Tapped in Chester

[berkshires]

Got all 15 of my taps in today. 12 are buckets hanging on trees, 3 are taps with drops to buckets at the base of the tree. Most started to drip immediately, with the exception of one huge old tree. Never tapped that tree before. If I don't see some good sap flow on it tomorrow, I may just move those buckets.

Even with snowshoes, trying to get around on 16 inches of wet snow on steep slope was... interesting. More than once the snow under me just slid out on wet leaves and I just aimed for the nearest tree to stop my slide.

Probably got around a half gallon of sap per tree by dusk.

Made a few more little improvements to the evaporator after getting the taps in. Will start my first boil tomorrow.

[berkshires]

Well this weekend will make six weeks for me, and since I'm out of split wood, and the wood that's left is not fully seasoned, I think I'll call it quits after splitting what I need for the weekend boil, and boiling off whatever is collected by Sunday. Not looking forward to splitting in the rain on Saturday. And the wood will get soaked in the rain as I'm splitting it. Oh well.

My trees are still making good sap, and still running well into buckets, even after six weeks. So it's kinda bittersweet to be wrapping up when I bet there would still be a good few runs in the next week or two. But I'll wind up with a over a quart per tap, despite low sugar sap, and a pretty tough March.

Besides, it's two hours each way for me to get to where I boil, and I'm getting **** tired of that drive.

Gabe

[johnpma]

Well this weekend will make six weeks for me, and since I'm out of split wood, and the wood that's left is not fully seasoned, I think I'll call it quits after splitting what I need for the weekend boil, and boiling off whatever is collected by Sunday. Not looking forward to splitting in the rain on Saturday. And the wood will get soaked in the rain as I'm splitting it. Oh well.

My trees are still making good sap, and still running well into buckets, even after six weeks. So it's kinda bittersweet to be wrapping up when I bet there would still be a good few runs in the next week or two. But I'll wind up with a over a quart per tap, despite low sugar sap, and a pretty tough March.

Besides, it's two hours each way for me to get to where I boil, and I'm getting **** tired of that drive.

GabeAny means of freezing the sap? Collect the good stuff and freeze it in pails, or find a local guy and sell your good sap

[berkshires]

Any means of freezing the sap? Collect the good stuff and freeze it in pails, or find a local guy and sell your good sap

Sugarbush, evaporator, everything. It's a two hour drive, at my family's cabin in the woods. I sure do wish it was closer.

[berkshires]

Pulled taps on Sunday after boiling off another roughly 30 gallon. Looks like perfect timing, since the next couple weeks look they'll be too warm for sap to run, and then the trees will start budding.

Overall it was a good season. I haven't boiled down the last of it, but it looks like it'll wind up being around 4.5 gallons. For 15 taps that comes to about .3 gals per tap. I think that's pretty darn good considering how cold March was, and the fact that I was averaging only 1.5 percent sap.

I think the main thing I learned this year was to be more aware of which trees to tap. Of course I tapped the few I have that are on the edge of the woods, and avoided the ones that looked diseased. But all the rest were forest trees, and there I just picked the ones closest to the sugar shack. Instead I wish I had looked up at the size of the crown and how crowded they are by other trees. Some of the trees I tapped this year in the middle of the forest were on a northeast facing slope, crowded by other trees, with very little crown. Those put out 1.1% sap. While other trees in the middle of the forest are facing southeast, have enough space around them, and put out 1.6% or better. That's 50% more syrup for the same boil! Definitely will hit more of these and fewer of the crowded ones next time (and maybe open up space around the crowded ones where I have time).

I'll be cooking down and bottling the last of it this week. Then cleaning. Oh my god, so much cleaning to do. :(

Hope everyone else has a good end to their season. Too bad about this warm spell now. But maybe it's good for folks up in northern Maine!

Cheers

[johnpma]

Next week looks really warm. This is out last week. You did well for 15 taps!! Great job

[berkshires]

Thanks, man! How's the end of your season going?

Gabe

[johnpma]

Thanks, man! How's the end of your season going?

Gabe Pretty good run yesterday and today too........these warm days make me nervous!! Still have snow so I have been packing snow in the woods around out storage containers Next year I plan on switching a few things up and switching some of my runs to 3/16" tubing Every year I learn a little more LOL

[sappytapper]

Nice work and congrats on a fruitful season!

I'm boiling off the remains of the sap i collected last week tonight and am hoping to crack 3 gallons, 4.5 is pretty outstanding for 15 taps. :-)

[berkshires]

Nice work and congrats on a fruitful season!

I'm boiling off the remains of the sap i collected last week tonight and am hoping to crack 3 gallons, 4.5 is pretty outstanding for 15 taps. :-)

Thanks very much! Good luck to you on the end of your season as well!

Gabe

[berkshires]

Boiled down all the nearup I'd collected last weekend. Final syrup for the season is 4.5 gallons. 0.3 galls per tap.

Gabe

[johnpma]

Congrats on a great season

[berkshires]

Tapped today. I admit I'm now wondering if that was wise. Nearly 40 degrees, and barely a couple of drops of sap from the trees that see the most sun. I'm thinking with all the snow, they're still pretty frozen up. Hope I don't regret tapping so early. We shall see. Forecast says 50 degrees on Tuesday. If that bears out, that'll get the trees running for a day at least.

[sappytapper]

How's the flow looking so far?

[berkshires]

I've wound up throwing away a lot of ice, so I'm not sure of total flow. But there have been a couple of good runs. I finished about two and a half quarts of medium-light syrup this weekend, from 35 gallons of sap. I probably tossed around ten gallons of ice, so I guess that's around 45 gallons of sap from 12 taps so far. Not a ton, but considering how early I tapped, it's nice I have something to show for it, now we're getting into the proper season.

As for current flow, this past weekend through today should be good, though I'm not there to see how it's flowing. I'm very worried that by the time I get back up there this weekend a lot of the sap may be spoiled from the predicted 70 degree day coming. Some of it is in pretty shaded spots, so I have my fingers crossed that some buckets will be salvageable. I guess time will tell.

[berkshires]

Well it's tough to have to wrap up the season early, as this is absolutely the peak weather for sap runs, but I must do it. Family obligations are... obligatory. So last weekend I pulled all the taps. I'll boil down the last of the nearup this weekend, then I'll know what I got to. Certainly not my best year, but at least I got out and did some tapping, made some syrup. And the trees will still be there when I have time to come back another season.

[berkshires]

Finally got to pull the trigger! Got six taps in today. Should have been seven, but I discovered i forgot to bring some of what I needed for the one hanging bucket I'm doing, so I'll do that one when I get back out to the bush next weekend.

Excited to finally be in the game this season!

[berkshires]

Did a final boil and pulled taps last weekend. Had some visitors join me, including a very enthusiastic three-and-a-half year old, who wanted to taste everything (repeatedly) and help pour sap into the evaporator. That was really fun.

A tiny harvest this year, only a bit over two gallons of syrup. But I did succeed in being very efficient. My evaporator ran much faster this year, so I was able to wind up with roughly the same amount of syrup as last year, with fewer taps, shorter boils, and a shorter season. Also, I replaced the rotting out stovepipe, so that's something that'll be good for many years to come.

GO