Red Roof Maples 2016

[Russell Lampron]

Like everyone else I have been busy here getting ready for maple season. Sadly my son in law moved so I don't have my right hand man next door anymore. He plans to come over and help but at this point I'm not sure how much he will be able to. Maintaining the vacuum system and running the RO are going to be the biggest problems because he used to start the vacuum pump when the temperature was right and run the RO while I was at work. He used to keep the vacuum leaks fixed too which will be hard for me to do during the week when I have to work. Good luck with the new season everyone.

[jcb]

Hope you have a great season I'm sure you will get through just fine

[red maples]

Yes I am now working so I will have to get things going before work. Good luck Russ.

[Russell Lampron]

I spent the day setting and positioning tanks and getting everything in the sugar house ready to go. I'm ordering a new membrane for my RO tomorrow. If I hadn't forgotten about that little detail I would have been tapping today. Well the sweet and permeate tanks are back in the woodshed, plumbed up and ready to go. The gathering tank is on the trailer and the doodlebug has a new set of used ice chains on her. Just got to tap the trees and bring the releaser down and set it up.

[Greyfox]

Hi Russ, good to hear form you again. Last year it was tapping in snowshoes, this year it's sneakers...MUCH nicer tapping. I tapped half mine on Sunday, got a pretty good flow, just a bit yesterday, and hoping for a good run today and tomorrow, and plan to boil on Thursday. I'm hoping that since I'm using seasonal CV's I can withstand a long freeze and won't pay the price at the end of the season for starting too early....fingers crossed. Best of luck to you Russ.

Doc

[Russell Lampron]

Good to hear from you again Doc and good luck to you. With the check valve spouts there is no down side to tapping early. It's the warm spells that will kill your season not the cold ones.

I played hooky from work yesterday so that I could set up my releaser and get some taps in. I got one mainline tapped and then turned on the vacuum and went on leak patrol. Found and fixed several squirrel chews and had 27" at the releaser when I was done. The sap was running pretty good and I am hoping for more of the same this weekend when I am going to put the rest of the taps in.

The new membrane that I ordered Monday should be here tomorrow or Friday. I was saddened and surprised to hear that Joe Pasulka at Atlantic RO had passed away. His nephew Dan Pasulka seems like a nice guy too and I will continue doing business with him and his company Eastern RO.

[Russell Lampron]

I got my new membrane today! I need to rinse the new membrane and the RO will be ready for sap. There are still a couple of little things to be done but the sugarhouse is pretty ready to go too. Now getting the tapping done is the highest priority.

[Russell Lampron]

Richard came over and we got another section of woods tapped and leak checked today. It was trying to run this afternoon and we were able to maintain 26" of vacuum after we were done fixing leaks. Got another 350 or so to go and the hardest sections are done. With any luck we should finish tapping tomorrow just in time for the freeze up.

[Russell Lampron]

It was a beautiful day to be in the woods today. I'm officially tapped in! I've got some leaks to find and fix but still pulling 22" of vacuum so there's nothing major. The sap ran enough to get the lines flushed out and when it warms up again it's game on!

[Amber Gold]

Glad to see you're tapped in. After seeing the long range forecast, I decided to hold out. I wasn't quite ready and decided the time was better spent getting the woods in better shape. Swapping drops this year and making some long needed repairs. But if I'd thought this Jan. warm-up was going to last this long, I probably would've tapped in a couple weeks ago.

[Russell Lampron]

Glad to see you're tapped in. After seeing the long range forecast, I decided to hold out. I wasn't quite ready and decided the time was better spent getting the woods in better shape. Swapping drops this year and making some long needed repairs. But if I'd thought this Jan. warm-up was going to last this long, I probably would've tapped in a couple weeks ago.

I wish I had been ready to tap a couple of weeks ago but who would have thought that we would get the warm spell that we just had. I hurried to get tapped in this past weekend because next weekend looks like it is going to be the coldest weather of the winter so far. Next week it is supposed to warm up again and I don't want to miss that. I replaced a lateral mainline this winter but other than that everything else has just been repair work. The only thing I still had to do as of last week was get a new membrane for my RO. I got the membrane and installed it but still need to rinse it. Other than that I've only got a little cleaning up to do and I'm ready for sap.

[Russell Lampron]

Work was slow today so I was able to come home early and get some more stuff done. I got the RO flushed and now know that all of the pumps work and it's ready for sap. I also changed the oil in my vacuum pump and adjusted the belt so that is also ready for the season. < I was going to say ready for sap but I don't want that in the vacuum pump.....

[Russell Lampron]

Thank you Bruce Treat. The new sign will look great on the wall of the sugar house.

13046

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Looks great Russ

[Russell Lampron]

Looks great Russ

Thanks Brandon, It will look even better when I get hung up where everyone can see it. It was 3* with a pretty cold breeze blowing when this was taken this afternoon. You can see why I didn't run right out with the cordless and screws to hang it up.

[Russell Lampron]

Played in the rain a little bit tonight. I hooked my sap trailer up to the tractor and brought the sap pump down to the collection tank. When I got down there I found that the sap was coming in slow and there was only 100 gallons in the tank. Oh well at least the pump and hoses are down there so that I can pump the tank out tomorrow.

[NHguy]

looks great neighbor! sap is running hard here on the Canterbury end of Loudon got 12 buckets in today on 7/16 spiles after lunch in the rain 4 inches in em when i got home at 10pm hoping to drill in 20 more on 5/16 tubing tomorrow ( first try at tubing)

[Russell Lampron]

We had our first boil of the season last night. Got the pans sweetened and made 2 1/2 gallons of syrup too. Richard came up and chased vacuum leaks yesterday and the vacuum is now up to 24". It was a very productive day.

[Amber Gold]

Good to see you're making syrup. We're not there yet. Got the vac. pump running yesterday, but only pulling 20" of vac. Not sure what's going on yet. I have a smaller, backup pump I can throw in if needed.

[Russell Lampron]

Spent the day fixing vacuum leaks and the woods are pretty tight now. Started the day at 23" and ended it with 24 1/2". The sap didn't run as good as it seemed like it should have with the temps in the low 50's. I did collect 275 gallons and will be boiling tomorrow.

[Russell Lampron]

Almost forgot to mention that I hung up my new sign today!

13198

[Amber Gold]

Nice looking sign Russ. I'll have to get me one of those.

