western mass 2018

[WESTMAPLES]

its been awfully quiet around here, how is it going for everyone ?? i can`t be the only one wondering how others are doing, it has been a different season once again, sap flows and sugar content is all over the place, but thats sugarin` . ive talked with a few locals producers i know and they all seem to think everyone else is doing better than themselves ..... lets here what ya`ll have to say .

[johnpma]

Had a hard run during that warm up 2 weeks ago boiled off what we had. After the last storm things slowed down quite a bit. Collected and boiled off 55 or so gallons yesterday of 2% Have 2 gallons of finished syrup to bottle tonight everything in the woods is mostly dry Looking forward we may get a few warm days. Weekend high for us was 39 degrees not much happened some drips late afternoon that's about it

[PrimitiveOperation]

Haven’t been flooded with sap yet, but have been collecting 70-120 gallons of sap daily when the temps are right. Evaporator is real sweet and ready to push out more syrup.

[Bernie/MA]

My neghbors here in north central MA are getting real dark syrup. Is that the case everywhere? I don't boil amymore.

[bigschuss]

I'm in the NW corner at 2,000 ft. and like WESTMAPLES I had a hard run 2 or 3 weeks ago. Couldn't keep up with the sap, and I ended up making more syrup than I've even made that early in the season. I don't even normally tap until the 1st week of March on average. We now have 48" of new snow and another foot or so coming tomorrow...yeah, things have grinded to a halt. Buckets that I hung when the grass was showing are now just about buried as they hang on the tree. It's going to get good again though. Once all this snow melts and the temps. warm I am ready for another hard run.

[maple2]

our first boil was 2/21. We are almost at half a crop. Sugar has been 1.5 to 1.8. Not much lite syrup

[WESTMAPLES]

good to hear you guys are still making it along too, picked up just over 400 gals this morning - sugar content is still just above 1% , im making it along running the RO constantly, without it i would have thrown in the towel .... i figured it would have come back to the 2% atleast, just have to wait it out and see. i look at my snorkel and then i have to watch the weather in hopes a sap tsunami is headed our way, instead these forecasters keep saying something about snow...... next channel .....

[johnpma]

Strange yesterday. Went home to find the buckets overflowing which were emptied Sunday late afternoon. We had 2.25% on the buckets and the 5/16" gravity and 3/16" run did nothing all day.........

Bottled 2 gallons last night.

Hoping for a good run after the storm passes.....

[GV2]

Only one bucket and my 3/16 line still running the last few days. All the other buckets have been trickles since the last snow. Thaws begin around 2 PM and last into the evening. Got about 11 inches of snow so far today. I am beyond my yearly production however so can't complain. Sugar has been steady around 1.5% since mid Feb.

[sweetwater sugar shack]

Collected 200 from Sunday and Monday the 3/16 that I tapped back in January in Westfield still running good

[saphead]

Where I help boil they're @ 1/2 a crop,may have boiled today...was snowed in. Nice visit w/Paul,Serena and Jameson on Sat. Made around 80 Gal. on Sun. not bad for not really having any sugaring weather.Looked @ last years notes and we had a freeze up right about this time last year as well.No light syrup either...we need a nice warm up after this coming cold spell.

[berkshires]

I threw in the towel and pulled my taps last weekend. Sap is still flowing pretty good, even though I tapped crazy early. But I just don't have any more time.

[maple2]

gathered 4700 gals of sap on Monday.Boiled, today, made 80 gals. of med today,after plowing 18" of snow

[bigschuss]

My problem now is that I have no way of getting my sap if/when it begins to flow again. There is just too much snow for my snowmobile. I either need to get out with my snowshoes and start packing down all my access trails or hope for a good rain to condense down the 4' of powder we've gotten in the past 10 days.

[WESTMAPLES]

that last snow was something else everybody panicked, got 12in in my area of westfield and figured i would go out an open my bush at 620+ ft with dozer thinking there would be 18 in plus.... nope got there and was only about 6 in of snow on the ground go figure that. sap is coming in slow still but it gives me time to rework little things that have overlooked while trying to move forward, its only a matter of time right... before the sap starts pouring , then it will be the " what day is it.... " game till it slows

[johnpma]

We really got hit hard up our way. Thought that it would shut us down for awhile.....WRONG!! Stopped this morning and our totes which are burried were 3/4 full.......buckets hardly anything.........so hard to predict.

[johnpma]

Lots snow in the woods trees didn't do much this week but I grabbed 30 gallons or so

[sweetwater sugar shack]

Bottled 7 gallons yesterday from what I boiled during the week that puts me at 24 for the year

[berkshires]

Just boiled off the last of the nearup for a bit under another gallon. That brings me to a bit over two gallons for the season. Not much, but my priorities were very much divided, so I'm just happy I got to get out and made some darn good syrup. Had my mom up this weekend to help look after the baby. We had some of the fresh syrup on French toast. It was fantastic! And she enjoyed watching the finishing, filtering, and bottling process.

[sweetwater sugar shack]

Made another 2 gallons today from my taps in Westfield

[WESTMAPLES]

.... its been slow the last few days sap wise for me, how the rest of you making out??

