2019

[SDdave]

Got all my taps in last week and have made 3 gallons so far...:lol:

Alright, I'm in the same boat as all of you, buried in snow and freezing to death. The snow and excess cold is starting to get old, but that is the joy of Midwest life I guess. All the supplies have arrived and awaiting patiently for a break to run some gas line to the shed, which will be fun burying later this spring. Thinking same # taps, but don't know if time will allow. Season goal is only 5 to 6 gallons I think.


Till tapping time (May?),

SDdave

[maplenutter butter]

Boy what a year its going to be. I have 2000 taps. I've been working in the snow/woods for the last month and watched it get worse and worse. I luckly replaced all m drop lines before it got to bad and fixed all my down lines. This past weekend I pulled my 1000 ft electric line to my pump house, which was a bear in its self. Slow and steady is the name of the game this year!! I plan to start tapping this Wednesday as it will take me probably 5 days plus to get everything tapped and only have weekends and Wednesdays to do that! Good luck SD Dave and everyone else!

[tonka]

I'm in west central (becker/ottertail county line) curious when some of you other sappers are planning to tap? Thinking maybe end of this week/beginning next week, have 2,000 taps to go through this season.

[Gissert]

Wow, 2000 taps, thats going to be a heck of a task with this snow. I'm in central Ottertail county and have about too on bags to get in. Early next week I think I will tamp down a trail with snowshoes (sold my snomobiles) and hope for the best. Probably start tapping around the 17th

[Keitha333]

I plan to wait and see what this weather is going to do. They are talking snow/rain Wednesday again with wind... I tap near a river and I hope they don't get washed away!

[Wannabe!apleMan]

I stopped by Don’s sugar shack in Afton yesterday and picked up new 3/16 tubing/supplies and plan on running it on Saturday. Contemplating buying a two handed tool...they are expensive! The last couple of years I have placed the cut tube in really hot water and slid the fittings on. A two person job.
I’ll have everything ready to go and will only have to drill and tap. I have a few trees near the house that I’ll tap on Saturday with bags to monitor flow.
This year I’ll be tapping more black walnuts. That syrup is really really good.
Will this be a good year? I’m way to new to this to understand how all of the snow will impact the season.
Don did say he was a couple weeks out on tapping.

[MN Jake]

Going to be an interesting year no doubt. I started running some snowshoe trails yesterday and found another line with a large tree or branch on it, have about a day of repairs. should be a good time packing trails!! Not to mention the 1 foot +/- of snow we have coming!!!!

[212Maple]

I have 492 bag/holders ready to go... It will be an interesting season with all the snow! Stay Tuned & Happy Sapping everyone!

[Keitha333]

I went out and scouted today a little bit and broke trail with the snowshoes. Man is there a lot of snow out there! Hopefully this rain coming will knock it down some. Looking ahead at the long range I think if the temps forecasted hold I will tap Friday. It looks like it is going to be a lot of hauling in snowshoes for a while, hopefully my oldest will help out!

[hokey1499]

I'm thinking about tapping this weekend, north of Hinckley, based on the forecast and my ability to get help from family (most will be out of town the weekend after).

If i'm wrong about timing and the run doesn't start for 3-4 weeks, is there any harm in tapping too early? Can the holes dry out, or does that take a while to happen?

We tap 60-80 trees, but they're at the cabin, so we're weekend tappers and can't monitor the trees daily, so there's a bit of guessing.

[Lano75]

Hokey1499

This is always the great dilemma. Too early/too late. If the forecast holds I think you will be fine maybe a week early. I am thinking this weekend or next myself.

[GoldyCon]

I’m going to tap this weekend, can’t wait to break out the snow shoes.

[RileySugarbush]

We are partially tapped and a few bags have started. The 3/16 lines that are up started waking up as soon as we got the shurflo running. Slow, but it's a start.

[warners point]

I was hoping to wait until the weekend of the 23rd to start tapping, but looking at the forecast we will be getting thing underway Sunday.

[rolosrevenge]

I'm gonna double from last year! I think tomorrow I'll put out 10 taps across a very large Silver (4 taps), 2 Sugars (3 taps), and 2 Boxelders (3 taps). Forecast for Plymouth looks perfect weather for the next weeks straight.

[2018 newbie]

Tapped today in Eagan, MN. In 1 1/2 hours there is 2-3" in my buckets! Yay!
... hoping it really gets going this weekend.