It's going to run all night, so we should have plenty to boil tomorrow night. This week's forecast has some cold nights, but I think we'll be making syrup most days...sweet!

[wokeupthisam]

Tapped in today, from the looks of the temps should run all night, maybe the first boil tomorrow afternoon. Tapped 14 days earlier than 2015, hopefully it's a long sweet season this year!

[Russell Lampron]

Nice looking sign Russ. I'll have to get me one of those.

It's going to run all night, so we should have plenty to boil tomorrow night. This week's forecast has some cold nights, but I think we'll be making syrup most days...sweet!

I'm hoping to find a big surprise when I go down to the tank this morning. My forecast for this week looks to be barely above freezing Monday and Tuesday with runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday than cold again for the weekend. I'm boiling again this afternoon and probably again Friday night. Good luck with your first boil.

[Russell Lampron]

Tapped in today, from the looks of the temps should run all night, maybe the first boil tomorrow afternoon. Tapped 14 days earlier than 2015, hopefully it's a long sweet season this year!

Good luck with your season too. This season is a tough one to call. I'm hoping that it doesn't turn out to be like 2012 when it was 80* the 3rd week in March.

[Russell Lampron]

I found 325 gallons in the tank when I went down this morning. I got about 50 gallons more from the time I started pumping the tank until I was done. I got the RO going and went out and fixed more vacuum leaks. The system is pretty tight now. I'm maintaining 25 1/2" at the releaser now and the regulator at the pump is set at 26". Every mainline has been walked at least once and some of them 2 or 3 times. I'm slowly but surely getting the Lapierre fittings out of my woods. The CDL and Leader fittings are much higher quality and don't leak past the barbs like the Lapierre fittings do. I don't know how Donald Lapierre maintains vacuum if he is using his own fittings in his woods.

I boiled in 675 gallons of sap this afternoon in 2 1/2 hours thanks to the RO. The sugar content was 2% when I checked it this morning and was 14% going into the evaporator. I made 10 gallons of great tasting Amber/Rich. Had a customer stop in this afternoon to buy 4 gallons which I jugged up tonight. 2016 is off to a good start.

[wokeupthisam]

I found 325 gallons in the tank when I went down this morning. I got about 50 gallons more from the time I started pumping the tank until I was done. I got the RO going and went out and fixed more vacuum leaks. The system is pretty tight now. I'm maintaining 25 1/2" at the releaser now and the regulator at the pump is set at 26". Every mainline has been walked at least once and some of them 2 or 3 times. I'm slowly but surely getting the Lapierre fittings out of my woods. The CDL and Leader fittings are much higher quality and don't leak past the barbs like the Lapierre fittings do. I don't know how Donald Lapierre maintains vacuum if he is using his own fittings in his woods.

I boiled in 675 gallons of sap this afternoon in 2 1/2 hours thanks to the RO. The sugar content was 2% when I checked it this morning and was 14% going into the evaporator. I made 10 gallons of great tasting Amber/Rich. Had a customer stop in this afternoon to buy 4 gallons which I jugged up tonight. 2016 is off to a good start.

Sounds like a Great start, let's hope it keeps rolling right through March. Had 50 gals from 20 taps in the 20 hours since tapping yesterday, boiled today yielded a gal of amber rich. Was good to smell the steam in the sugarhouse :)

[Russell Lampron]

Things have been going great here so far this season. The temp wasn't supposed to get above freezing here today but went into the mid 30's. I came home at lunch time to turn on the vacuum pump and to see how much sap was in the woods tank from Sunday. To my surprise there was 325 gallons in the tank. I went back to work and when I came home and checked the tank again it had 450 gallons in it. While I was pumping it out another 50 gallons came in for a total of 500 gallons of sap. Another surprise I got was seeing 26" on the vacuum gauge! I had 25" yesterday when I was done fixing leaks and gained an inch with the freeze and thaw. There will be steam at Red Roof Maples tomorrow night!

[Russell Lampron]

Had another good night in the sugarhouse and made 6 gallons of amber. The sugarhouse sure smelled good with the low laying steam filling the air. The syrup tastes as good as the steam smelled. Originally I thought that I wouldn't be boiling again until Friday but I boiled tonight and may be boiling again Thursday. Had issues with frozen pipes today but was able to get the RO going and the permeate flowing where I wanted it to without to much trouble.

With the lack of natural refrigeration this season I moved my boiling soda fridge into my RO room. Now the sugarhouse is complete. Things have been going pretty smooth in the sugarhouse since I did the remodel a couple of seasons ago. It's a lot more user friendly now and the boiling soda fridge makes it that much nicer.

[Greyfox]

Hi Russ. Glad to hear that things are going well for you this year. The new deal with me this year is that I'm partnering my operation with a buddy of mine down the road. He's over 80 and has a hard time getting around, and I can't be both places at once so I'll be boiling his sap and mine on his evaporator this season. He only got tapped in late Sunday, but we got enough to sweeten the pans yesterday. MIGHT be time to invest in an RO.

[Russell Lampron]

I got a lot of sap out this last run with over a 1.5 gallons per tap in the 24 hour period. Made 13 gallons of syrup last night too. It was just a shade darker than golden so I could grade it as amber. It tastes like amber too which makes me very happy.

With no snow checking for leaks is a breeze. With not many leaks to find I was able to check every mainline on the 4 wheeler and fix the few leaks that I found in about 2 hours. @#$%^&* squirrels!

Starting to have trouble with the releaser. The float shaft is sticking and the sap level gets dangerously high before it dumps. It did get too high once. I had to empty the moisture trap to get the vacuum pulling again. I tried to polish it up and was able to get it to work a little better but I think I'm going to buy a new shaft and replace it. What does everybody else use to lubricate those? I have never lubricated mine and don't want to put something on it that is going to gum it all up and make it worse than it is.

[Parker]

I use lubrifilm that i get from goodriches,,, food grade,,,,give rick a call up there and he will mail you a tube,,,,,802 426 3388,,,,good stuff

[Amber Gold]

I've always used the silicone lube that Lapierre sells. Not sure if Sunnyside carries it. I made it a point to lube the rod so make sure it moved smoothly. Those float and float rods can be temperamental to getting the releaser to trip properly if everything's not moving properly.

