Willow Creek Sugarhouse 2017

[red maples]

Hi everybody, guessing it is about time to get this thread underway. Crazy January weather. Could have made some syrup but decided to hold off and work in the woods. Ran a separate vac line across the street to get more taps on vacuum. So setting up a separate released and tank over there so I can turn 25 gravity taps into 75+ taps on vacuum. There another 50 or so taps over there but not enough time to get them on line. Changed out 200 drops in the old woods which were about 6 to 7 years old and pretty beat up from squirrel chews. So lines are nice and tight now. Glad the pats got #5.

Speaking of squirrels I gave myself a new semi auto .22 with a high powered adjustable smart scope and was able to take out about 12 squirrels this year. so that will help out with damage. There are still more around too. There are a lot of them here lots.of hickory and acorns in my woods.

Did a walk through with chainsaw yesterday it wasn't too bad. Mainly branches, and had a small oak up root and fell over 2 laterals and a standing dead.something fall and lean against one mainline.

This morning I put in 50 drops across the street and picked up 20 on gravity all big sugars. I can get another 15 on gravity but debating if I want to do that.

Planning on tapping this weekend hopefully get in 500. Weather isnt gonna be the best but gotta get em done. Sugar house just need a little pick up and need some slightly warmer weather to get ro going.

Hope everyone is enjoying the snow. I am in the jackpot zone here down south.

Good luck with the new season everybody.

[Russell Lampron]

Hey Brad, I was wondering when you were going to start your new thread. I started mine and Josh started his this week too. Good luck with the new season.

[BAP]

Brad how much snow did you end up with? 11" here in Walpole. Looks like a lot more headed our way this weekend.

[red maples]

we got about 12 to 13" difficult to measure because of the wind. over the next 3 days we are supposed to have 12 to 18" more so hopefully I can get in most of the taps in the next 2 days but I will chasing leaks in snow shoes for sure. Heading out shortly its only 12*F out I wish it was a little warmer!!!

Thanks Russ, looking forward to a good season I need candy machine and hopefully upgrade my vacuum pump and as usual add more taps.

I got a CDL 1 gallon gear pump cream machine last year it is awesome. honestly takes longer to clean the machine than it does to actually make and jar the cream. I put in one batch that was too cold and it jammed the machine that sucked but I learned to not do that again. saved a nice chunk of money on it too from bascom's spring time open house. Thats pretty much when I stock up for the year and the following season. 10% off that weekend. He's a smart guy too because he knows everyone has money to spend on maple at that time!!!

[sugaringman85]

Looks like you have the same idea as I have. Gonna try to get some serious tapping done before it snows over a foot, on top of the 8-10" we got the other day. If i can have half of the taps in before heavy snow i'll be happy. That is if there are no huge breaks in the orchard. Have not been in the orchard since well before Christmas.

[Amber Gold]

Don't hold back get 'em all in! You've got plenty of time.

We hit a solid 14" here the other day, and they're showing 16-25" (this storm keeps going up) tomorrow with another storm.mid-week.

[red maples]

Well... between 2 basketball games for the kids, a pot luck bonfire I couldn't get out of and snow didn't even get close to getting anything done on Sat. Got a bunch in on Sunday but it was.slow going until I got used to snow shoes again. Got about 12 to 15 inches here since yesterday. So been working on getting that cleaned up most of the morning.

Gotta get out and get some valentine's stuff for the wife. Then see if I can get some more taps in. Just shoot for some everyday.

[red maples]

been trying my best to get my main woods tapped in. MAN ITS TOUGH GOING!!! all on snow shoes since last weekend. a little at a time few in the mornings and few in the evenings before dark. Not fun in snow shoes!!! Also been tough with the weather and had a little stomach bug yesterday which was a real quick passer probably something I ate. didn;t want to be in the woods on snow shoes if an emergency hit!!! :(

but the plan is to get the last 100 in first light sat morning. Then get the vac pump oiled up and turned on then start chasing leaks for a little while I have a few longer sections to replace and looks like I might need couple rolls of electrical tape for all the little nips here and there. hopefully get that mostly tight tomorrow. then sunday morning get the RO put together and get a wash going for that to get that all freshened and check for leaks and re seal anything that needs resealing and and get all the tanks scrubbed up. hopefully I can get the new section ready to tap by sunday evening / monday morning need to add another 20-30 drops and cut in about 15 to 20 saddles.

gotta dig out a spot for the tank and get that all set hope to have it online by maybe tuesday or wednesday then on to the buckets!!! FFEEWWW..... busy times!!!

once everything defrosts and the lines are cleaned up hopefully have the first boil by maybe tuesday night pending sap and weather. fingers crossed.