[P7aler]

I am up near Hinckley and planning to tap this weekend.

[JimSeyMN]

Well, near South Haven, put in half the taps today, no sign of drips. Let's hope for a great season!

[Joeyhowe]

Trees are tapped and bags are hung in Oak Grove Minnesota. Couple trees dripping slowly hoping for a good season. The long range forecast looks like a fast warm up. Hope there wrong!

[SDdave]

Trees are tapped and bags are hung in Oak Grove Minnesota. Couple trees dripping slowly hoping for a good season. The long range forecast looks like a fast warm up. Hope there wrong!

Just noticed that as well.

Throwing the taps in this afternoon. I'll take whatever I can get this year!

SDdave

[BigPine]

This afternoon (Sat.) tapped 17 NW corner of Mille Lacs - all were dry. Planning on doing more tomorrow and finishing midweek (total of 85 -100).

[tonka]

Tapping in north east corner of Otter Tail county, about 400 tapped, maybe half a dozen to a dozen hole wet/dripping. Have about 1600 taps to go.

[djblech]

Tapping in Bruno yesterday and today. Trees are just starting to run. 25 taps so far, dug the stuck snowmobile out 5 times yesterday. Should have all trails broke should go faster today.

[Chiefmarley]

I did about 100 taps near Becker yesterday. One hole was wet, but the rest were dry.

[warners point]

Well we went out to tap this morning and forgot the drill bit at the sugar shack. Then on the third tap the bit snapped off in the tree, so we had to run to the hardware store for a new bit. We ended up doing 110 taps with 100 to finish up this week. By the way, the snow is still over my knees.

[RileySugarbushSouth]

Bill, I broke 2 bits. John was giving me a hard time. Drilling into a frozen trunk...you get it in 2 inches, then your feet sink another foot in the snow...the bit is holding up your body weight and it snaps!

[Gulbrandm]

I put out 7 test spiles with bags. All dry as of 3/17/19. I tap 150 to 170 trees but I think the sap run will begin in the next 2 maybe 3 days. I prefer to tap the trees with the first sign of wetness. Deep snow is a problem.

[buck3m]

Anybody getting enough to boil?

When do you think the first good run is going to be?

I'm coming back to the family farm in Minnesota and my brother and I will try to get the buckets up on Thursday.

[Lano75]

We will be cooking for the first time on Wednesday night. 3/16 gravity is running really good.

[Chris St]

Just starting to run here southwest of Wrenshall. Will be putting the rest of the taps in tomorrow. Still have knee deep snow.

[rolosrevenge]

Anybody getting enough to boil?

When do you think the first good run is going to be?

I'm coming back to the family farm in Minnesota and my brother and I will try to get the buckets up on Thursday.

My boxelders are already putting out a gallon of sap a day. So I'll definitely boil down some on Saturday, though I'm just a 10-20 tap backyard hobbyist

[Keitha333]

Still dry for me around Milaca although a buddy on the south end of town has a few of his sugars running really good. Should be soon....

[Joeyhowe]

Collected 15 gallons last night on 25 taps in northern Anoka county. Guessing it will be around the same today. I’ll prob start boiling tonight or tomorrow to try and stay ahead of the game. I usually try and boil all week long after work then finish and bottle what I have condensed at the end of the weekend and start fresh Monday. The temps the next 7 days look promising for some good runs. Still have about 10ish trees that haven’t woke up from there winter nap yet. Once things get rolling it’s gonna be back to another full time job. Hoping for around the usual 6 gallons again this season

[Mrbfsmith]

Put in 11 taps in silver maples Sunday, another 5 last night, have about 18 gallons so far, all of them seem to be running. Will put in another 15 Thursday and set up the RO to boil on Saturday. Still in MN but I can see Iowa from here.

[RileySugarbush]

We will be sweetening the pans this afternoon with 220 gallons on hand.

[SDdave]

Running good down in Sioux Falls area, almost too good... I'd like to know how the school's can plan all their musicals, concerts, sporting events every year when the sap is running good. Warm weather moving in the are, not looking promising.

SDdave

[Bombadil]

Put in 15 taps on Friday 15th only 4 were running. Put in the other 19 on Saturday. Right now I am at 30 gallons of sap (all silvers) will store up about 40-50 gallons before cooking. Just got tracks for my Argo 6X6 on March 12th and it would drive right over 20 inch deep snow drifts.

