2l, so by no means a world-beater yield. The virgins also pushed out 3 1/2 l.

Oh...and have had to replace 3 more of those stoopid blue plastic spiles. Ironically, the only tree that has nothing but blue plastic spiles is #5, who has been pulling its weight and then some! Funny how these things pan out.

Karen, lurked on the Central Ontario thread and saw your advice to MSM. So just want to know...how big are those grading bottles? About the same whatsit *sorry I forget, do I need the circumference or diameter?* as say a dollar-store glass spice jar, only shorter?

[Run Forest Run!]

Galena, the testing bottles are 1 inch in diameter and 2 inches high.

[Big_Eddy]

We collected about 325 l from 150 trees tonight. Best day so far. I'll be making steam for a few hours tonight :). Might even have to take tomorrow off to get caught up. Shucks. :D

[Lespetras]

Hi guys..
This propane business is getting pricy! Gonna have to build an arch next year! On our 6th batch ... collected 110 litres last evening and today.... I'm starting to realize that our trees aren't doing too bad as I read other posts.. if the season keeps going like this we may be swimming in the stuff.. we're already surpassing our 10 litre syrup goal 🍻

[MustardSeedMum]

Hi guys..
This propane business is getting pricy! Gonna have to build an arch next year! On our 6th batch ... collected 110 litres last evening and today.... I'm starting to realize that our trees aren't doing too bad as I read other posts.. if the season keeps going like this we may be swimming in the stuff.. we're already surpassing our 10 litre syrup goal 

Lesley,
If you've got some level ground to spare, and you can find some concrete blocks free on freecycle or kijiji, you could potentially build yourself a 2-3 pan arch this season. Did this 2 years ago, after realizing that my woodstove just wasn't going to keep up with the amount of sap we were getting. Hastily put together an arch (paid 50 cents a piece for cinder blocks a guy had leftover from a shed build). So glad we did because that was a bumper crop year. :D

[Lespetras]

Lesley,
If you've got some level ground to spare, and you can find some concrete blocks free on freecycle or kijiji, you could potentially build yourself a 2-3 pan arch this season. Did this 2 years ago, after realizing that my woodstove just wasn't going to keep up with the amount of sap we were getting. Hastily put together an arch (paid 50 cents a piece for cinder blocks a guy had leftover from a shed build). So glad we did because that was a bumper crop year. :D

Thanks so much for the advice msm; yes, we've considered it. We don't have the wood prepared yet. . I guess we could buy some. . It's a shame because we have lots of wood just haven't cut it or dried it yet.. really only previously used for bon fires.. I'll look into cinder blocks this weekend
Lesley

[Vandy]

making steam from 150L collected tonight from last 2 days.

Great way to start 2 week vacation. Bring on the sap :)

[Bruce L]

Lesley, what about wood pallets? If you have a lumber store near you that has a surplus of pallets to get rid of you could get them for free to make real good burning wood out of.

[Bruce L]

Vacuum brought in about 600 gallons yesterday, boiled it all in in 2.5 hours last night before everything freezes up again.

[Lespetras]

Lesley, what about wood pallets? If you have a lumber store near you that has a surplus of pallets to get rid of you could get them for free to make real good burning wood out of.
Hi Bruce,
That's a really great suggestion, I'll do some digging to see if any extra pallets are kicking around local lumber yards!
Lesley

[MustardSeedMum]

Thanks so much for the advice msm; yes, we've considered it. We don't have the wood prepared yet. . I guess we could buy some. . It's a shame because we have lots of wood just haven't cut it or dried it yet.. really only previously used for bon fires.. I'll look into cinder blocks this weekend
Lesley

Oh, I forgot about that. :lol: Bruce L has a good idea though. And you'll be surprised at how much you can just pick off the forest floor that would be nice and dry to use. If you have a chainsaw, even better. I'm sure you have lots of fallen branches or downed young saplings that you could use. When we first started, one of the kids' tasks was to pull out anything they could drag out by hand. They still do that - I find it useful to get the fire going quickly.

[MustardSeedMum]

Hi Bruce,
That's a really great suggestion, I'll do some digging to see if any extra pallets are kicking around local lumber yards!
Lesley

Don't limit yourself to lumberyards. I've gone before to my local sears appliance store and taken the pallets they use to ship appliances. Basically anywhere where they need pallets to transport goods. :D

I once stopped at the side of the road when I saw a whack of pallets sitting on the front of the driveway of a HVAC store. Went inside and asked if they were getting rid of them and could I pretty please have them?! hahaha. No shame.

[Galena]

Hi guys..
This propane business is getting pricy! Gonna have to build an arch next year! On our 6th batch ... collected 110 litres last evening and today.... I'm starting to realize that our trees aren't doing too bad as I read other posts.. if the season keeps going like this we may be swimming in the stuff.. we're already surpassing our 10 litre syrup goal 🍻

And not too long ago you were worried that your trees had finished their run...;-)

[cheesegenie]

Just be careful about the pallets. I used some a few years ago and they gave off a smell , could taste in the syrup. Checked into it, some pallets coming from China etc. are treated with insecticides. But they missed the ash beetle.