[red maples]

I use the same for mine. the little bottle from lapierre. it never sticks. Also you can put a little hot water on it if there is any sugar on it it might stick. You can also take it apart since we are already frozen up. and just take a little scotchbrite and polish it up and get rid of any scratches that might get hung up on the rubber gaskets.

[Russell Lampron]

The extended forecast is looking good enough so that I will tap my buckets this weekend. I always like checking the ones at the side of the driveway, it's a quick and easy way to see if I need to gather or not.

Brad, "less than 2 months until the start of the 2016 maple season"? It already started here!

I picked up some food grade silicone spray today and will try that on the releaser.

[Risingsweetnesssugarshack]

I was having the same problem with my float rod sticking up. Josh aka (amber gold) had replaced the float rod this year so even a new rod will stick without oiling it. Josh had given me the lapierre oil bottle I only put maybe 2 drops. Hasn't hung up in a couple runs.

[Russell Lampron]

I tapped my buckets this afternoon. The small trees in the sun were running but not the others. It was nice and sunny but the overnight low and cold wind kept the temperature low enough so that the sap wouldn't run very much. I got 50 gallons from the trees on vacuum and the releaser is working now that I have polished and lubricated the float rod. The forecast looks good for tomorrow and I will be boiling again tomorrow night. That will make 5 times in February this year when I only boiled 5 times in March last year. What a difference a year makes.

[red maples]

I know I will fix it I had trouble with my internet I tried updating it 2-3 times I couldn't even post.

Yet some times a polishing your rod and adding a lube does the trick!!! :o Glad to hear it is working...

[Russell Lampron]

The sap didn't run as well as I thought it would yesterday. It got off to a slow start and then picked up to about 75 gallons an hour. I collected 250 gallons at 5:00 and it was till coming in good. I'm going down to pump the tank in a little while and to see how much came in before I shut the vacuum pump off last night. It wasn't supposed to freeze last night but it was 31* at 10:30 and everything is covered with frost this morning.

I had 250 gallons of sap left from Thursday and got 50 more Saturday to start the RO with 300 gallons yesterday morning. I added yesterdays 250 to that and boiled again last night. I made 12 gallons of just barely amber to put my season total at 41 gallons. My evaporator really wants to give me golden but I have been lucky so far. The 41 gallons is about a 1/4 crop which is not bad for February. Another 160 gallons for the season would put me at 1 quart per tap which is pretty good for me.

I went out looking for leaking manifolds and ended up replacing 9 of them and got my vacuum back up to 26". I'm hoping for a good run today and plan to boil again tomorrow night.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap ran good yesterday. In fact too good. While I was at work with nobody here to pump it out the tank in the woods overflowed. I don't know how many times the releaser dumped after the tank was full but it looks like quite a few. Most of the buckets only had about 3" in them and a couple were 1/2 full or a little more. It seemed like it should have run a little better considering what happened on the vacuum and the weather conditions. I'll be boiling again tonight. It's time to start the RO.

[Russell Lampron]

I made another 14 1/2 gallons last night. I lost my grade and am now making golden. The flavor went with the color too. The syrup taste good but it has almost no maple flavor.or any flavor for that matter. I hope that problem goes away real quick. I need more darker syrup as 41 gallons ain't gonna cut it as far as having something to put on the shelves is concerned. I'm boiling again tonight to get everything emptied before the big freeze. Next week's forecast looks a little warm. I hope it's not as warm as they predict and cools down again sooner too. We need 2 or 3 days of below freezing weather and a foot of snow to give this season a boost, not a week of temps in the 60's.

[Dill]

That was my thought too Russ. After the 5 days of above freezing its looks workable. But those warm days could be the end of it.

[red maples]

Agreed I am a bit nervous!!! I hope the forecast changes!!! 30 gallons aint gonna cut it here either!!! Dismal runs here not much on buckets I am just gonna let em freeze... and sugar is low so color is very dark. good flavor just really dark. Buds are still really tight but I am still very nervous!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I made another 8 gallons of golden tonight. That puts me at 63 1/2 for the season so far. I need to make 175 gallons to be at 1 qt per tap. The forecast doesn't look good for next week but time will tell. It is usually colder than they forecast here which could put me in the sweet spot for next week. I sure hope so and I hope that my syrup darkens up some. I don't like making this golden crap.

[Dill]

What about shutting down the bubblemaster wouldn't that darken it up a bit?

[Russell Lampron]

What about shutting down the bubblemaster wouldn't that darken it up a bit?

I tried that last year. It slows down the boil and it would take more than 1 session to darken the flue pan enough to darken the syrup. It's amazing how much the bubblemaster increases the evap rate and cuts down the foam. We were going through a ton of wood and defoamer without it.

[Maplewalnut]

I made another 8 gallons of golden tonight. That puts me at 63 1/2 for the season so far. I need to make 175 gallons to be at 1 qt per tap. The forecast doesn't look good for next week but time will tell. It is usually colder than they forecast here which could put me in the sweet spot for next week. I sure hope so and I hope that my syrup darkens up some. I don't like making this golden crap.

I agree with you Russ. I have no need for that golden crap either. I tend to blend small amounts in darker syrup just to get rid of it. People don't like the color or taste (or lack there of).

[Amber Gold]

Are you running the bubblemaster in both pans? How much does it increase your boil rate by? I've thought off/on about building one, but don't want to listen to a wet/dry vac outside the sugarhouse, and I like making dark syrup. I thought about tapping off the high pressure blower that feeds the evaporator, but that air's not filtered, and I don't know if I'd be robbing the evap. of too much air.

[Russell Lampron]

Yes I have it in both pans. I'm not sure of the number for the evaporation increase but it seemed like quite a bit when I was boiling without it. When the evaporator first starts to steam I turn on the bubblemaster and the amount increases dramatically. With the bubblemaster the flue pan boils hard all of the way to the back too. When I built the bubblemaster all I could make was dark syrup. If I was lucky it might get just light enough to call dark amber but most of the time it was legit B or darker. That was from the first boil on. I'll take what I get now because I have made dark syrup with the bubblemaster and know that I will again it's just a question of when. My sugarhouse is quite loud when we are boiling with the bubblemaster, RO, vacuum pump and blower all running at the same time not to mention the sound of the boiling sap too.