[buck3m]

My brother and I teamed up to hang 125 buckets on the farm in east central Minnesota. Even with his good help the snow made it considerable work. We could barely drive around the main trail with a chained-up tractor. Lots of spinning and backing up and had to unhitch the trailer once, but next round should be easier.

Most trees were dripping. We plan our first gather of the year tomorrow morning.

Good luck to all!

[Schnep's]

Had 6 test taps out all running.going to tape today 100 taps on South end of mille lacs

[GoldyCon]

We got our 170 taps wrapped up today. The snow level has dropped by atleast a foot which made it so much more enjoyable than postholing through the woods. Half of the trees have started flowing pretty good but the ones deep in the woods are dry still. Planning on doing the first boil on Sunday.

[Islander]

The test tap had a slow drip all week so getting ready to do the rest today

[RileySugarbush]

Spiles on bags were running at close to 2 drops per second today. 75 taps on 3/16 plus shurflo totaled 7 gallons per hour for most to the day. Second boil tomorrow.

[Lano75]

So far we have boiled down 186 gallons. Front pan made it to 217.7. Next time we cook we will get multiple draws. Only got 31 gallons yesterday on 101 taps, 72 on 3/16 natural vacuum and 29 drops to buckets. I think it will be slow until the frost breaks loose which might be this week on Thursday. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

[Keitha333]

Finally things are starting to drip pretty good here for me only problem is the river where my trees are keeps rising! I have all my jugs tied off so hopefully none of them show up in Princeton!

[Chiefmarley]

The river is high enough where I'm collecting sap by boat this year!1982619826

[buck3m]

The river is high enough where I'm collecting sap by boat this year!1982619826
Now that is unusual and will make memories.

[Bombadil]

I have been collecting Sap with my ARGO ATV since it floats. Had to pull some taps and move them to high grounded trees.

[GoldyCon]

Our sap has been lower than usual for sugar content at 1.8% this year and my first batch made some pretty dark stuff. The taste is excellent though!

[buck3m]

We've had about four good gathers this season so far in east central, and today will be a good one from yesterday's run.

Snow started out being a challenge, but most of it has melted. Mud might become an issue in the low spots but so far, so good.

Looking at the forecast, it look like we are likely to have one more week and that might be it. But if there's anything I've learned, is that season isn't over until you hear the first spring peepers!

[RileySugarbush]

Our season looks to be winding down and it has been an interesting one. Last year we had record production. Not so lucky this time. We will have plenty of syrup, but have several batches with metabolism off flavor. Very disappointing. We have been experimenting with correcting by boiling to 240°F and diluting back to syrup density, with some, but not complete, success. That is painstaking work though.

Hoping recent hard freezes have corrected the problem.

[Lano75]

Just got done bottling for the first time in 2019. 36 1/2 pints and 42 pints. Trees are running good will cook tomorrow night. It should be a good week and then all bets are off. You can see pictures on our facebook page.

[warners point]

I'm in the process of cooking down 400 gallons. The niter has been minimal so far. Next week looks great and then I'm ready to be done.

[SDdave]

Had a quick warmup down here but the trees bounced back. So far no sign of budding yet, which is good. Cold snap came and got 90 gallons of 3% today off of 28 taps, so no complaints here. Looking like one more day according to the weather man and wife...

Had the most equipment failure ever in a year, first the RO, then 3 hydrometer's (paper slid in side ), 2 digital thermometers, and my coffee urn. Bartered a deal with a friend though for the remainder of the season. He's grateful for it as he burnt his pan's beyond salvage I guess.

SEason total so far is 6.75 gallons bottled with more to come. Low niter this year as well.

Keep on keeping on,
SDdave

[2018 newbie]

I'm a very small yard tree syrup maker. I have a batch that will probably be 1/2 gallon on the stove finishing. If I were to pull out my Orlon filter and pre filters, about how much of that syrup will I end up leaving in the filter? I usually use coffee filters. Thanks.

[buck3m]

You could recover most of it if you soaked the filter in hot sap to get the sugar out for further boiling, but if it were me I'd pour it in glass jars and let the sugar sand settle out, then pour off the clear syrup. Then I'd combine all the "dregs" and do the same thing again.

[buck3m]

We had our second best gather of all time today, helped greatly by not collecting yesterday. We got over 2 1/2 gallons per tap. Really fun to have to hustle to keep buckets from overflowing.