[Lespetras]

And not too long ago you were worried that your trees had finished their run...;-)

Yes I regret that my inexperience left me baffled and I spoke too soon :) Beginners luck!

Boiled down 130 litres for batch number 6 and our yield was 3900 ml for a sugar content of 2.44%, not nearly as good as batch 5 that was 3.3% but we'll take it! This batch is completely different as it is quite a bit darker.. Posting a picture here..
11412

[Run Forest Run!]

Look at you Lesley! You've already surpassed 13L of syrup so far! I hope to follow in your footsteps if the weather cooperates next week.

[MustardSeedMum]

That's perfectly normal Lesley. That is some fine syrup you have there. :D

It's been a quiet week for us here. I'm saving the 80L we collected yesterday until the next run. Just took a walk around and there's maybe another 40L frozen in the buckets. Glad for the break though, as some of my kids have got the stomach bug. So I've been busy dealing with other liquids. :lol:

[MustardSeedMum]

Look at you Lesley! You've already surpassed 13L of syrup so far! I hope to follow in your footsteps if the weather cooperates next week.

Now don't you go cooking batches of food now, Karen! :lol: I must admit I was about to do the same thing a few days ago when we all thought we'd have buckets of sap.

[Run Forest Run!]

I promise MSM. I learned my lesson. With the amount of food I'd cooked you'd think I was expecting both a zombie apocalypse and a sap tsunami. I'll just take things from the freezer instead.

[Galena]

Ok Eastern Ontarians, crack your knuckles and get ready...this week's forecast, starting today, is sounding great for a good sap flow. Esp if the temp is just below zero tonight and that balmy 20km SW breeze keeps a'blowin.

[Lespetras]

Ok Eastern Ontarians, crack your knuckles and get ready...this week's forecast, starting today, is sounding great for a good sap flow. Esp if the temp is just below zero tonight and that balmy 20km SW breeze keeps a'blowin.
Yay galena! I've been waiting for some good karma for your trees, this could be the day it all turns around!

[Galena]

Thanks Lesley, I sure hope it does. My trees seem to like running through the night so I'm hoping for some nice heavy pails in the morning. In the meantime going to go check and see what's going on now, would like to make SOME steam tonight...and once I start getting a lot, must get the propane tank from my buddies (ha!) and get em to show me how to safely hook it up to the burner.

[Run Forest Run!]

Things are slowly starting to drip here Galena.

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Finally got some decent runs this week(Brockville area) boiled in 125 gals. made 12 liters of syrup too cold today(Sunday) not much happening hopefully this last week of March will better. Maple weekend coming up April 4-5 needs some syrup to sell on the weekend.

[cheesegenie]

Perfect conditions here today for a run, but a strong N/W wind stopped that.

[Galena]

Trees are starting to go, but not as much as I was expecting, thanks to the wind which sure doesn't feel like a SW wind to me!! Still I hope tomorrow will be better.

[cheesegenie]

It has to come up sooner or later, problem is can't handle too much at once. My bush is very open 401 runs beside so lots of wind. Some bushes are protected with evergreens, perfect.

[Run Forest Run!]

My collection today for ALL of my taps was about what I might expect from just TWO taps during the height of the season. Darn wind! I think I froze my face off out there today.

[Bruce L]

Much the same here Karen,had the vacuum pumps running, very little came in.Checked the buckets,levelled out might be 2 inches in the last who knows how many days now.Very few trees have that thawed ring around them yet, still walking on top of snow,not even leaving footprints.

[Lespetras]

Much the same here Karen,had the vacuum pumps running, very little came in.Checked the buckets,levelled out might be 2 inches in the last who knows how many days now.Very few trees have that thawed ring around them yet, still walking on top of snow,not even leaving footprints.

So is the consensus that the sap hasn't really hit its prime yet? Just wondering what I have to look forward to with the season as am new to it?
Lesley

[Run Forest Run!]

I don't know about you guys in Eastern Ontario, but I'm still waiting for things to begin. I'm really happy with the mini sap runs that I've had as it let me brush off the cobwebs of my syrup making methods with two nice batches of around 3L each. I'm really looking forward to the big sap.

[Big_Eddy]

This afternoon I bottled up one of 3 pots of syrup that I boiled last week. 12x1L, 1x500,and 4 cute-as-a-buttons. Ran out of time for the other 2 pots due to prior commitments. No sap since Thursday. Gathered wood instead. 11465

[Run Forest Run!]

If all that syrup is from only one of the three pots of syrup you have, you must be swimming in the stuff! Way to go Eddy!

[BrutemanAl]

This afternoon I bottled up one of 3 pots of syrup that I boiled last week. 12x1L, 1x500,and 4 cute-as-a-buttons. Ran out of time for the other 2 pots due to prior commitments. No sap since Thursday. Gathered wood instead. 11465

Looking good Big Eddy !!!