Good luck everybody!!!

[red maples]

got all but but 15 taps in before I ran out of daylight. this last 100 took longer than it did the 200 from the other just from fixing stuff. had 2 chewed off lines that I had to replace (all the lines were up before the snow came) had 2 sections of lines that had tooth punctures for about 15 to 20 feet. one section that 1/2 the line was chewed through about a foot long. multiple dropline replacements. man it just took forever. and sweat my butt off.. at least I hope so need to shed a few pounds!!!

shoveled out the collection tank spot, got the vacuum all set up with fresh oil, cleaned the releaser. got that reconnected. turned it on 6" could hear a few leaks pretty close to the releaser treaded out without snow shoes ( i don't recommend that!!! ) and found 2 hold about 1/4 inch in diameter about a foot apart ion the top of the main line. very wierd. guessing a wood pecker but I have never seen that before. a little tape anddoubled it up to 12" .

So we'll get those last few taps in and starting patroling for leaks once I can get it up to a respectable level we'll get a a few things ready int he RO room including the RO. then off to get the other woods finished up. hopefully get those taps in shortly.

[red maples]

Well finished up my woods yesterday and walked the woods for about 2 hrs and found a few bigger leaks and fixed a few smaller ones before lunch and was able to get the vac up to 22.5" still need to get out and find more I know they are out there. but its good enough for now. let it run for a bit to clear the lines. while I cleaned the tanks started collecting about 3 PM and we didn't get a freeze last night, sorry to say. but I have about 225 gallons of sap this morning. So thats nice.

Got the RO put together cleaned and washed. and everything is running pretty good at this point.

Went over to Chris Hicks' place to see his "sapzilla" and it is alot of stainless steel let me tell you. just missed the boil though... I will see it sooner or later.

Got Some new big sugars on gravity this year only about 20 taps but they always bring in good high sugar so looking forward to those. gonna get those on line this after noon. and hopefully get a little time across the street.

[Amber Gold]

Glad to hear things are going well for you. Think you'll have time to get those taps in across the street?

I'm going to have to suffer through another season of making maple cream using a candy machine. It takes a while, but it does work well. Someone posted a thread on all the part/pieces needed to make a gear pump cream machine...it's going to be a cool build.

[red maples]

yeah I am almost ready. but its going to be on hold for another day or 2. got all 21 saddles cut in yesterday after noon. I had to do some major fixes to the slope of the mainline which I knew I needed to do I couldn;t find my site level but found it yesterday. just a few more side ties and about 25 or so drops yet to put in. set the tank and tie in the releaser and should be set to go.

yeah josh I got the CDL 1.25 gallon your more than welcome to come see it if you need to see the components.

still have to get all my buckets and a new gravity line on some of the trees to make collection easier but I think that will be this weekend.

Got a very light freeze last night probably more so back in the woods so should be another good sap day. but sugar on average isn;t very good but there hasn't been consistent freezing nights either andwith 4 or 5 days of warmer weather with no freeze in site until sat orsunday night. buckets and gravity will peter out after a day or 2 anyway. next week looks like it gets back to normal.

not that I am wus but man my hands hurt!!! between water and chapped and cuts, scrapes and splits they are just beat up!!!

off to the day job!!! hope its a good sap day foreveryone.. knock wood!!!

[Dill]

My hands are killing me as well, I almost felt old yesterday. My neighbor who helps, said that this part of sugaring is fun with visegrips.

[red maples]

Well the first boil is done. Had 690 gallons and was able to bring it up to 15% no problem. Love that water sucker!!! (RO) and was able to get everything sweet plus make a few gallons of syrup, first time for me on a pan sweetening. Came out a hair over dark but might be lighter seems like I was drawing off a bit heavy I will recheck and thin later. good to have that sweet smell . had a bit of a foam up I always forget about that first boil heavy foam!!! it was fine forgot to add defoamer and then opened the door on the hood and oh crap... foamed out a bit... oops. happens every year.

but all went pretty smooth still getting dialed in for correct blower adjustment etc.