I look forward to a long day of boiling tomorrow.

[2018 newbie]

You could recover most of it if you soaked the filter in hot sap to get the sugar out for further boiling, but if it were me I'd pour it in glass jars and let the sugar sand settle out, then pour off the clear syrup. Then I'd combine all the "dregs" and do the same thing again.

Thanks for the response. My season is wrapping up now so I think I'll save the Orlon filter for next year and try to let the sugar settle. There's so much sand, I may not have much syrup left when that's done!

Good luck with the rest of your season. :)

[Keitha333]

Been pretty good for me the past few days. I boiled for the first time last weekend and ended up with 3.5 gallons of very dark syrup. Darkest amber I have ever had. My sap keeps producing about 33:1 which I am very pleased with!

[Bombadil]

My first two batches look good, my 3rd batch formed sugar sand one day after bottling. So that batch will not get sold, I may have been too hot on that batch for the bottling. What temp do you guys bottle the syrup at?

[Islander]

So far a fantastic season for us. Sugar content is steady at 3.5%, first 2 finishes are on the cusp of golden delicate & amber/rich, third finish well into delicate with 85% light transparency and little to no sand. Silver is starting to bud. This year's temp sugar shack has made the experience a pleasure.

19939

[BigPine]

NW Corner of Lake Mille Lacs - planning 3rd cook tomorrow. Grand total of about 390 - 400 gallons on 67(?) taps. Curious to see if this upcoming warm spell will curtail the good runs that we've had.

[buck3m]

My first two batches look good, my 3rd batch formed sugar sand one day after bottling. So that batch will not get sold, I may have been too hot on that batch for the bottling. What temp do you guys bottle the syrup at?

185-190. I try to bottle right after final filtering without reheating.

[BCPP]

My first two batches look good, my 3rd batch formed sugar sand one day after bottling. So that batch will not get sold, I may have been too hot on that batch for the bottling. What temp do you guys bottle the syrup at?
Bottle at 185-190. We typically pack a day or two after it's made so has to be reheated. On reheating we try to stay below 195.

[SilverLeaf]

What an interesting year! (as always)

In SW MN, the epic snowdrifts made the tapping the most difficult its ever been for me; and then flooding made sap collection at times impossible. But boy this past week the trees really let loose and made up for lost time, thank goodness my RO is humming along! No records here, but looks like we are going to end up solidly in "average" territory for the year. No complaints! Flower buds are opening now so I'm about to start pulling taps. Looking at the potential snowstorm later next week I might leave a few in just to roll the dice. I think those of you farther north may be able to squeeze out another week or two...

[RileySugarbush]

We had a couple of good runs over the last few days with the freezes. Made 10 or 15 gallons of light syrup, which we haven't seen for a few years here. Some of our earlier syrup had metabolism off flavor, and I am trying the Proctor Mitigation, to see if we can recover the syrup. Silvers are beyond budded all around here and our Sugar sap is starting have a bit of a smell. We stopped collecting, but if the snow comes through might try a small batch. Well over 50 gallons for the year so far.

[warners point]

We have 750 gallons of sap to cook down tonight and tomorrow (20+ hours). It's been a great year and we will probably run out of wood before the sap quits running.

[Islander]

Sugar decreasing, sand increasing, syrup darkening. Will pull the taps on this last collection and call it a season this weekend.

[Sugar Bush INC]

Our Syrup has been consistently dark this year. So far we have canned 31 gallons but have over 700 gallons of sap to cook. We are hoping for another couple weeks as the frost is still in the ground. Trying to get the most out of the season !

[Wannabe!apleMan]

Strange year here.
Ended up with about 10 gallons of syrup.
Trees were very slow here. Had one run on 3/16 and it out produced another run of 3/16 8 to 1.
Checked that slow run multiple times for leaks and to no avail.
No metabolism and I’m not that far away from Maple John Riley.
The slow run has a few big trees that have just started to produce.
I didn’t even get the RO dirty this year...
Less cleanup with that anyways...
Sap tested tonight at 4 brix and syrup ended up very light which is nice.
Did not tap the black walnuts due to lack of time.
Those do make great syrup.
I made a lot of progress in the operation this year but l sill have some updates to do next year.
I still have my lines up and will see what I can collect before things head south

[BigPine]

If I have the right sappers -
Are you cooking at Ruth's this year? Rumor has it you have an R/O …


Our Syrup has been consistently dark this year. So far we have canned 31 gallons but have over 700 gallons of sap to cook. We are hoping for another couple weeks as the frost is still in the ground. Trying to get the most out of the season !