[bigschuss]

.... its been slow the last few days sap wise for me, how the rest of you making out??

Same here in Savoy. I tried to take my snowmobile out on my trails today to start packing down the snow so when it does run I can actually collect it. Went good for a while...then I got it buried twice. The second time I was so disgusted from having dug the dang thing out once only to bury it again that I just left it out in he woods and snowshoed home. Still too much snow. I'll dig the machine out again tomorrow and hope for a good run this week.

[saphead]

Where I help out we boiled for the first time today in over a week. First tank of concentrate yeilded a stong tasting AR then once we started on the second tank the foam got lighter but went wild almost every time the rig was fired.That sap was brought in today and much to our amazement it yielded of a drum plus of the most wonderfully flavored golden delicate syrup...go figure it's March 24! Ran a little slow today,thermometer said it was warm but wind was cold all day.Looks like some good weather for the first part of the week,still snow in the woods but not like in the high country.

[johnpma]

One of the best runs we have had all year this past week! My 3/16" run was insane and in just two days has given up over 30 gallons of sap for the small 12 tree run

Big boil today!

[GV2]

Started to run good in the last few days after not seeing much of a drop since the nor-Easters begining around March 6. Looking at my % sugar log based on sap boiled -> syrup made (stopped trusting my instruments, hydrometer markings too hard to read, refractometer calibrated and used right, always higher than actual yeild), sap started in Feb at 1.6, dropped to 1.1 in first week of March and now back to around 1.5% after cold snap. Still making gold. Looks like a busy week here next week.

[bigschuss]

Looks like a busy week here next week.

Agree. My sap just started to flow again yesterday for the first time since that first Nor'easter a few weeks ago. Looks like things are setting up to be a really good week.

[Thegreg20]

The saps flowing nice but noticing that the sap isn't tasting sweet anymore. Has more of an earthy taste. Boiling today with fingers crossed.

[johnpma]

Finished 2 1/2 gallons last night of delicious rich amber syrup........what I collected yesterday was all 2%

[johnpma]

Last big boil for me today buckets stopped buds are showing had a great season! Even the tubing has slowed down the last couple days! Had a blast this season for sure

[johnpma]

Last finishing run tonight. Pulled the buckets yesterday afternoon. Trees shut down. Even the 3/16" run isn't doing squat. Time to clean up the gear and tally up our yield, and get ready for turkey season :)

Had a blast this year for sure. Buds are out.....I think spring is here.

Have a great off season everyone. It's been a blast!!!

[WESTMAPLES]

yeah ive removed taps from a few largely swollen reds but im still tricking along ( making a few last gals of dark syrup for making beer) the guy places him order every year and wants the darkest stuff i can make , but im sure the buddie end is right around my next corner . my bro in law pulled his taps in blandford yesterday, saying his trees had slowed and didn`t want to drag along anymore . it has been a great season syrup totals wise , but holy cow it took lots of gals of sap to get there...... hopefully next season yields a large amount of sap again with higher ( my normal ) sugar content lol good luck to those of you still going or still waiting

[berkshires]

How did you two do for the season?

I had very low sugar, despite tossing a lot of ice this year. So not as much syrup as I'd hoped. But I had a good time, and made some **** good syrup. Enough for me, family, and friends. And my wife didn't kill me. So it's all good. :)

[bigschuss]

I'm still going strong at 2,000 ft. and no sign of slowing down. I can barely keep up with the sap flow. I've been collecting full buckets every day. My trails are all still covered with about a foot of packed snow which makes collecting sap easy with a snowmobile.

I've made more syrup this year than I've ever had, though like everybody else, I experienced low sugar concentrations in the sap. I think I'll have some good flow this week and will probably pull my taps and buckets next weekend.

[johnpma]

I had 2% plus for two weeks. It dropped to 1 1/2% end of last week. We should hit our 10 gallon goal this year or darn close to it. We collected a total of 493 gallons of sap for the season. My 3/16" cranked out the sap for 10 days straight. Now it barely drips. It was short and very sweet for us.

Bigschuss, I bet you have another solid week to 2 weeks or run left.

[bigschuss]

Bigschuss, I bet you have another solid week to 2 weeks or run left.

That'd be a good bet johnpma! :) I think you're right.

[johnpma]

93 Taps (including 18 buckets) (12 taps on 3/16” tubing, balance on 5/16” gravity)
Collected a total of 483 gallons of sap
Produced 9 ½ gallon of syrup (dark amber early, and light amber late)
This was a record year for our small operation

[berkshires]

Wow! That's over a gallon per tap. Nice work!

[groomer_guy]

We have experienced a good year this year too. We are up to 14.5 gallons so far this year. I am at 2150 feet elevation and I think I will get this week and then that will be it. My sugar content was all over the map this year. 1.5%-3% was the norm. Last weekend was 2%. Some good syrup though.

[bill m]

Finally finished packaging everything today and we had a good year. Made 317 gallons on 1100 taps, no vacuum. Maybe next year.