We weren;t supposed to get a freeze last night but we did!!! releaser was frozen up last night about 10:00. got down to 29* F for most of the night. thank goodness... 3 or 4 days coming up with no freeze so vacuum will be running hard for all that time at this point next week's weather looks perfect I hope they are correct!!! fingers crossed.

Will be able to get out into the woods a bit today.

[Russell Lampron]

Glad you had a good first boil. I love my RO too. It makes pan sweetening go a lot faster. I didn't have it get away from me but I had a lot of foam on my first boil too. I didn't go below freezing up at the house but the releaser was froze up this morning and it wasn't supposed to freeze here either.

[red maples]

well lets hope that we don't get another stretch of weather like that until oh... mid april. I like nice weather too but it shouldn't be like that so early in the year. thank goodness for the snow pack which is almost gone by the way. still managed to get some sap even without freezing and being so warm. thank vac for that one. My one gravity line of about 20 big sugars got nothing since Thursday end of day.

squeezed 525 gallons yesterday down to 75 gallons and made about 8 ish gallons just in the canner haven't offically measured yet but should put me about 10 gallons so far. still dark but with an amber flavor. its pretty nice actually. sugar came up too from 1% last weekend to 1.5+ and actually stayed there without the freeze. so hopefully that comes up even more with consistant cooler temps. Feeling a little better about the season. especially with better temps on the way even a freeze up in the forecast. although every station and every website changes drastically on the hour and are ALL DIFFERENT!!! but we get what we get when we can, Right?

going out in the woods to work on leaks today hopefully get the vac back up where it should be. with all the water from rain and melting snow there are parts that are a bit flooded so won't be able to touch those but I already tightened those up. but they should be going down soon.

I will be able to start taping the new 75 across the street today. there are another 50 or 60 over there but I didn't get that far.(next year) but set the tank and releaser got all tied in yesterday. just have to tie it in to the vac line and find a ball for the moisture trap at the releaser. I think my kids took it out of the sugarhouse last year it was a big bouncy ball but it fit perfectly in the sediment filter. (racket ball was too big.) then tomorrow I can hang buckets and get all that stuff done.

hope everyone is having fun, a little tired but thats maple season.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap has been running good here since Thursday on the vacuum. With no freeze and temps in the 60's I got just over 1 gallon per tap for the 2 days. Get your vacuum leaks under control before you add more taps.

I don't know what you're using for taps but using the cv2's has been the best thing I've done here for leak control. They don't loosen up on hard freezes, you can tell immediately if you have a hollow tree or if it's just gas and micro leaks are non existent at the tap. My system is so tight that the flapper in my releaser doesn't tap at all most of the time.

[red maples]

Not much for sap yesterday. too cold in the woods and no freeze for a few days.

Agreed russ. I spent 1.5 hrs in the woods yesterday walked down the mainline checking every lateral line for leaks in 2 sections. I got things pretty tight from 21.5 up to 24.75 I still have one section to check on but it still has too much water in I know there are some smaller leaks there. I have been switching to the CV2s this year. put in 250 new drops. and getting rid of the stubby and adapter(which I still have a few 100 on the stubby) I will be changing out 100 per year. the first year I tried the cv2s I had some issues but I think they fixed them. hoping to hit that area maybe today to check for leaks if the water goes down enough. then finish the new section and get it turned on. just have to puck up a fitting from the store and then should be ready to go.

also found a lateral that I missed when tapping with 5 trees. oops.

Got about 50 of the 75 taps in for the new section. Stomach wasn't feeling well so didn;t get out there until later has a few more things to finish up over there too.


not sure what to expect today... got down to 25 last night and its 44 and windy now but nothings coming into the releaser. light frost tonight not sure if it will get down far enough to be effective I hope so. then no freeze again until thursday night. then a quick freeze up. sucks...

I hope we get some good consistent sap weather soon.

With the way the weather and climate are changing so rapidly I have made the decision for next year to start tapping in mid january. just vac tubing. with the new technology in the Check valves the holes say active much longer due to less bacteria. besides many of the bigger producers with thousands of taps start tapping in the beginning of january. the last few years I have had some of my bigger runs towards the end of the season proving that fact. I held off this year from tapping simply because I wasn't ready. but I feel I missed a week or 2 of sap and that might have only been 10 to 15 gallons but for a small producer thats a lot of syrup to miss.