[Russell Lampron]

Are you running the bubblemaster in both pans? How much does it increase your boil rate by? I've thought off/on about building one, but don't want to listen to a wet/dry vac outside the sugarhouse, and I like making dark syrup. I thought about tapping off the high pressure blower that feeds the evaporator, but that air's not filtered, and I don't know if I'd be robbing the evap. of too much air.

Just reread this and was thinking of trying to plumb the bubblemaster into my blower but filtration and not knowing if it would work or not made me go with the shop vac. I would like to find a quiet air source for the bubblemaster and may try something with a woodstove blower. I think I can fabricate an air filter that uses automotive cabin filter elements for filters. The question is would the woodstove blower create enough pressure and flow enough air to make the bubblemaster work right. The shop vac puts out more air than the bubblemaster needs.

[Russell Lampron]

It feels good to have a night off. I emptied everything yesterday so that I wouldn't have a block of ice sitting in the tank in the woods or in any of the other tanks and buckets. I'll be rested and ready for another tsunami. The forecast is looking better after a couple of warm days next week. It's looking like I might see some freezing nights here about next Friday. I sure hope that happens.

[red maples]

I forget where I saw it but for the bubblemaster they were using a blower from a bouncy house there are a bunch on ebay. they seem a bit quieter that a shop vac. just an idea.

I think I am gonna build one of those for next season so I will try to get up there sometime after the season to pick your brain on the one you made. what works what you would do differently etc. I can set up a shop vac in my RO room so it won't be so noisy in the sugarhouse. I need to see your operation anyway... been meaning to get up there for some time!!!


I wonder if it worth doing the syrup and the flue pan or just the flue pan I may start with that and see how that is first. Although I like the dark syrup as do my customers but I may just use it to make a few gallons just to add variety and have some nice lighter stuff for glass. Does the light color hold up for candy? just curious.

yes forecast is slightly cooler than it was I hope we get the freezes in there. but it could change either way at anytime. (please cooler) we actually got a couple of inches of snow here hopefully that will help a little.

[Russell Lampron]

Brad it was supposed to get up to 36* here today, it never hit 30* and we only got a dusting of snow. We'll see what actually happens but my 10 day forecast is showing 30* for a low next Thursday and 29* Friday. I know it's to far into the future at this point but it is showing freezing nights just about every night after that in the 15 day forecast.

A bouncy house blower might be too big. You only need a small volume of air at high enough pressure to push through the sap. Even the small shop vac has more than enough pressure and volume for the bubblemaster. I have it in both pans but probably don't need the one in the front pan.

The golden syrup works good for candy. That's about the only thing it's good for.

I need to get down to your place too. I'm on vacation the week before Maple Weekend. Maybe I can make a road trip.

[Russell Lampron]

It was too cold for a sap run here yesterday. I turned on the vacuum pump at 1 pm and had about 65 gallons at 5 pm. The buckets were about 50/50 and the ones that did run barely covered the bottom of the bucket. The sun was out all morning but when the sap started to run the clouds rolled in which didn't help. It's looking better for today with an overnight low of 18* last night and a high of 41* in the forecast for today. It is supposed to warm up earlier today and the sun is supposed to take over when the temp gets above freezing. It looks like we will get the real run Monday and Tuesday.

[red maples]

I won't be around much I do have to work. Started working again thus past fall.

[Russell Lampron]

Another slow day for sap flow. It's coming in a little better than yesterday but not by much. I'm going to pump out the tank tonight anyway to be ready for tomorrow. It looks like it's going to be cloudy with showers tomorrow afternoon. We may not get much tomorrow either.

[Russell Lampron]

I got less today than I did Saturday and Sunday. The pump ran all day and at 5:30 the releaser which holds 25 gallons was not quite ready to dump for the first time. Very disappointing and very disappointed. Hopefully it will start running tomorrow. I need to boil!

[red maples]

Same here it was cloudy and nothing got going I got maybe 40 gallons today if that... was able to collect buckets still lots of ice but road side sugars just keep dripping...

[BAP]

Same here, only running a little. Too long warming up with no sun plus the south to southeast wind.

[Sinzibuckwud]

just broke the freezing mark here at 6am, hopefully we see a little sun today and really get things cranking.

[Russell Lampron]

It's supposed to be mostly sunny and 53 here in Loudon today. If that doesn't get things going I don't know what will.

[maplestudent]

I also got very, very little yesterday. Got colder here last night than the forecast predicted....I'd like to see that be a trend (nights only) this week.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Started to go pretty good for me in Merrimack, I picked up 175 gallons from my 150 taps this morning....almost all were dripping by the time I was finished, so I suspect I will have at least that much again later today.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap finally decided to run today. Tonight I boiled in almost 500 gallons of sap and it was still coming in good at 6:00. Still making that golden crap. You would think that the stuff that sat in the evaporator since last Wednesday would have darkened up but it didn't. I'm up to 72 gallons on the season now but still a long ways from a full crop.

[Russell Lampron]

The vacuum pulled in 350 gallons overnight and it was still coming in good this morning. It is still running crystal clear and no season ending moths or lightning bugs in the buckets yet. Looks like I'm going to get a frost Friday night. The season is just kicking into high gear here I hope.

[Russell Lampron]

I've got my tubing system really tight this year and it is paying off now. I've been holding 27" at the releaser for the last 2 weeks and the needle doesn't even drop when the releaser dumps. It takes over a minute for it to recover when it dumps and I don't even lose a needle width on the gauge. I've gotten almost 1500 gallons of sap from this run and am going down to pump the tank now.

[red maples]

I just hope it lasts... I have had just over 1000 gallons myself which is pretty good for my reds on vacuum. there is another 200 gallons in the tank this morning to start the day.

[Russell Lampron]

I had another 325 gallons in the woods tank this morning. That puts me at 1675 gallons from 700 taps on this run so far. It was still coming in and it is still crystal clear this morning. Still making golden and I wish it would change. I've made 84 1/2 gallons of syrup so far. Running low on boil soda's !!! Going to have to make a beer run soon.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Russell,
Do you think the golden color is because you use an RO and the Sap boils for less time in the evaporator and doesn't really even get a chance to darken up? I would of expected mine to have some nice golden at the beginning of the season but my color has pretty much stayed the nice medium to darker amber and I was thinking because I only get 20GPH and therefore my sap is cooking longer and giving it time to darken up.

