Crawford County 2018

[Irish Ridge]

Sunday, Feb. 18th. Count me in. 45 trees and 47 taps. Looking at the 10 day, I figured this was the weekend to get the woods work done. Snow in the woods was crusty and 4 or 5 inches deep. Today the wind also picked up on the ridge top. On to getting the shack operations all set over the next day or two. The only thing the rain forecast for tomorrow promises is slush or mud should it happen. The most undesired change was that I lost my best producing tree to a summer storm in July. The high winds associated with the tornado right across the Mississippi River in McGregor Iowa also took out several other nice mature maples of mine.

For reference, in 2016 my first sap collection was Feb. 20th and in 2017 my first sap collection was Feb. 13th. Good luck to all.

[spike in wi]

Irish Ridge, Glad to hear you are up and running. We tapped yesterday and today as the 10 day looked good to us also. Out of 33 gallons we made last year we only have three pints left so we better get going. We had a few taps running a little bit yesterday but not much. Spike

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, Feb. 24th A sap collection this morning brought in a whopping 5 gallons for the week. The floor of the woods this morning was slippery ice with a bit of crunchy snow. I have to believe this coming week will be the start.

Good to hear from you Spike. I hope you and your partners have a great season.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hello Irish Ridge I think there is a lot of frost yet, but things will surely get better. Yes the ice is bad this season had ice fishing cleats on all weekend. We decided to wait until March 3rd to tap, Accu weather shows a chilly March for Viroqua.

[Irish Ridge]

Friday, March 2nd, Sap is dripping slow, real slow from the taps. I will need a big run overnight and Saturday to do any kind of a boil Sunday afternoon. On the positive side, the afternoon will be spent doing woods work widening a trail or two. And of course hearing turkeys gobbling the last three mornings and seeing robins today helps.

Mr. Sugar Maple...I too was wearing the cleats. Today is the first day that I will venture in the woods with even my smallest chain saw to do some trim work.

[Irish Ridge]

Sunday, March 4th, Sap is now running from all taps. Slow but running. All 45 buckets emptied this afternoon. All caught up on boiling as of 6 p.m. Let it snow and rain over the next 48 hours.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

YES more moisture will help the sap flow, need good freeze thaw cycle. glad you had enough sap to boil,

[spike in wi]

Sap here in Grant county flowing very slow this year so far also. We boiled on Friday to clear up what we had (about 60gallons). We will boil again today with about another 60 gallons or so. We were talking the other day about the moderate drought that were are in according to the weatherman. I wonder if that is part of our problem? The way the wind blew all night I'm afraid to go look in the woods this morning! Spike

[Tommoore30]

Dumb question: what brand of cleats does everyone wear and where do you get them? I cannot cope with ice or mud anymore on these knees. Thanks! Tom in Lafarge.

[lulugrein]

Try one of the links below to options from Yak Trax. I have the basic "Protraction" style with the strap over the front (they will slip off without you knowing it otherwise). Next step up is the Yak TraxICE trekkers diamond grips which a friend bought and swears by. Nelsons in Viroqua had both styles the last time I was there. Take them out of the box and try them on the boots you are going to be wearing in the woods. Too small and you'll hurt yourself just trying to put them on :-o. Be safe out there!

https://www.rei.com/b/yaktrax/c/winter-traction-devices?r=b%3Bc&origin=web&ir=brand%3Ayaktrax%3Bcategory%3Awinter-traction-devices&page=1


(https://www.rei.com/b/yaktrax/c/winter-traction-devices?r=b%3Bc&origin=web&ir=brand%3Ayaktrax%3Bcategory%3Awinter-traction-devices&page=1)https://www.rei.com/b/yaktrax/c/winter-traction-devices?r=b%3Bc&origin=web&ir=brand%3Ayaktrax%3Bcategory%3Awinter-traction-devices&page=1

[Irish Ridge]

Tuesday, March 6th Heading out shortly to pick up any buckets that blew over in the winds yesterday.
Lulu, I checked out the yaktrax and they look nice. They are definitely a step up (or two) from the brand I use. I purchased mine at Fleet Farm years ago. They are made by HT Enterprises and are called Sure Grip safety treads. They sell for about 6 dollars. They are made for ice fishermen and I see that Frabil also makes a similar set of cleats. My HT grips do not have a set of cleats on the heal. That has not been a problem as I remember the design and make sure that I plant my step on the ball of my foot rather than the heal. Mine have held up over the years but I try to make deliberate and 90 degree turns.
Time to check out the woods....later.

[lulugrein]

That's a good price Irish Ridge!. Yaks cost $19 for the basic ones.
Anxious to hear how sap is running by you. Our place is just north of the Crawford Co border. Sap was running very slow when I left on Sunday. The anticipation of what I'll find in the buckets on Friday night is killing me!

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Yes glad you were going to check your buckets, hope they were still on the trees. wonder how things are at our place. as of Sunday afternoon very little sap flow on our buckets.

[Irish Ridge]

Wed., March 7th. This morning was spent dusting 3 inches of snow (and a small crust of ice) off the bucket lids. The wind only knocked a handful over and none were lost. A check of sap showed that the slow flow must have stopped some time Sunday night. I had collected sap Sunday afternoon and there was very little frozen sap on the bottom of the buckets this morning. Zero sap running from the taps.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, March 12. Sap in the buckets today - not ice. Sap finally dripping at a slow consistent rate. We collected just over a gallon per tree - some more, some less. Looking at Wednesday or Thursday to begin my life around the fire for the season. The good news to share is that based on the "first snow where you can track a cat in relation to the full moon" formula the next trackable snow will be some time next fall.