[Russell Lampron]

When I changed over to the cv2's I bought 100 the first year and those worked so well I went 100% the next season. I have been swapping in the cup tees when making repairs and when adding new drops. I've only got a little over 100 of them swapped in so far and still have a long way to go before those are all in.

My son in law came over this afternoon to pump out the tank and found that we only had 18" of vacuum. He found a lateral that was chewed through and a lateral that had pulled apart. A couple o quick repairs and we're back up to 26". I don't know how much sap I didn't get because of that. I'm glad that he was able to come over and take care of that for me. It would have sucked to try and find those leaks after dark. It was coming in at better than 50 gallons per hour when I checked it at 6:00.

[red maples]

collected everything and boiled out almost 700 gallons yesterday morning well by the time I got started and lit the fire it 12:00. had to do a little cleaning in the sugarhouse just a mess from thrashing. Just in case someone wanted to stop in for a visit. Ended up with about 12 gallons of syrup putting me about 22 gallons so far this season. it should be more but its just been too warm down here.

There is no sense in hanging bags now they are just going to get blown all over the place this weekend and the gravity isn't pulling anything right now. I have about 250 gallons from yesterday afternoon and last night so I might just run that through the machine with what ever I get today it won;t be much to boil since the sugar has bottomed out but at least everything will be ready to go for next week. not sure exactly when the next boil will be probably tuesday or more likely wednesday to give the trees a chance to thaw. don;t want to hold on to sap that long. looks like there will be a big run next week I just hope the temps stay cooler. Can;t seem to hit that sweet spot, Pun intented, of the 25/45 temp swing. its just been too warm the temp swings are there but with warmer temps creating low sugar. I can usually boost the sugar quite a bit with the gravity sap but its just not there.

[Russell Lampron]

It's definitely a bad year for bags and buckets. I have noticed a big drop in sugar the last couple of days. I collected another 325 today and left about 25 gallons in the woods. I'm going to try to boil it Sunday if I can get the tank valve thawed. It looks it will start running again Monday and looks good after that.

[eustis22]

it's going to be frigid the next couple of days....will that affect outside boiling, i.e., the cold temps impacting the pan?

[Dill]

It will boil it will just take a longer time to get the pan up to temp. Kind of like firing up the BBQ in a blizzard. Can you do it? Yup, will it be as fun? Probably not. The other concern is make sure your valves and tanks are flowing before you really get rolling.

[red maples]

I saved mine instead of boiling. I have heat wire that I put around my float box so its all good. and I made sure my tank was drained well. I have about 275 gallons. once I squeeze it won't but enough to kill anything in the pans and maybe make a few gallons. should be for some good steam though cold but windy as hell still!!! but then again when its that cold even a little breeze sucks. I am getting bags and holders ready today then tapping them tomorrow after work. Everything is frozen anyway, I don;t expect much of a sap run tomorrow after this much cold its gonna take a day tues/wed/ thursday should be sunami!!! at least I hope anyway!!!

On a good note I think I am finally getting my son more into maple. We went up to sunnyside for some containers and supplies(so I can get a jump on confections for maple weekend. and then too a ride up to windswept to the other moores and he was getting excited a little see the bigger evaporators. and was making fun of my little 2x6. He bottled up 10 gallons of syrup for me and is excited to do more. I have about 12 or 13 gallons in the other canner for him. he gets board boiling but he's 11 not sure if he is ready to put in or not. pretty hot!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Teach him how to fire the evaporator. Boys his age love to play with fire and it will keep him interested. Watching the thermometer is boring but firing will keep him moving and interested. He's probably too young to trust to run the evaporator by himself though.

[red maples]

yes I wouldn't let him run it yet. but maybe he can fire it!!!

not much at all today it did manage to get to 41 here but took way too long to get above freezing and then releasers were frozen up by 6pm. especially after the freeze we just had. its gonna take some time for the trees to get going. ice in the ground now too!!!

looks like another possible real hard freeze up for next weekend too.

just need about 30 more gallons of syrup to get me through maple weekend. I am sure I will make much more than that by then!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I didn't get much today either. When it starts running again tomorrow it should run through Wednesday and possibly Thursday before it freezes up again.