-Scott

[red maples]

he makes lighter syrup because of the bubblemaster!!! Smaller rigs traditionally make darker syrup. one of the classes I had with Glen Goodrich he said he would never want to boil on a small evaporator he said they are so hard to control there is no room for error simply because they are so finicky and can have drastic changes day to day sometimes even with the load you are burning at any given time. but NH fancy taste good!!! :)

[Russell Lampron]

I used to make plenty of dark syrup with the concentrated sap. I was having the sap in the flue pan caramelizing before it went into the syrup pan. I built a bubbler to fix that problem and now I can't make any dark syrup.

[Russell Lampron]

Made 10 more gallons of golden tonight. That makes 31 gallons of syrup from this one run. All of the syrup that I made in February was amber and so far all of the syrup that I have made in March is golden. It did look a little darker tonight so I think I'm moving in the right direction. I'm thinking that I will be making dark on maple weekend. I sure hope so!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Went down to the woods to find 250 gallons in the tank this morning. That put the running total at 2125 gallons from this run and that's just over 3 gpt. Not bad for a bunch of swamp maples and no freeze since the run started on Tuesday.

I am going to be boiling tomorrow afternoon and everybody is invited to come and check out my sugarhouse.

[Russell Lampron]

Update: I got another 200 gallons of sap today making a total of 450 gallons for tomorrow's boil.

[Russell Lampron]

There was another 75 gallons in the woods this morning which made the total from this last run 2450 gallons or 3.5 gpt from 700 taps.

The sap is running good today after a better than predicted freeze overnight and a lot of sunshine. There's a cool breeze blowing out there that's helping keep the temperature from warming up too fast and slowing things down. The prediction for tonight is a low of 35* but I have a feeling that we are going to get another frost.

I'm lighting the evaporator 1:00 if anybody that isn't too busy with sap of their own wants to stop by.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap ran good here yesterday. I had 600 gallons by 6 pm and it was still coming in good on the vacuum. All of the small trees on buckets had stopped running by late afternoon but the big trees were still going strong when I gathered at 5 pm.

The weather looks kind of crappy this week but it looks good for Maple Weekend. There's 28* in the forecast for tonight and the last time it was supposed to be that cold it actually got to 23*. I hope it happens again. The long range looks pretty good for when I have to go back to work. I'm on vacation this week and it always seems to work out that way. The trees are looking pretty good here. If they can survive the warm weather this week I can keep going when it cools down again.

The plan is to boil it as I get it until Wednesday and then save it for Maple Weekend. With the freezes in the forecast for Friday and Saturday nights I should be able to have sap to boil both days.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

I'm glad the sap is running for you still. I went and checked all of mine yesterday and after my flood of sap Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday when I got just under 500 gallons I had barely 15 gallons on 160 taps. When I woke today it's still 50 degrees here in Merrimack, so as I predicted mine are all done. Keep up the good work Russell!!


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[Russell Lampron]

I woke up to 45* this morning and found 250 gallons in the tank. That makes 800 from this run which is over 1 gpt. It is still coming in but real slow. I don't think I will get 100 gallons today. We are supposed to get a freeze tonight so the sap will run tomorrow I just don't know how much.

[Russell Lampron]

Boiled 800 gallons this afternoon and made 8 gallons. Add that to yesterday's 5 gallons from 450 and it took almost 100 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. Glad I've got an RO !!! The Amber flavor is back but the color is right on the golden sample in the test kit. This syrup was made from the cloudiest sap of the season and it still made golden syrup.

Went down to find 200 gallons in the tank and sap still coming in. It's not time to pull the plug yet! I'm hoping that this weeks stormy weather will put some moisture in the ground so that I will have sap for Maple Weekend.

My total now is at 107 1/2 gallons made. I made 135 in 2012 and would like to at least match that if I could.

The sugarmaker at the end of my road came down this afternoon and was impressed with my RO. He has vacuum now and a blower on his evaporator from previous visits and talk over boiling sodas. Now he wants an RO too. I'm a bad influence on people. :)

[Sinzibuckwud]

If your tree's hold out till the end of the month you should have a good shot at matching your goal.
Golden...I hear ya, done everything I could to make some darker syrup but it's not happening, even fired the old low efficiency barrel evaporator (didn't help). I must say though the flavor is pretty good for the lightness of the color.
Now to see if that line works on all the people I got hooked to dark amber..:lol:

[TRAILGUY]

got some very dark to spice it up lest 5 gallons have never made golden on this evaporator

[Russell Lampron]

Boiled 800 gallons this afternoon and made 8 gallons. Add that to yesterday's 5 gallons from 450 and it took almost 100 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup.

I did an oops yesterday and forgot to run 250 gallons through the RO and boil it. Did that today and made 4 more gallons to bring the ratio to 74 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. Still not good but better than 100 to 1.

[Marc Duclos]

I thought I was the only one boiling for ever. I am in the fight of my life to keep the 22 acres hear in Deerfield. 750 taps on 19" no ro = boiling for ever.
Made a lot of syrup. Money for the land before a good flue pan and ro. The only thing working for me is the blower.

[Russell Lampron]

I wasn't boiling forever. I ran it through the RO and sweetened it to 14% first. I boiled for less than 2 hours. On Sunday afternoon I had some guest in the sugarhouse and after I ran the concentrate from the first 550 gallons to the feed tank I was supposed to start concentrating the 250 gallons that was in the bulk tank and boil that too. Boiling alone and keeping guest entertained I forgot all about the 250 in the bulk tank. I woke up in the middle of the night and thinking something wasn't right. The permeate tanks should have overflowed and they didn't. I figured out why yesterday morning.

[Russell Lampron]

Went down to the woods this morning to find 400 gallons in the tank. Pumped that up to the sugarhouse and got the RO going. Made 7 gallons of.......are you ready for this? Amber/Rich !!! The sap looked almost like milk but finally made something darker than golden. The flavor is fantastic too.

I'm now at 118 1/2 gallons and counting. Speaking of counting, I went down to the tank at 9:00 to find 250 gallons in it and the sap is still coming in. I hope it doesn't run over before tomorrow morning.

[adk1]

Sounds like your issues are problems everyone would love to have

[Russell Lampron]

Sounds like your issues are problems everyone would love to have

I've suffered through not being able to make any lighter colored syrup and as much as I complain about it would rather have the problem I've got now.

[adk1]

Is this your first year with an ro and how do u like th3 ro u have

[Russell Lampron]

This is my 11th season with the RO. I like the one that I have but really need a bigger one. I believe that I was the second producer in town to get one when I got mine. Now all of the big guys have them and a lot of the small guys do too.

