Warm weather - wait another week?

[tgormley358]

When to tap?? Two test buckets since Saturday gave about 2 gallons each. In central MA we have a couple days in the next 5 with good conditions for a run. But then next week a solid 5 days with no night temps below 35 per current forecast. Would you take the “bird in the hand” this week and risk being too early, or wait til after next week hoping for longer run of cold nights and warm days? This is my first season trying tubing and a new evaporator and new sugar shack, so I’m eager to get started, but don’t want to shoot myself in the foot. Wisdom would suggest tap some more but not all. I’m considering half now, wait in the other half.

Tom

[jrm]

I'm down the road from you in Acton, all buckets, and I'm having the same conversation in my head. I'm thinking those lows are just too warm in the 30s. Looking like a week from Friday we're back to the 20s overnight. I'm might put a few buckets out to scratch my itch, and wait on the rest. Sorry, can't give any feedback on the tubing vs buckets (and weather) question. I'll be interested to hear what you decide.

For what its worth, the few folks within a few miles of me that have tapped every season that I have (really, what that translates to, is once I started tapping, I understood what I was seeing) haven't tapped yet either.

[Russell Lampron]

If you're using tubing go for it! The extended forecast is always an educated guess and I'm thinking that you will get some freezing temps at night next week. With tubing the holes don't close up as fast and if you tap now they will still be running at the end of the season. I have most of mine tapped and will finish tapping Saturday and I'm in NH.

I don't know when you guys down south normally tap your buckets but up here I waited until the first of March. I don't put out any buckets at all now.

[Mark B]

At the beginning of this week (central Maine) I was feeling rushed. Temps long range were trending up, but now have been adjusted down 3-5f over the long range through the 25th. I was going to push up my timeline, but now I'm not feeling as rushed. Gonna stick to my original plans to start tapping the end of next week or last week of Feb.

[tgormley358]

Thanks for chiming in with your thoughts and plans re the weather, etc. I’ve started to notice how much the long term forecast can change every couple days, and it’s looking better. Janet, yes you’re in my neighborhood alright, same weather mostly. I’m glad I decided not to tap more trees last night - I got more
Sleep and needed a rest. But I plan to tap everything this weekend, around 80-90 taps total with maybe 25 buckets and the rest in tubing. I hope to be boiling Sunday or Monday night.

[billyinvt]

I'm quite a ways north of you guys and I put buckets out on the 21st of February the past two seasons with no regrets. If your spiles are sanitized you should get a minimum of 4-6 weeks from a bucket.

[DrTimPerkins]

At the beginning of this week (central Maine) I was feeling rushed. Temps long range were trending up, but now have been adjusted down 3-5f over the long range through the 25th.

Long-range forecasts are notoriously poor. http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/Weather.pdf