[red maples]

Man vac has been on all day. and I got very little to show for it. we did get a freeze here last night but with no sun things just aren't breaking loose. nothing on the gravity lines I tapped about 35 to 40 bags yesterday but didn;t get over there to check on them yet. guessing there aint gonna be much there either most of them are pretty big.

got some running around to do then see if I can't get started on some maple stuff for maple weekend!!! Take advantage of "no sap" and this weekend freeze up to get a jump on things. because once things get moving I am hoping for BIGGGGG sap!!!

[red maples]

a little sleepy this morning. didn;t get much monday and tuesday maybe an estimated 75 gallon would be a lot. after things broke loose I was able able to get an additional 400 gallons pretty quick. hardest run I have seen in 2 or 3 years for me. to get that much that quick. sun and warm. sugar is way up to 1.5 to 1.75 on vac and 2.25 and 2.5 + on the bucks and gravity made for some easy RO-ing and boiling.

I was into very good tasting VERY dark what I boiled on sunday which was to be expected since I saved the sap for a long time and it was the end of the warm period without a freeze. and once I was able to boil all that out the good aroma came back and it went back to dark after that.

was excited to have my son fire the evap a few times he was a bit nervous by the 3 or 4th time we was better, also a bit slow but it was OK for his first time. I don;t like t have the door open for that long but I let him get used to it. I let him add the defoamer which he did well also. I was just excited to have him out helping me. hopefully he will have a little more confidence next time.

OK as good as yesterday was and hopefully today will be OK then we freeze up for until at least Wednesday. but I am over 30-35 gallons syrup now and I have enough for confections and stuff so I will have plenty to do durring the freeze up. and I want to see if I can get my back pan cleaned up its getting a good coating of niter in it.

[red maples]

not too bad on the sap yesterday I think the wind killed things here man it was shaking he house. didn;t get much on buckets or gravity at all. still managed 325 gallons mostly from the vac lines. cooked that out I have to say that was some of the nicest sap I got this year. crystal clear and sugar was a hair over 1.5. even after RO it was still very clear. today was weird we got a little freeze and 1/2 my woods were frozen and I got like 75 or gallons from the warmer trees even though it hovered around the freezing mark. the frozen part was where the sap ladders are so the vac pressure was right about 27-28" I think thats why I actually got some sap. other than that I am just letting everything else freeze up. better frozen.

7 day is pretty frozen. maybe big nor-easter coming on Tuesday. and maybe mid 30's wed, thursday but after the cold we are gonna have aint nothing gonna be moving probably until friday or saturday of next week then its the push to maple weekend.

Alrighty stay warm and don;t forget to change the clocks!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I had my vacuum pumping most of the day yesterday and only got 75 gallons of sap. The clouds didn't help and the temps were hovering right around freezing. I'm surprised that I even got that much.

[red maples]

man that was a nasty storm and one heck of a time moving he snow!!!! f.......ing heavy!!! and clogging up the snow blower too!!!

I will be surprised if there is no line damage from falling branches and trees nothing visable from the house but I can only see so far back!!!

I will also be nice for maple season to come back too!!! no sap for any of us since last week!!! doesn;t look too good going forward either!!!!

[red maples]

RIP Eric Johnson, I didn't know him as well as others but he was a great guy and had a.passion for maple and the outdoors. Gone waaaaaayyyyy to early due to ALS.

[red maples]

Well I managed a little sap the last 2 days. maybe boil just to freshen and get rid of all the old sap to get ready for monday and tuesday.

The good news is all I have left to make is sugar and candy. and bottle syrup and clean up the sugarhouse to get ready for next weekend. Very excited about that!!! no super late nights and no all nighters on friday or saturday night especially since maple weekend forecast doesn;t look too promising at this point. but it could change!!!

just as long as can make enough money to pay for my yearly stocking up and a new candy machine from bascom's openhouse!!! I think even if I don;t make enough I will borrow from my house account and pay it back later.

[backyard sugaring]

Brad, hope you have enough sap for maple weekend. Your sugar house is very popular. I will know later in the week if we have extra sap. If we do I can bring it up to you. We have a French exchange student coming this week. My wife and daughter have a lot of plans for us. Good luck,Lee

[red maples]

I should be OK. but if you have some you know you won't get to by all means bring it by!!!