[Russell Lampron]

I went down to the woods this morning to find 450 gallons of sap in the tank and the sap was still coming in. Went back to the sugarhouse and quickly pressure washed the bulk tank and then went back down to the woods and pumped the sap up to the sugarhouse. Before I was done I got another 25 gallons to make a total of 475. I am planning to save this sap for maple weekend but may have to boil some if I run out of storage space. The buckets are running too even though all we got was a light frost.

[red maples]

Good for you... No sap here since Sunday... Thank goodness for clouds and rain trees haven't progressed... thank goodness just need to get through today!!! but will definitely be boiling water on Sat.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Ive got nothing in over a week now :-( I guess its really over in So NH. Im jealous you guys are still getting some!

[Russell Lampron]

Found 375 gallons in the woods tank this morning and it is still coming in but real slow. It looks like I will have enough for both days of maple weekend. The buds are swelling but don't look like they are ready to open yet. If I make it through today it looks like some good sap weather starting with tomorrow nights freeze.

I feel bad for you guys south of me. The customers really like it when you are boiling sap. The wood pile suffers too when you are only boiling water to make it look good.

[red maples]

I am in a cold spot I have a few trees that are really swelled but not popped I might have a couple that popped. Reds that is. sugars are really tight still (wish I had more of those) So I am gonna do a quick walk though and pull all the taps that the buds are really swelled up. and then hope for the best!!!

[Russell Lampron]

You were up late, or should I say early Brad. I don't think you have to worry about the buds until the trees flower. Even my reds with big buds haven't done that yet and in the past I have made good syrup until the trees flowered.

I don't know how cold it got but everything is covered with frost this morning and it wasn't supposed to freeze here last night. I hope you guys down south got it too. Looks like another sap day here. So far I have over 1000 gallons of sap for the weekend.

[NHguy]

Good for you Russ! over here by Shaker Village it is 29 degrees- while accuweather says its 39 at the moment, and it wasnt supposed to frost last night im really hoping my trees can hang on until tomorrow- and then we will be back to running weather for a good many days! ( im all on buckets and gravity drop tubing) i boiled off the little sap I had collected this week last night so that it wouldnt spoil - debated pushing all of my sap from rear pan and near syrup/gradient from the front pan through with water last night in case i didnt get any more sap

but then i figured that even if it runs again for me- i may not get enough to sweeten the pans again - so i held off and shut down, gradient intact ( and at least boiled what was in the pan to keep it from spoiling) the next few days will see whether i gambled right or wrong!

good luck and have a great maple weekend



You were up late, or should I say early Brad. I don't think you have to worry about the buds until the trees flower. Even my reds with big buds haven't done that yet and in the past I have made good syrup until the trees flowered.

I don't know how cold it got but everything is covered with frost this morning and it wasn't supposed to freeze here last night. I hope you guys down south got it too. Looks like another sap day here. So far I have over 1000 gallons of sap for the weekend.

[Russell Lampron]

Good for you Russ! over here by Shaker Village it is 29 degrees- while accuweather says its 39 at the moment, and it wasnt supposed to frost last night im really hoping my trees can hang on until tomorrow- and then we will be back to running weather for a good many days! ( im all on buckets and gravity drop tubing) i boiled off the little sap I had collected this week last night so that it wouldnt spoil - debated pushing all of my sap from rear pan and near syrup/gradient from the front pan through with water last night in case i didnt get any more sap

but then i figured that even if it runs again for me- i may not get enough to sweeten the pans again - so i held off and shut down, gradient intact ( and at least boiled what was in the pan to keep it from spoiling) the next few days will see whether i gambled right or wrong!

good luck and have a great maple weekend

I last boiled Tuesday night and have been saving the sap since then for the weekend. The sap was cloudy from the start and it has gotten more cloudy since but as of last evening it still tasted good. It isn't supposed to be as warm today and I think last nights frost helped with the bud situation.

My Weather Underground app said it was 31* on Loudon Ridge and my Weatherchannel app said it was 35* when I got up this morning. My thermometer at the house died and I haven't replaced it yet. It is always colder in my woods than it is at the house.

[Greyfox]

NHguy; you say you're by the Shakers? I'm up the road from you. I know what you man about the temps up our way. I turn off 106 at the Beanstalk, and the thermometer in the truck always drops five degrees when I get to the top of Hills Corners. That, and my woods face North.

Russ, I'm thinking that this will be a great three days coming up here. A good number of my trees have red buds, but they're still holding tight. I gathered and boiled a bit that limped-in yesterday and I found a few moths, so maybe this will be the last hurrah. I'm taking the day off from work tomorrow to go to the Trappers Rendezvous, so I'll try stop by to say hi.

Doc

[NHguy]

NHguy; you say you're by the Shakers? I'm up the road from you. I know what you man about the temps up our way. I turn off 106 at the Beanstalk, and the thermometer in the truck always drops five degrees when I get to the top of Hills Corners. That, and my woods face North.

Russ, I'm thinking that this will be a great three days coming up here. A good number of my trees have red buds, but they're still holding tight. I gathered and boiled a bit that limped-in yesterday and I found a few moths, so maybe this will be the last hurrah. I'm taking the day off from work tomorrow to go to the Trappers Rendezvous, so I'll try stop by to say hi.

Doc

Hey Doc! - im not far up the hill from the Beanstalk you can probably see some of my buckets as you drive up the hill. Since we moved here in '07 - we laugh every year about how much lower our temps are than the forecast, and how much more snow we get than what is predicted

Im REALLY hoping my trees can hang on until the weather returns to perfect tomorrow..... i more than doubled my taps this year, and picked up a 2x4 flat divided pan arch set up (from steam table pans on cinder blocks last year)

now im desperately needing more sap!!!!

I learned alot this year- ( tapped too early, and i think when frozen - i think most of the sap i should have gotten ran down my trees and not through my spiles)

learning as i go - and really hoping i can get another 50-100 gallons....

[Russell Lampron]

It will be good to see you again Doc. Anyone that wants to stop by is more than welcomed to.

I'm as ready for maple weekend as I am going to be. Got to go shut the RO down in a little bit and then get a couple hours of sleep. I hope the valve on the sweet tank doesn't freeze before I need to start concentrating again in the morning.