[Big_Eddy]

If all that syrup is from only one of the three pots of syrup you have, you must be swimming in the stuff! Way to go Eddy!
Well - I have 4 growing boys, so that won't last long.

With just over 150 trees tapped, I'm expecting 100+ litres this season. So far I've boiled off ~450 gallons of sap, which at 40:1 yields a sweetened pan (first 120 gals) and about 35 litres of syrup. That's about what I estimated was in the pots yesterday.

Surprisingly, this batch graded medium. I was expecting it to be light. But it tastes great, so I don't really care what colour it is. :lol:

Now we just need this snow to stop, and the temperature to rise a few degrees. (A few - not too many)

[Galena]

This snow just has to go. Only three of my trees have anything worth collecting out there; clearly yesterday's wind didn't get the memo that it was meant to be a SW wind, not a NE wind :-/

However I did reduce my nearup a little more. Then I drank some Chilean red while listening to a friend's radio show (Alan Cross of The Ongoing History of New Music) and ended up writing him a long rambling email making a connection between The Ramones and sugaring. So this morning he asked if he could put it up as a blogpost on his site, so I said sure, that's normally what he does with my emails anyway!

So off to check the virgins now, they looked pretty good yesterday but didn't collect as I was anticipating a big run. But they're a little more sheltered from the wind than the home trees, so maybe they have enough to make me some steam while I tackle paperwork.

[67HEAVEN]

....... ended up writing him a long rambling email making a connection between The Ramones and sugaring. So this morning he asked if he could put it up as a blogpost on his site, so I said sure, that's normally what he does with my emails anyway!


Since you're too modest to share it, Susan, I will - http://ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ramones-vs-sugaring-you-know-that-thing-we-do-with-maple-trees/

Well done. I enjoy Alan's anaylsis of the past and present music scene, and now yours too.

[Run Forest Run!]

Are you serious Galena? Alan Cross???? He's AWESOME! I just love his work.

[Galena]

Are you serious Galena? Alan Cross???? He's AWESOME! I just love his work.

Yes, I've written him a few emails he's turned into blogs on what used to be The Secret History of Rock show but which is now The Ongoing History of New Music. I was actually going to ask if you knew him, so I suppose you do :-)

ETA: Thanks for the linky 67Heaven, I hadn't read it yet once he posted it - as usual he didn't change a word!

[Kyle Baker]

This season is just too depressing. Havent even fired up the evaporator yet! I do have roughly 25-30 gallons of sap collected now from 57 taps but that's it. I guess I'll boil it this week, but its a pain doing a small batch on a 2'x4' setup. A nice continuous flow would be swell, but cant see it in the long range forecast.

[cheesegenie]

Same as me Kyle, I keep saying tomorrow, but..... I havn't tapped for two years and I am sorry I did this year. But not likely as sorry as the people around me that listen to me bitch and complain about it. I only do it for fun and that's not fun.

[67HEAVEN]

I'm gathering that this sort of season is best suited to a small-time hobbiest like me, using a propane cooker to boil small batches.

I collected 30 litres early this morning from 5 trees and the trees are still flowing well today - it's 5*C.

I've added a neighbour's tree (2 taps) to my four (8 taps), so upped my collection capacity by 25%. ;)

[Galena]

Yep this is definitely a good season for hobbyists, though look at what happened with Lesley - 500+l and counting!!! But I am very glad my house is brick, cause anytime I get frustrated with this run, I can just go outside and bang my head against it. Everyone else is welcome to come by and do the same, if you don't have a brick house :-)

[ennismaple]

So is the consensus that the sap hasn't really hit its prime yet? Just wondering what I have to look forward to with the season as am new to it?
Lesley

Lesley,

We're at 10% of a normal crop so it's safe to say the season hasn't started yet. The best day so far has been a half gallon of sap per tap whereas good days can be 1.5 gallons per tap. The best is yet to come!

Marty

[MarkReynolds]

I was talking to a guy at work that has a larger operation and he said I'll be swamped with sap soon enough.

[Jerome]

I hope you are right Marty.

[Lespetras]

Marty,

I'll take it! Thx.. Especially if it's only been 10% so far!

Lesley

[Run Forest Run!]

Hey Marty, I heard your interview two more times over the weekend on Newstalk 1010. You must have been a hit!

[Lespetras]

Hey Marty, I heard your interview two more times over the weekend on Newstalk 1010. You must have been a hit!

I need to hear this.. I've tried to look it up but can't find it... Is there a link?
Lesley

[Lespetras]

Hey Marty, I heard your interview two more times over the weekend on Newstalk 1010. You must have been a hit!
Oh it's okay I just listened to it.. March 25th was original air date! Good job Marty!!!
Lesley

[Big_Eddy]

Woohoo. We've got sap. 400+ litres today from 150 trees 11484

[Galena]

Got 15l from the homebush this pm and a decent 5l or so from the virgins, so I'm happy :-) Bracing myself for Wednesday though...