[red maples]

Well Boiled out the 300 gallons I had on sunday started out with very dark ended with just into dark just wanted to get rid of all the old sap that had been frozen and whatever. then held sap for monday because I just didn;t get the runs I was hoping for and boiled tuesday night about 450 for a 2 day total and ended up with about 12 gallons giver or take.

so my total is now around 50 gallons. I also ended with the lightest syrup for me this season. which was just about into amber if I had another 100 gallons I am sure it would have hit it. but some really nice syrup. too bad we have this freeze up and then simmer for maple weekend. but I already have 50 gallons of sap hopefully I will get a little on friday and should get some over the weekend too. just need 100 gallons to get me through then I thinnk I am gonna clean out the evap and really good beforewe pick up for the run to the end!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I've got 375 gallons in my bulk tank fot the weekend. I'm thinking about boiling it raw on Saturday and then boiling what's left and what comes in Friday and Saturday on Sunday. Hopefully I'll get enough to run 1 pass through the RO on Sunday.

[Dill]

I was up to sunnyside this afternoon. That was the discussion, to hold or boil now. I boiled this morning. Figured it would just be a block of ice if I didn't made a couple gallons of syrup. Bottled up last nights and prepped the shack for another freeze up.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

I'm disappointed that there doesn't seem to be a flow before Saturday. Was hoping for 100 gallons just to run during the day. Was going to just slow everything down, no blower, larger wood, just to have the effect. My thoughts now are to fill my head tank with water and run that and have the water move my sap in the evaporator forward and draw off what's in the pans. Will start to help with cleaning I suppose. Should be about 2-3 gallons in the pans I'm assuming. Ugh, hoping a buddy of mine comes through with 100 gallons of sap for me out of his tubing that I can go get.


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[Dill]

Well if anyone needs it, I have cords of Dill farm patented slow burning pine for sale. Perfect for maple weekend. Just know that your gloves may go into the fire with the stick if you don't pay attention.
But ya I'm thinking the same thing. Burn crap pine, probably leave the steamaway off and just use the RO to pump up to the head tank. Glad its sunny right now, but its still really cold. And holy cow that wind was blowing last night.

[red maples]

thats pretty funny.... Dill...

I didn;t want to hold sap I'd rather have good syrup then have sap for show. which I am glad I did. because what I did make will be beautiful in glass.

If worst comes to worst I drain the evap. put water in the flue pan add some sweet to front pan and just boil water I have done it before with the enclosed hood you still get the visual in the front pan and the sweet steam and you can clean the back pan at the same time. The forecast for me is pretty bad not many freezing nights next week. I hope that changes. for the better. I will end up just a smidge over last year if thats the case.

then basically hold sap for sat and sunday because we aint gonna git much friday its a thawing day espeically with no sunshine on saturday or sunday. blah!!!

[handtapper]

I have a 200 gallons on hand from earlier this week I havent boiled yet. Its been so cold im not to worried about spoilage... tomorrow is warm but i'll toss some snow on the sides of the tanks. This weekend looks like a washout anyways so i'll be boiling and dont expect many visitors but Im not on any kind of a list so normally just friends/family/neighbors here anyways. I dont expect much sap this weekend at all or the beginning of next week, temps are up but it just looks like a wintry mix/rainy mess. I think the season might be basically over, the buds are swelling on my trees and the forecast is poor right up until early april

[Russell Lampron]

I'll be boiling raw sap Saturday with no blower and no bubblemaster. Depending on how it runs tomorrow and Saturday will determine what I do Sunday. I have 375 gallons of sap in my bulk tank for the weekend. I'll probably boil about 200 gallons Saturday.

[red maples]

Hope everyone had a good day despite the weather. numbers WAAAYYY down as expected but still ok sales and a few pretty busy points as well. actually more people than I expected.

Only managed maybe 15 gallons of sap on the over night and if I got 30 gallons of sap all day today that would be a lot. need it to be a little warmer.

[red maples]

Well I am toast. Excellent crowds today. Just after lunch or I noticed a gentleman from unh coop. We was watch my maple presentation and after the crowd switched out he came over and asked if I could get wired up to make a pod cast, I said sure. So he asked me a few questions. Then I started my speech and he recorded me for a out 1/2 an hour. Pretty cool. So that will be out after it gets edited. It wasn't a record crowd but folks were out.

After I got everything cleaned up and tents away. I had to collect.sap. I was tired but I ended up with 250 gallons total few the last few days.

