Tapped

[myazel]

Tapped today 2/28/07 in north central Indiana they were running good.

Mike

[myazel]

Had a good run last week before it locked back up. Still waiting for the next thaw which is giving me time to finish my new steam hood/preheater. Going to run a little more tube today as this is my first year trying it. Only 22 here this morning so I have some time, looks like Friday will be the next big day.

[DougM]

Myazel,
Where in Indiana are you located?

We had to take a year off and I've been curious how others in Indiana are doing this year due to winter not really getting started until the end of January.

Doug

[myazel]

While we are by no means a large producer (225 taps) we look to have a short season. Last year was not real good for us either. We can't seem to catch it right. I had a friend last year that tapped in January and caught some good runs, we tapped in Febuary and al;most missed it. This year we thought at Christmas time there wold be no season but then it turned cold. The runs have been strong but this warm weather has them shutdown for now. Looks like they may get going again towards the end of the week. I look to come up short again this year and am going to try and tap earlier if the weather shows any signs of thaws next year.
We are located near Mentone which is between Warsaw and Rochester. Started doing this about 6 years ago and enjoy it as it gives us more time out in the woods. I have a 2x6 Dellaire with a preheater and steamhood. Have the potential for 400-500 taps but seems the increases come slow with everything else always getting in the way of sugaring! All of my trees are pretty close to the house but across a creek so getting the water is somewhat of a challenge but not as bad as some have it.

Mike

[the old guy]

we are way down south near about 40 mi from evansville. we tapped feb 19 mediocre runs week 1, fair runs week 2, week 3 some good - some not so good. sugar content 1.2-1.6 boiled about 1500 gallon sap from 180 taps, made about 11 gallons of really light syrup, 11 gallons of medium to dark syrup, and 2 gallons of commercial grade B. not the best year ever but the best looking syrup ever. cleaned up today and are closing up shop.

leo oxley
john wade
(the old guys)

2 x 6 dominion - grimm with forced draft

[myazel]

I am hoping for another good run after this cold spell but that will probably be the end of it. Seems hard to get good runs that last. A few years ago I thought it would never end and the last couple years it seemed like you couldn't get it started.
I agree with the syrup quality everything we have pulled off so far is nice and light. I don't really grade mine as we are small time sellers but it is ust like we had two years ago when it was really light for the first part of the season. You are quite a bit farther south so quite a bit ahead of us up hear by the lake. I was hoping for two more runs but like I said my guess is the next will be the last. I boiled about three gallons yesterday that ran the day before in the warm which was strange as I figured the trees would have been shut down. Strange weather times!

Mike

[the old guy]

I Am Going To Evaluate Tree Selection This Year. It Seemed To Me That We Could Not Get Better Than 1.6 Sugar Content. Royal Maple Said The Bigger The Crown The Better The Sugar. This Seems To Hold True Because We Can Tap Trees Out In The Open Areas And Get A 2 To 2.4 Sugar Reading. I Wonder If There Has Ever Been A Formal Study Done On This Theory. And Can You Measure Sap Sugar Content With A Refractometer? Would It Be To Your Advantage To Do So Before You Tapped? Any Other Ways To Improve Sugar Content??

The Old Guys

2 X 6 Dominion - Grimm

[maplehound]

My buddy did a thinning in his woods last year and this year he has found a higher sugar content than he has been able to get in years. He just did a crop tree release type thinning and plans to do some more with those results expected.