[Keitha333]

My kids an I pulled our taps yesterday. Not because the trees were done but because I don't have any more time available to boil. I finished with just about 7.5 gallons which is maybe a touch more than last year. The river was a challenge but we made do. First time boiling in the rain so I will develop a better plan for that although my tarp worked well!1995819958 Now for cleaning and organizing! A blessed year to you all!

[buck3m]

Started taking buckets down yesterday. Was going to hang on through the next freezing nights, but decided to call it a season, based as much on a now super muddy woods as anything. Yesterday's and today's rain was a big factor. Had a very fun, fairly short, better than average season.

Best of luck to everyone.

[Lano75]

We are about to go and collect. We actually are going to have a big day. Stay tuned!

[warners point]

We are at 34 gallons for the season. We have enough wood for 350 gallons of sap, which shouldn't be a problem collecting this week. This will be our best year ever.

[RileySugarbush]

After the last couple of frustrating years, you must be very pleased! Running out of wood is a good way to finish. Expectations exceeded!


We are at 34 gallons for the season. We have enough wood for 350 gallons of sap, which shouldn't be a problem collecting this week. This will be our best year ever.

[Lano75]

Good news we collected 108 gallons off 101 trees! Bad news, about half way through syrup started to get a little ropey. We kept the last 3-4 gallons separate, it still tastes really good just a little stringy. Tomorrow we will empty the evaporator and flush/clean to get ready for the next run after the snow and cold.

[SilverLeaf]

Some of our earlier syrup had metabolism off flavor, and I am trying the Proctor Mitigation, to see if we can recover the syrup.

Where is there info on this process? I'm not having luck finding anything. I have terrible tastebuds so its really hard for me to tell, but i have a slight suspicion that a little off flavor is in a couple of my batches. Wouldnt mind giving it a shot, just to be safe.

[DrTimPerkins]

Where is there info on this process? I'm not having luck finding anything. I have terrible tastebuds so its really hard for me to tell, but i have a slight suspicion that a little off flavor is in a couple of my batches. Wouldnt mind giving it a shot, just to be safe.

http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/off-flavor.pdf Identification of the cause of metabolism off-flavor
http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/off-flavor2.pdf Remediation process for metabolism off-flavor

[Mrbfsmith]

Pulled my taps on the 28th, ROed and boiled it all that day. Ended up with 6.75 gal from 30 silvers, could have maybe got more but that was enough time off work.

[RileySugarbush]

We just bottled 7 gallons of syrup recovered with this method. Out of the evaporator it was unfit for human consumption. Strong musty smell, flat flavor and nasty aftertaste. This was early season syrup, definitely not buddy.

Following the Proctor paper sited by Dr. Perkins, I slowly boiled it as one big batch over propane up to 240°F. At those densities it wants to foam up so we boiled it under minimum heat that kept it boiling. I use a probe for temp and another hovering over the liquid that would alarm at 200F if it got covered in foam as an early warning system. I then diluted it back with distilled water. You have to be careful with that too, either adding water slowly in one spot or wait until the syrup is cooled off a bit. That made a significant improvement, but it was still not right.

I figured it just had to be at high temperature longer, so I took it up to 240 F again, and this time I held it there for two hours. When it got to 240 I would add water until it was back at 235 and repeat as needed for the duration.

We now have 7 gallons of dark syrup ( it darkens significantly) without significant off flavor. Far better than throwing it out!

I think this method could give a nice boost in quality to syrup that has slight metabolism off flavors and make it very nice syrup.

Tim, is there an easy way to donate to Proctor??? We owe you and your team something!


Where is there info on this process? I'm not having luck finding anything. I have terrible tastebuds so its really hard for me to tell, but i have a slight suspicion that a little off flavor is in a couple of my batches. Wouldnt mind giving it a shot, just to be safe.

[DrTimPerkins]

Tim, is there an easy way to donate to Proctor??? We owe you and your team something!

John...glad the process worked for you and thank you for the kind words.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to Proctor can make a check out to: "The University of Vermont", including "PMRC Research" in the note section, and mail it to: UVM Proctor Maple Research Center, 58 Harvey Rd, Underhill, VT 05489 Gifts such as this are most appreciated and are used for unfunded projects for which grants are not available.