[red maples]

boiled out 525 gallons yesterday. was hoping for more but only managed about 8 gallons sugar was pretty low. I like better when the ratio is more like 50:1 rather than 60+:1 I wish there was more bucket sap that is at 2-2.25% so that does help but its alot of work.

only managed about 250ish gallons from last night through this afternoon and buckets and gravity have both shut off.

all the weather forecasts are different by a few degrees which can make all the difference I hope the WMUR forecast is right thats the most favorable one.

I am starting to see some of the bucket guys around are throwing in the towel. seeing the buckets are gone in some areas.

[red maples]

Definitely a slow and steady week. We finally got freeze here last night not much bUT at least it got things moving again. Boiled out another 525 gallons but only made about 6.5 Gallons. Sugar really took a hit. I was hoping for a little more sap today but since.we haven't had a freeze since sat pm. I managed 300 gallons today. Hopefully we will get another freeze tonight but with Temps only getting into the upper 30's now and 5 to 10 or what ever inches of heavy concrete coming not expecting too much for tomorrow either. Slow and steady. The cold ground and cloudy cool Temps have kept the red buds from swelling. And I have a string of about 20 sugars on the edge of field and I noticed they are swelling a bit. If the forecast doesn't change looks like we might run out of cold nights before the buds pop. Just keep chugging along. Need about 38 more gallons to reach my goal gonna be close.

[Russell Lampron]

I got 475 gallons here today. Boiled in 550 last night and made 9 1/2 gallons. I need to make 58 gallons to reach my goal. The sap is still coming in clear and the buds are tight so I think it's going to happen. The snow should help us. If the temps are right it could run good.

[Dill]

Yup same here, low low sugar, and just plugging away. I was hoping for really big sap yesterday but more of the same. Good run but not great. Making 8 or 9 gals a day. That RO is the only reason I'm still standing. Heading out in a bit to pump what I've got before the next big snowstorm.

[red maples]

still going I think the next couple of days will be the end of the buckets low pressure system usually will keep them going for an extra day. There are no freezes left in the forecast down here not even close. there was one for saturday but that changed. so when the Vacuum runs dry I will be done I guess. Would have been nice for us southern guys to get a couple of days of consistent sap weather. very up and down here. not a terrible year like last year but kind of a drawn out tough slug of year. its not over yet but getting very close. final push to the end!!! good luck everybody!!!

Next year I will be ready earlier so I can hit the January thaw if it comes.

anyone get Bascom's openhouse flyer yet? wondering when what weekend it is so I can try to plan.

Sox won opening day!!! go Sox!!!

[Russell Lampron]

How did the sap run for you today? If it was anything like here you should have gotten some sap today.

[red maples]

Oh yeah sap ran great today. All season long it has been 1 freeze and 3+ days no freeze, then totally freeze up for 3 days then no night freeze for 3 to 5 days. Been a vacuum season. Down here yet again.

[Russell Lampron]

Every year it's the vacuum that saves my season. This year I didn't put out any buckets and with the weather we've had I'm glad that I didn't. Good luck with the rest of your season.

My magic number is "34". That's how many gallons of syrup I need to make to meet my goal.

[red maples]

since last night my magic number is down to 18 to reach my goal. still a slight chance. with 5 + gallons in the evap. and vac is still going!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Good luck Brad. I hope you make it.

[red maples]

Well still going. Pulled all gravity and buckets on Thursday. but no peepers and buds are swelling but its been pretty cool no frosts since I don;t even remember. been averaging 170 gallons of sap a day on vacuum sugar is still at 1%. haven't boiled since Wednesday night. So I have 500 + gallons get that ROed and boiled out on Sunday.

guessing the peepers will start up tomorrow or monday. I think I might call it quits on sunday night and just boil any remaining sap on monday afternoon and boil out any remaining sweet on tuesday. I won't be able to keep it cool anymore since we are going to be in the 70's mon and tuesday.

I am 82 gallons as of wednesday night so hopefully I will get 6 to 8 gallons out of what I have 3-4 gallons out of the evap and finish arounf 95 gallons only 5 gallons off my goal. I'll take it. long season though. thank goodness for vacuum!!!!

[Russell Lampron]

This has been another strange season. I hope that there is enough sugar in your sap to get you as close to your goal as possible.

I called it a season yesterday. I exceeded my goal of 175 gallons by 2 1/2 gallons and still need to finish the evaporator.