[Dill]

I sent a couple groups up your way today Russ. One is a longtime Trader lurker, said this is the best time to understand the bubblemaster.

[Russell Lampron]

I don't know if they showed up or not Alden. I didn't use the bubblemaster today. I didn't want added the noise in the sugarhouse and needed to make the boil last longer.

The first day of maple weekend started out kind of slow in the morning but kicked into high gear in the afternoon. I'm making maple cream and maple butter now to replenish the supply. We almost sold out.

Thank you for stopping by Doc and thank you for the boiling soda's. It was a pleasure to show you around.

[Russell Lampron]

Another maple weekend is in the books. It wasn't a record year but it was better than last year. There seemed to be fewer people this year but fewer free loaders as well. Most of the people that came bought something and the maple butter was a big hit.

Alden your friends were here this morning. They were pretty impressed with my set up and with the bubblemaster.

The sap didn't run as well as I thought that it might today but that means that I get a night off tomorrow and boy do I need that!!!

At 138 1/2 gallons I have officially passed the poor season total of 2012 when I only made 135 gallons of syrup with more taps. It looks like another week or more of sap weather if the buds don't pop.

I finally made some dark syrup today!!! It was close yesterday but still amber. We will see what comes in this week.

[prettygoodatmakingsugar]

It was great meeting you today russ. My wife is enjoying some of your maple cream as we speak. All in all enjoyed my trip down loudon ridge rd this afternoon with my kiddo picked up lots of mental notes for my sugar house build.
Also got a chuckle over the house on your road with all the trash in the yard and the brand new bmw in the driveway.

[Russell Lampron]

It was great meeting you today russ. My wife is enjoying some of your maple cream as we speak. All in all enjoyed my trip down loudon ridge rd this afternoon with my kiddo picked up lots of mental notes for my sugar house build.
Also got a chuckle over the house on your road with all the trash in the yard and the brand new bmw in the driveway.

It was nice to meet you too. I was up very late Saturday night making that cream and was happy with the way that it came out. You're going to like that RO when you get up and running.

There's a lot of sugar houses on Loudon Ridge. That's where the biggest ones in town are.

That house at the end of the road is the eyesore of the neighborhood.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap ran pretty good today. Most of my buckets were half full or more. I had to dump 2 of them because they were yellow and still got 40 gallons out of 24 buckets. I also got 400 gallons out of the woods tank and it was still coming in good at 6:00. It looks like the sap should run all week I just hope that the trees don't bud before it stops running.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap ran pretty good here the last two days. I'm in the process of boiling the 950 gallons I collected yesterday and today. The syrup I made Sunday was finally dark but has a strong almost bitter taste. I decided to dump the contents of the evaporator and start over with fresh sap. Lit the evaporator at a little after 7:00 and had the pans sweetened and first draw off before 8:00. The result.... The lightest syrup of the season with no after taste or off flavors.

[Sinzibuckwud]

The sap ran pretty good here the last two days. I'm in the process of boiling the 950 gallons I collected yesterday and today. The syrup I made Sunday was finally dark but has a strong almost bitter taste. I decided to dump the contents of the evaporator and start over with fresh sap. Lit the evaporator at a little after 7:00 and had the pans sweetened and first draw off before 8:00. The result.... The lightest syrup of the season with no after taste or off flavors.
How do the tree's look down your way?
lost about half of the tree's here to flowering mostly the reds and yard tree's.
got my fingers crossed the rest make it to the weekend, would really like to get one more good boil before calling it.

[Amber Gold]

Why'd dumping the evap. bring the flavor back? Did you actually dump the evap, or just set it aside for later?

[Russell Lampron]

How do the tree's look down your way?
lost about half of the tree's here to flowering mostly the reds and yard tree's.
got my fingers crossed the rest make it to the weekend, would really like to get one more good boil before calling it.

The trees are starting to look scary. The reds have swelled but no flowers yet. The sugars are still tight.

[Russell Lampron]

Why'd dumping the evap. bring the flavor back? Did you actually dump the evap, or just set it aside for later?

I dumped what was in the evaporator because the sap I had saved since last Tuesday had gone bad and I didn't want to make more syrup that tasted like crap. Started over with fresh sap and making good syrup again.

[Russell Lampron]

Still getting sap here. Collected 300 gallons tonight. It looks like some decent weather for the weekend. I hope the buds don't pop before I make 22 1/2 gallons more. The grade went back to amber and the flavor of the syrup is still good but not as good as previous batches.

Been going through a lot of wood because the membrane in the RO is getting slowly clogged. I can't seem to get it clean and get my flow rates back. The past 2 nights have been long ones but we finally got caught up last night.

[NHguy]

Still getting sap here. Collected 300 gallons tonight. It looks like some decent weather for the weekend. I hope the buds don't pop before I make 22 1/2 gallons more. The grade went back to amber and the flavor of the syrup is still good but not as good as previous batches.

Been going through a lot of wood because the membrane in the RO is getting slowly clogged. I can't seem to get it clean and get my flow rates back. The past 2 nights have been long ones but we finally got caught up last night.

Hope it holds for you - here on the other side of town sap ran good past two days, didnt run today, cloudy and 35 degrees all day. they are calling for an overnight low of 34, but its already 29 at my house. Hoping if it freezes and then gets warm tomorrow with the rain that I might get one more good run.

If not - I'll settle for the boil I had today: bottled a gallon of slightly darker than 2 weeks ago, but much better flavor. Wishing I had been able to collect more this year!

Best - Jim

[325abn]

Yesterdays sap was nice and clear at 1.7%, today's sap a a tad bit cloudy. The temps look pretty good over the next week but the buds look very swollen.

[Russell Lampron]

Hope it holds for you - here on the other side of town sap ran good past two days, didnt run today, cloudy and 35 degrees all day. they are calling for an overnight low of 34, but its already 29 at my house. Hoping if it freezes and then gets warm tomorrow with the rain that I might get one more good run.

If not - I'll settle for the boil I had today: bottled a gallon of slightly darker than 2 weeks ago, but much better flavor. Wishing I had been able to collect more this year!

Best - Jim

The buckets didn't run here yesterday but they ran pretty good the 3 days before that. They will probably run again today.


Yesterdays sap was nice and clear at 1.7%, today's sap a a tad bit cloudy. The temps look pretty good over the next week but the buds look very swollen.

