Your 07 syrup season

[Dave Puhl]

My goal was 50gal of syrup... when we had that hot three dayer March 10-13 or so..I cut it to 25 and I wont even get close to that...for me it was a very short sap run...

[jtcinv]

I left my taps in, hoping for another freeze next weekend before the trees bud.... I'm such an optimist.....

I made only 25% of what I did last year: 3.3 litres from 24 taps.

[sbingham]

I am hoping for the same... we are only at 25% of what we made last year as well. We had 60 degrees plus here today with a tornado watch issued this afternoon. Seems like there is still alot of frost in the ground by us.
Hopefully we get at least one more run.
Scott Bingham

[Sugar Daddy]

I' ve made a little more than 3 gallons so far this year, which doesn't compare favorably to last year's 7.5, or my long-term average of about 4.5. Sugar content is lower this year, as my ratio is running greater than the 50:1 - which is typical for my trees (mostly reds). The last batch was considerably darker than the first, and the small amount of sap in the bags yesterday was a bit on the cloudy side - so it appears the end is here. If that's the case, my guess is that the short season is an effect of the warm weather earlier this winter. Even so I'll leave my taps in for another week hoping that between this week's rains and the frost going out that there may be one more run. If that happens, so what if it's motor oil grade - it'll work just fine for BBQ sauce, jerky marinade and old fashions!

[Chemist]

I tapped the 3rd weekend of February and I am very glad I did. I came out with 5 gallons and one pint of good grade A syrup from 24 taps. Three gallons of that came in three days last week (Monday through Wednesday).

Last year on 18 taps, I had 6 gallons of syrup, so I am down a bit, but not as much as I am reading about and saw.

Yesterday a friend took me to see 6 commercial sugar production facilities in NE Wisconsin. That was really cool to see the big operations. However, they too were hurting for sap. One guy said the price of sap may increase as well as the price of syrup if they don't get a frost before the buds swell.

I pulled my taps on Friday the 23rd. I'd have loved another week or even two, but it was not meant to me. I am very thankful for the 5 gallons I got and for the good fortune of tapping early.