Crawford County 2019

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, March 11th. The season has begun on Irish Ridge. Spent the day putting in 47 taps. A few dry taps, lower down the north facing ridge but any trees getting even a little sun light were warm to the touch today and dripping - some fast and some slow. At the end of the day the pants were wet to a spot just above the knees. Even saw my first bug crawling on the bark of a tree. On a side note I actually like the new and improved Intellicast/weather underground weather site online. Their 10 day forecast gives lots of information. A friend stopped by today to see how it is done. He has three trees in the yard just outside of Prairie du Chien. He wants to start small. I'll keep readers informed of that potential circus as well. All for today; I need to leave now and find some Alieve so I can walk vertical and without announcing each move with a soft ohhhh or awghhh.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Irish ridge I see you decided to get them taps in, so you are ahead of me, guess I might miss the first run but will hope for lots of sap after the 16th.I have a silver maple tapped in my back yard and when I checked it at 8.00 pm still only a few drips in the bottom of the pail. Its 9.15 pm hope the Alieve is working by now. God Bless,

[Irish Ridge]

Thursday, March 14th. Sure, the tap holes were wet when drilled. Sure, some were even dripping. Sure, my hopes were high. What I found this morning collecting was a different story. A few next to empty buckets, a few with a gallon or more, and the majority in between. A total of 15 gallons from 47 taps were collected. It was definitely the trees higher up on the ridge producing sap. Taking Friday off and will head back out Saturday morning. With the high wind gusts today hopefully not too many of my buckets will be laying sideways Saturday morning. The Saturday morning collection will determine if there is a fire in the afternoon. Nothing else to report except a possum taking a walk across the front yard and a sighting of about 30 robins touching down for a bit until they left for wherever it is they were heading.

[spike in wi]

We tapped our's also on Monday the 11th. Exactly one year and one day since we finished last year. What a difference in seasons!! We've got 140 taps in and about 80 gallons of sap so far to show for it. We want to get at least 200 to 300 gallons of sap before we try out the new to us RO. Good luck to all!! Spike

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, March 16th. The morning started with a walk through the woods straightening up pails that recent winds had blown over. Since everything (which wasn't much) in the pails was frozen I didn't bother to collect ice. We'll see tomorrow if the today's weather could get the sap flowing again. The rest of the morning was spent readying base camp. Might just have plenty of wood for next year at this rate.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

I was thinking the same thing on firewood, That is about the only good thing with a short syrup season.Less work for 2020.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, March 18th. Got out to the woods early and that was a good thing because I found on average over a gallon of sap per tap. By mid morning my paths were so soft and muddy I was all done trying to get through them. Was once warned that all four wheel drive does is let you get stuck further off the road. The decision was made to play it safe and get my fire on instead. Beautiful day for manning a sugar bush. Took tests on my sap and was very pleased to find 3 plus per cent sugar content on the sap. Worked until after dark and am looking forward to Tuesday.

[Irish Ridge]

Tuesday, March 19th. Got on the trails early and collected while the ground was still half way frozen. It's nice being able to walk on the firm crust of snow while collecting sap. It is the sinking in every so often that stinks. Hey, the sap is flowing, really flowing. Well over a gallon a tree overnight. Had the fire going all day and at the end of the night we took off three gallons to finish inside on the first rainy or slow day. Very little wind all day and lots of sun. Geese flying over all morning. Might not believe it but pelicans every so often as well. And last, we watched a pair of blue birds check out their house from last year. Keep the fire hot.

[Irish Ridge]

Wednesday, March 20th. A nice crust of firm snow remains while collecting sap by hand. Lines would sure be nice. Sap continues to flow at over a gallon per tap per 24 hours. We remain caught up with all collected sap in the pan at the end of the day. Once again the bluebirds checked out last years home. Today, the blue skies were also exchanged for clouds and damp conditions using the elbow/knees pain scale.

[Irish Ridge]

Thursday, March 21st. Spoiler alert. Just got out of the woods with a long face. My trees produced on average, a yield of one pint of sap per tree. Multiply that by 47 taps and there is no need to boil today. Snow in the woods has turned soft and wet. Where there is no snow just lots of wet leaves and mud. A free spring day for me, not by choice.

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, March 23rd. As nothing changed in the woods Friday the decision was made to "finish" inside. By noon we had 6.5 gallons of a nice light caramel color syrup. That feeling of being caught up is nice but it also means a lull in the action. This afternoon we did a check of the taps. Taps are still running very slow but we will collect tomorrow afternoon for a Monday fire. Showers forecast for tomorrow morning. Patiently waiting for some weekend reports to drift in.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, March 25th. Well a check Saturday afternoon revealed very little sap in the buckets so the the decision was made to collect Sunday. Rain on Sunday made the decision easy. We collect Monday. And that is what we did. We finally were able to collect about a gallon per tap. Not much, but the trees were beginning to run somewhat fast as I collected. Maybe another run is on.

Tuesday, March 26th. Commitments during the day led to a quick check of the trees this evening. Another gallon per tap on average of the sample trees we checked this evening. Plan is to collect tomorrow and begin a boil.

[Irish Ridge]

Wednesday, March 27th. Got a fire going early this morning and headed out to the woods to collect. Over a gallon per tap average again today. Loving that. Sap isn't nearly as clear as last week. The hydrometer continues to give sugar content readings well over 3%. Right around three the steady south wind really picked up and the decision was made to stop adding wood. Right around six a fast moving rain passed through. You could smell the spring rain long before drops started falling. More boiling tomorrow. Staying all caught up.

[Irish Ridge]

Friday, March 29th. Between Wed. and this morning the trees really turned off. Very little to collect - some trees had nothing at all. The trees along with the long range forecast made the decision for me to pull taps today. Was finished boiling by noon and will finish on the gas stove in the kitchen Saturday morning. Starting breaking camp in the afternoon and actually got half the buckets cleaned and drying. Will report back with totals for the year. Did a reading today on the sap I was able to collect and it still registered over three per cent sugar content. Great year for me in that respect. No super light color syrup and no super dark color finished syrup. Snow is all gone but frost continues to work its way out creating lots of mud under the leaves. A season that resembled last year in length and weather conditions. May the season continue for others as you drive north.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Irish Ridge For me after cooking this coming Saturday will be our 5th day in the sugar house. Last year was my record year, we cooked 7 days. The melting snow seemed to soak in more this season, less mud for us to work with. About 2/3rds crop will be dark amber the rest was medium amber. 3 per cent sugar sure helped, ours was 2 per cent.