[warners point]

We collected 320 gallons the last 2 days. The sap is pouring out of the lines as we put things away. Its been a great season. 45 gallons, it was our best year ever. Its seriously time to consider a RO.

[Lano75]

We collected 180 on Friday and another 187 Saturday. The finisher is full so bottling this morning then get ready for another big night. Syrup turned really light last nigh once we pushed the old stuff through. Could set an all time record this year. We need 48+ to do that.

[RileySugarbush]

We have a flood of sap since the snow and cold, but a test boil showed buddy smell and flavor. So we are done. Just shy of 50 gallons for the season.

[maplenutter butter]

Rileysugarbusch are you tapping silver maples or sugar maples? Im south of you and have sugar maples and the syrup i made yesterday was amazing and light in color.

[RileySugarbush]

Rileysugarbusch are you tapping silver maples or sugar maples? Im south of you and have sugar maples and the syrup i made yesterday was amazing and light in color.

All sugars. The sap I checked was fresh off the tubing system, which are generally higher in elevation and bud earliest. Maybe if I tried some sap from the sacks it would be better.

I'm glad you got some good syrup!

Where are you located?

[maplenutter butter]

Belle Plaine/Henderson area.

[RileySugarbush]

We have over 300 gallons hanging on the trees so I went down to check it. A test boil showed clearly that that was buddy too, so no good.

[billschi]

I'm getting the best run in 4 years. This is the first time evry tree is running. Tomorrow I will be running both evaporators. The root cellar is holding 120 gallons overnight at 40F. Tomorrow I should be able to collect another 150 gallons.

[Schnep's]

Looking like it is going to be the best year for us. Pulled taps on Sunday can't keep up and getting tired.It was still running strong. Collected 120 gallons on Friday. 160 gallons on Saturday and 140 on Sunday. Don't know if we will be able to cook it all. We have about 22 gallon of syrup so far all running darker this year. Last 2 batches are the lighter.
all on 100 taps
on the south end of Mille lacs Lake.

[JimSeyMN]

Well, what a crazy year. I have run out of wood. . . . Had to bring a load of pallets to burn. . . I've pulled 1/3 of my taps since I have too much. . . . Even made Maple candies this year. Too much fun.

[Lano75]

2019 is done at Kaiser Farms LLC. Ended up with 63.1 gallons of bottled syrup off 101 trees. 32:1 ratio

3/30, 4/2, 4/5, 4/9, 4/14, 4/15, 4/16, 4,18, 4,19

2003120032

[buck3m]

2019 is done at Kaiser Farms LLC. Ended up with 63.1 gallons of bottled syrup off 101 trees. 32:1 ratio

3/30, 4/2, 4/5, 4/9, 4/14, 4/15, 4/16, 4,18, 4,19

2003120032

Outstanding. Congratulations!

[tonka]

Started pulling taps this afternoon and seen that a good number of the sugar maples are still running. I'm pleased with this season but learned that I need to do some modifying to the tubing in 2 of my 3 woods, poor sap per tap averages but on another note the 3rd wood I averaged just over 14 gallons of sap per tap, if I had 14 gallons per tap average over 2,000 taps, I wouldn't have slept for a week! List is made already for next season on things i need to improve on.

[craig101]

last season my syrup also had a slight metabolism off flavor. I also read the information from the Proctor Center. I just brought my 2 gallons of syrup to sugar and plan to add back water to get it back to proper syrup when i need more syrup. i'm hoping this method takes care of the slight off flavor.

My syrup from this season did not have the slight metabolism off flavor, hurrah for that. although I only made 5 pints of syrup this year. I didn't have time more make more and didn't really need it, since i have 2 gallons worth in the sugar state waiting to be made back into syrup.

[billschi]

I just pulled all my birch and remaining maple taps. It's tough sugaring in northern MN. I yielded 20 gallons of maple and about 13 gallons of birch. All in all the best of the four years since I started.
My wife and I attended our first market Saturday and did surprisingly well. We at the last minute decided to sell our 12oz bottles for $12ea and 8oz birch for $20. Now we know we need to double our finished gallons next year. For the quality of syrup we make, we are not going to give it away anymore. We also decided not to sell bottles larger than 12oz.
Spruce tip syrup is next.