February Journal

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Well, February is here fellow traders! Who else was in the woods today? Another nice day here in western Maine. Ran the spinseal on 26 laterals, drilled and connected the lines. 125 taps ready to go there. Got another 120 tap bush ready with new taps and a few drops. Will finish woods work next weekend in 1 more bush then will be ready to tap. Planning to tap mid to late February depending on the weather. It sounds like the sap is flowing well in many areas. Good luck to all, suck sap :cool:

[Russell Lampron]

I drove up to Swanton VT yesterday to pick up a new high pressure pump for my RO. I'll be putting that together today and then placing and connecting all of the tanks and plumbing to it. After that's done I'll fill the wash tank to test run and rinse. If that checks out okay I'll bring the releaser down to the tank and hook it up. The plan is to tap next weekend. There's going to be some above freezing temps here all week but there won't be any sun to get things flowing.

It looks like sugaring season is here! Good luck everybody.

[Bruce L]

Still feeling the ramifications of a slipped disc,not able to do a lot yet. Still have tubing to repair on a warmer day if back will allow it. Also waiting on h2o to get bubbler system corrected

[Ultimatetreehugger]

Not much in terms of above freezing temperatures here but it feels like we are close. I've run about 8000ft of mainline and conductor lines since January 15th in the new woods. Hoping to hit the thousand tap mark but I feel I'm not quite there yet. Running sap line this week. Leveling the pump house/tank this week and hoping to get electric in the next week or two. If the maple gods favor it I'll be around 2700 taps this year.

[maple flats]

Looks like I will finally start tapping. So far I've just been packing lots of syrup to have my stock up for my online and retail store sales along with fixing lines. I will only be tapping around the sugarhouse this year, no more steep hills and hauling sap. Last year at the sugarhouse I had about 350 taps and about 400 in the hills 7-8 miles away. This year I plan to add more taps around the sugarhouse, to tap trees and areas never tapped before. I should finish with somewhere between 400-450 taps total, all on good vacuum and all going to the sugarhouse.
I had few large trees down from what seemed like more than usual winds but I had plenty of limbs on the lines and lots of deer chew damage along with some squirrel chew damage. Last year was my worst year ever for deer chews but the NYS DEC says deer do not chew the tubing. I beg to differ, when the chews are not at the trees, but rather in the spaces from tree to tree, and the chew marks show no center teeth, but 2 almost parallel chews directly across the tubing I say it is deer.
I recently changed to D&G tubing from Leader, in 3/16. That D&G is the one getting chewed. Does anyone have a tubing that seems to get less chewing damage from deer? I still have 3 coils of D&G but will need more, I'd like to try another brand if it seems to be better in areas with a high deer pressure. Our woods and a neighbor who's land borders mine on 2 sides is hunted and a good number of deer are taken annually, but for some reason the deer like to move to my woods from about mid Jan thru March or into April.

[tcross]

i finally have my sugarhouse in order and ready for sap and boiling, after totally gutting it, remodeling, pouring concrete and getting a new evaporator. going to start tapping sunday. going to be -20 here tonight... 30's on sunday. We've had some pretty steep weather swings this year, however the cold part of those swings seem to only last a day or two max. The season should begin any week now! Dave, I stood in my sugar house 2 weekends ago and watch a deer chew on one of my laterals. till i hollered at her, then went and replaced it. (30p, so that won't help you!)... so, whoever says they do not chew tubing, better check their sources or do some real research!! good luck ladies and gentlemen!

[raptorfan85]

I've been using the cdl semi rigid blue 3/16 for 3 seasons now. I've got lots of deer in my woods, and they don't seem to bother with it. The squirrels on the other hand...

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Busy with medium runs of sap and getting things up and tested on. Only minor problems. Sap is excellent quality. Syrup is probably as light as I have ever made. Snow has been on and off since I tapped Feb 3rd. Visted other sugarhouse and toured some new woods just coming on line. Also mentored some neighbors in getting started in the sap collection process. Helped neighbor tap the rest of his sugarbush on the 12th.
Making Maple Mustard, and Maple BBQ for our Mid March Taste and Tour. www.pamaple.org
Have some fun and Keep boiling!
Regards,
Chris