Dave Clark already called it a season over there, said the sap smelled buddy. I was wondering if anybody else did too.

[Greyfox]

All good here Russ; no buddy issues yet. Sugar content is WAY down here though, around 1.4% average. I think the next few days will be "it" for me this season.

Doc

[TRAILGUY]

vacuum line when bad 3/16 still clear made 6 gallon very dark wensday

[Russell Lampron]

Collected 450 gallons yesterday and today. Everything is running, even the buckets.

[Dill]

Keep it up Russ! I'm heading out to pull taps but I'm glad to know someone down here is still going. Odd weather yesterday probably helped, forecast said 60 never got above 40 here with ice covering most everything. You boiling this afternoon? Maybe the daughter and I will swing by.

[MapleSaint]

Sugars are still running a bit. Collected around 25 gal while pulling taps. Had a friend drop of around 40 gal this morning. The little half pint will be Getting another work out. Keep it going Russ.

[Russell Lampron]

Alden I am boiling this afternoon and hope that you and your daughter can come up. I should be starting around 2:00 and everyone is invited to stop by and talk maple.

There was 275 in the woods tank this morning and the buckets, which are still running, ran all night. They have slowed down considerably but with what I collected last night have given up around 2 gals per tap from this run so far. The buckets ran good this week with 4 good runs since Sunday.

[Russell Lampron]

Alden Dill and his daughter Charlotte stopped by this afternoon. Charlotte gives Red Roof Maples syrup the thumb's up! Alden got to see the bubble master in action. He also got to see and taste the syrup that I produce using it.

Ended up with over 1000 gallons of sap for today's boil. I don't know which one I'm going to run out of first, sap or wood. The RO is making me use a lot of wood.

[Dill]

She is willing to taste test any syrup! I have to say I'm very impressed with the Bubblemaster 1.0 and its not loud in the sugarhouse at all. I might have to bleed some steamaway off into a bubbler for next season.
I've got some wood down here if you want to work out something, good dead pine.

[Russell Lampron]

If I need the wood I'll let you know. I boiled in all of the 1020 gallons yesterday and last night and only made 12 1/2 gallons of great tasting amber syrup. I'm thinking that today I will gather up everything that I have, boil that in and call it a season. What started out looking like it could be a repeat of 2012 turned into my 3rd or 4th best ever. I'm at 165 and counting. I may hit 170 but I don't think I'll hit the 175 that I wanted. The reds are ready to flower and I am exhausted.

Alden would you want to trade that very dark strong for amber rich? If so let me know.

[Dill]

I tried PMing this to you but your box is full
What do you want to swap 5gals? I think I have 6 in the canner of that syrup you just tried. I just hauled home a load and will probably boil tomorrow or tuesday I need about 150 gals more to fire up.

[Russell Lampron]

I tried PMing this to you but your box is full
What do you want to swap 5gals? I think I have 6 in the canner of that syrup you just tried. I just hauled home a load and will probably boil tomorrow or tuesday I need about 150 gals more to fire up.

Yeah I was thinking a 5 gal jug for a 5 gallon jug swap. It will give me an excuse/reason to go down and check out Red Roof Maples 2.0!

I thought you were pulling your taps? Keep on boiling if you can.

[Russell Lampron]

I ran out of wood and called it a season. It was a good season when it looked like it might be a short season. I made 167 gallons and still need to finish what is in the evaporator. I think the total will be about 172 gallons when I am done which is only 3 gallons less than my goal.

Now the part that I hate begins! Time to pull the taps and clean and store everything. The tap pulling part isn't bad but the washing and cleaning everything is the part that I hate. It seems like all of the help disappears when it's time to do that.

Good luck to everyone that is still going.

[adk1]

I had the same issue out of wood. I already pulled taps. I chased the sweet last night when I ran out of sap

[Russell Lampron]

I had the same issue out of wood. I already pulled taps. I chased the sweet last night when I ran out of sap

If I could have taken the time to do an acid wash on my RO I might have been able to get the flow rates back and not go through so much wood. For the last week I haven't been able to get the concentrate sweet enough. A regular soap wash would get the flow rates good enough to get about 300 gallons sweet but when you have 1000 plus not so much.

I need a bigger RO!!!

[Amber Gold]

Russ, If you want to get a bigger RO on the cheap, I highly recommend an old Darveau Turbo Compaq. They're cheap, simple, and run good...think about 500gph. Larry has a slightly newer version of the Compaq and the thing won't quit.

[adk1]

If I could have taken the time to do an acid wash on my RO I might have been able to get the flow rates back and not go through so much wood. For the last week I haven't been able to get the concentrate sweet enough. A regular soap wash would get the flow rates good enough to get about 300 gallons sweet but when you have 1000 plus not so much.

I need a bigger RO!!!i would be interested in your ro

[Russell Lampron]

I got most of the taps pulled today and the buckets are pulled, washed and put away. I saved the worst for last. I've got to go through the swamp and pull taps. Some of those are so high that I can hardly reach them and the footing isn't the best being a swamp and all.

I'm almost done finishing off the evaporator. When I'm done I should end up with 172 gallons of syrup produced this year and none of it is commercial. Not bad considering the weather and how it looked like it was going to be a short season. My taps have been in for 2 months and I got sap for 7 weeks before I turned off the vacuum pump. There is 150 gallons of milky sap in the tank that came in last week while the pump was off. The trees were running today while I was pulling taps, they just don't want to give up this year. Most of the reds are flowering now so it was time to call it a season last Sunday when I did.

There is no such thing as a normal season and this one was one of the strangest.

[lakeview maple]

Just wanted to say thanks for the information on the "Bubbler" , I had a great season 107 gallons and nothing darker than DR and that wasn't that dark. It was just darker than Amber rich. It worked great , pan cleanup was super easy and the almost non use of defoamer was a bonus. So thanks again and glad you had a good season, Allen @ Lakeview Maple14138

[Russell Lampron]

I went down to see Chris and check out the new Maple Guys store this morning. It is a nice set up and it was nice to see Chris again.

Clean up is well under way here and the weather looks good for washing tanks and stuff tomorrow. I'm well ahead of last year as far as the clean up goes. Last year we had our last boil on the 12th of April. I'm glad it ended earlier this year.

I did end up with 172 gallons for the season, just 3 gallons shy of what I wanted to make.