[spike in wi]

Tuesday March 13---boiled all day yesterday and all day today and it looks like tomorrow also. Once the trees woke up we have to get right at it to keep up. Weather looks good for the next few days. I was surprised the trees ran as well as they did today given it barely reached 32 degrees. Hope everyone else is doing well. Spike

[Irish Ridge]

Thursday, March 15th - We collected sap first thing this morning and was surprised the wind had blown numerous buckets over. With the covers on tight we didn't lose sap but didn't realize it had reached such gusts. By 10 a.m. we had a good fire working. Great day to be outside. At 4:30 p.m. the cub scouts showed up. We explored the fire and the wood pile, actual sap boiling away and then took a walk to the woods. The boys got to taste sap out of the tree and hunt for scars from previous year drillings. Then it was back to the shack to taste syrup and have maple candy made in the maple leaf forms. Good time had by all. Starting early tomorrow to try and keep up.

Spike, like you, I can finally say the sap is flowing and and the season is truly on. Heard red wing blackbirds today.

[Irish Ridge]

Sunday, March 18th - Made about 2 gallons today and about 1 yesterday afternoon. So syrup is being made but not like years past with similar weather. Sap flow continues to be way down on my north facing slope. A very different season for us here. I won't even try and predict the future of this season. Perfect days Saturday and today for collecting sap and watching a fire burn. Waiting to hear other weekend results.

[spike in wi]

Sunday 3/18/18--Took today off other than picking up sap. Back to boiling tomorrow. We went Monday thru Saturday last week and just kept up with the sap. Back at it again tomorrow for at least two days. We have bottled 14 gallons so far. Don't know if well meet last years output but we'll take what we get!! Irish Ridge- are you auditing SREC again this year? They have me down for it again. Spike

[Irish Ridge]

Hi Spike. I always like to hear the Grant County report. I am always a little behind you so maybe this week will be the one where it turns up a bit. I thought last week would be the one where I fall behind. I have to finish off some now on the gas stove and should be right around 5 gallons for the season. Not complaining. I think I have found the number of trees where the fun remains and the wife doesn't mind spelling me a bit. Glad to hear you will be at SREC; same here. I was thinking I could get the full details on the season from you. Sap on.

[Irish Ridge]

Wednesday, March 21 - Trees have really slowed down the last few days. Looking for my next boil on Friday to be done before the snow on Saturday. The morning was spent finishing up our first two boils and we came up with just over 5 gallons of a nice light amber color and fine tasting syrup. 18257

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Irish Ridge, nice looking syrup, ours was very light also. Looks like a bunch of snow down your way, Viroqua forecast 1 to 3 inches there. Good luck this weekend.

[spike in wi]

We pulled taps on Wednesday evening-boiled the rest we had in the bulk tank on Thursday and did our final boil this morning. We got everything cleaned up by noon today and ended up with 237 pints of syrup. Once the trees started they didn't give us any break in the action this year.

[Irish Ridge]

Sunday, March 25 - Went out this afternoon to collect sap and found less than nice clear sap of the early season. Buckets are now all empty and I plan on being careful and observant with my next collection possibly also calling it a season in the very near future. Will "finish" another 2 gallons or so Monday afternoon.

[Irish Ridge]

Tuesday, March 27 - 1/2 an inch of rain overnight made for some very slippery walking while collecting sap this afternoon. Sap is still flowing relatively slow. Actually pulled 1/3 of my taps which had either stopped entirely or were giving less than clear sap. Should have a day worth of boiling tomorrow. I took a reading of sugar content and still comes back at a strong 3%. No complaining there. Got inside the house by noon and "finished" another 1.5 gallons on the gas stove. Did I mention it was slippery while collecting? Not just that, but I also sunk straight down in the mud on the trails. One last observation, the wood ducks are back on the pond now that the ice went out last week.

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, March 31st - After finishing off one more gallon inside it was time for a walk in the woods to check buckets. The trees made the decision for me that today was the day to pull the rest of my taps. I will have one more boil tomorrow afternoon which should produce just under a gallon of syrup. Serious clean up will begin Monday. On an side note, the fire trucks went screaming by my sugar shack on Thursday around 5 p.m. We figured it was a grass fire that got away from someone but it actually turned out to be a fire that started from blowing embers from friends making their own syrup. They left the fire unattended at the end of the day. It came in as a garage fire but I haven't gone over to investigate because I think heads are hanging low. Be careful, be safe, have fun. A year end summary will follow in the near future.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Noticed our evaporator puts out a lot of sparks and ash, checking in the dark wow. looking forward to your end of season report. We are still struggling with a lot of mud in the valley, looks like it will be gone about the time we quit for the season.

[Irish Ridge]

April 3rd. End of season report, here goes. We tapped Feb. 18th. First lesson learned for next year is to just tap a few test trees next year. I am in a position where I can go tap trees at will on a minutes notice so I plan on doing that to prevent dry holes. No big run this season on my north facing slope. Frost was deep, snow not so much. I determined that I would rather walk in the slippery mud and wet leaves than deep snow. Good sugar content this spring. The sugar maples were always over 2.5 per cent sugar content and most often closer to 3 and 3 plus per cent. 8.5 gallons of total syrup this year. Our lowest amount in a season but still an enjoyable season and a hobby worth participating in. Wood ducks but no peepers by the pond at this time. A little clean up to go and then it is on to other spring activities.