This has to be tough on the trees

[maple flats]

A week ago today, at the VVS winter Conf. in Verona, it was -15F, then Thurs it was 52 and yesterday 62, now it is 6F. That's just hard on both people and the trees.

[johnpma]

Septic line froze water supply froze took 1 1/2 weeks to get it thawed out Had to hire somebody to steam out the septic line Wild turkeys are eating from the bird feeder and yesterday I saw three deer ramming into a chain link fence head first trying to get to some grass growing on a pile at a town dump

I can't imagine what the trees have gone through these last two weeks

I hope this is the end of the deep cold 20s and 30s are better than -13

[Bucket Head]

Sorry to hear of the frozen pipes. Nothing works good in this stuff- cars, plumbing, humans, wildlife, etc. But I'd say it's tougher on the humans than the trees. It's beyond disappointing, really. We should be out there getting ready but the help (my father) doesn't get around good any more and the cold only makes it worse. And I don't do the cold as well anymore either. Just hoping it warms up a little soon or we'll be in a bind for the start of the season.

[Galena]

Guys, please be patient. You try to go set spiles now, you'll end up hurting the trees and won't get any sap anyway cause it's way too frickin cold, they're all froze up. Esp if they're big-*** mature maples like mine. By all means get your tappin gear ready and the evaporator pans scrubbed out and all set - but please f***in WAIT til the weather is above zero during the day and below zero at night. Then tap away.

Or, just be yer average typical male thinkin 'this li'l lady ain't hardly knows nuthin about sugarin' and ignore me. Go drill your trees tomorrow, split their trunks, kill them. Have fun scouting around for new trees to tap.

[buckeye gold]

Why the hostility Galena....? The thread is on how the weather is affecting trees, not tapping. Besides, look where people are from, we don't all live on the Tundra. Our normal season will start in about 10 days, we won't be splitting any trees.

[Bucket Head]

Um...yeah, what Buckeye said.

To clarify, we are not tapping- we don't drill tree's this time of year and never will. However we do reinstall about twenty runs of tubing on roadside and front yard tree's that the owners allow us to tap but don't allow the tubing to be left up. The snow and extreme cold along with the fact that no one is getting any younger is making the preseason prep that much more difficult right now.

[Galena]

Um...yeah, what Buckeye said.

To clarify, we are not tapping- we don't drill tree's this time of year and never will. However we do reinstall about twenty runs of tubing on roadside and front yard tree's that the owners allow us to tap but don't allow the tubing to be left up. The snow and extreme cold along with the fact that no one is getting any younger is making the preseason prep that much more difficult right now.

Greetings from the tundra...though may I point out that in the tundra there are no trees? I'm in SE Ontario, about 30min drive from upper NY. Anyway sorry for jumping to conclusions...but on a quick read through it sure sounds like someone's all set to fire up the drills. Even if this is the normal time of year for you to tap, I have friends all over the States who are reporting nothing but the same brutal cold we're currently getting.

[spud]

I think you need some Vermont friends. I just missed out on 2 GPT because I was not ready yet. Next weekend it appears we could be getting another 2 GPT and I will be ready for that. I have tapped in as cold as 10 degrees but try to wait till 15 degrees. There is no cracking of trees unless you have reds or soft maple. My system runs 27+ inches of vacuum all season. I live one mile from Canada and if your not tapping now in this area your loosing money.

Spud