[red maples]

just finished had a total of 570 gallons for today. Warm in the sugarhouse today. but listening to the red sox game was good. made another 8 gallons and it lightened up from (25 is Very dark cut off) 35 to 43 on the "Hanna" scale. only 5 points off of my lightest this year which was 47(49 dark cutoff ) . most of which was around the 35 to 40 mark. Syrup still tastes good.

still going!!! I was gonna cut the Vac today but the sap is going!!! we got a little freeze last night and I got about 200 gallons of sap today. I might throw a bucket of sap in the chest freezer and add it to the stock tank in the morning its in the RO room which is insulated maybe I can keep it cool enough to keep things going!!! I have plenty of wood so might as well keep going!!! :)

[Russell Lampron]

If I had plenty of wood I would have waited until today to end the season. After finishing the evaporator this morning I have about enough wood left for a good campfire.

Go as long as you can. I think the warm weather tomorrow and Tuesday is going to make the trees bud here.

[red maples]

trees budded here I finished out my pans last night. funny thing though sap was still coming in.

So after I finished out my back pan and emptied the majority of the syrup out I finished off what I collected yesterday and today and the sap was nasty to say the least. the syrup is even worse it is VILE!!! I actually needed to RO it anyway just to top off my permeate tank
but it will get tossed.

didn;t reach my goal but factoring in everything for ease of calculation including the 2.5 that will get tossed.

I ended up with 96 gallons of syrup. I know my trees and the weather down here on the seacoast so my goal was only 100 gallons. but it was about about <1.4 pints per tap. collected 6900 gallons of sap which is the most I have collected by 1100 gallons and that is 71 gallons sap/ gal Sugar was very low 90% of season due to extended warm nights and little to no winter dormancy it peaked at 1.5 to 1.6 right before the freeze up but average was about 1.3% . made about 7 gallons of very dark early in the season and the rest was all dark. Had 570 taps on vac and about 50 on gravity and buckets but the main bulk of the sap was vac. as we all know it keeps going long after the bucket runs stop. so not much at all for sap those 50 taps. so it really hurt my per tap sap average but factoring them in was 11.13 gallons per tap.

it was one of the longest and up down temperature years I think I have seen since I have been sugaring. inconsistant temps combined for only 1 really good run which was early in the season. a little more consistency to the weather could have been a bumper crop down here.

It was a pretty good year overall and was about 45 gallons more produced than last year which was my worst year to date.

I will be working in the woods this year to improve a few things to get better flow and better vacuum transfer on my flat woods here. Adding another 50 to 60 on the vacuum lines and always looking for woods to tap. I think I am gonna invest in a leader fill-Stop bottler this year then I can label while bottling and fill 2 at the same time. 2 canners and 1 larger one has a second fitting. they did some re-designing and I think the bugs are worked out from what I am hearing. I wanted to get a candy machine but since I borrowed so much money from the house this past year for upgrades due to the poor 2016 season I can afford it so I will have wait another year.

Going forward with the weather patterns being so unpredictable with little to no extended dormancy for the trees it is vital to tap early like early January. sugar will continue to be low without extended cold to convert the carbs in the trees and with tap hole sanitation by changing out drops and adding new spouts each season the holes stay open longer so tapping in early January won;t effect end of season sap flows. tapping early is a change that needs to happen or we won;t make as much syrup. If I am tapped in and it freezes up well then it freezes up. I didn't have 1 tap come loose this entire season even with a blizzard, crazy winds, super warm temps and super cold temps.

It was a very smooth but long season and the mid season freeze up was actually quite helpful in getting ready for maple weekend.

Always fun in the sugarhouse. love to boil but time for the suck job of the clean up and get taps pulled and get along with the spring chores and start on wood for next winter and maple season!!!

See ya everybody.

I will be in touch Russ. we'll hook up soon!!!

[Russell Lampron]

The trees are very close to budding but haven't yet. The sap that came in Saturday was cloudy and full of bacteria but still made good tasting amber syrup. I'm glad that I decided to call it a season Saturday. We got a freeze here Saturday night and I'm sure that the sap probably ran pretty good Sunday but It felt good to finish the evaporator before the contents spoiled. I don't have any desire to make commersial syrup with the prices as low as they are now.

I want to go down and check out your sugar house too. We'll have to make it happen. Message me on facebook.