fresh out of syrup.....

[hholt]

hello folks! It's been a while since I posted last, so I figured I'd check in and wish a happy new year to all!

Last year was my first season and I made a couple of gallons of box elder syrup and we just ran out, so no I'm motivated to get out there and MAKE SOME MORE!!!!

The first batch I finished was a beautiful pale gold/yellow and the flavor reminded me a little of butterscotch. Boy was that stuff good! The next batch came out a good bit darker but stil was delicious.

Unfortunately the season was VERY short here in Southern Illinois so I think this year I'll start sooner if the conditions seem right. I did a search and saw that last year I tapped on February 18th.

I might try silver maples this year as well. Have any of you tried taping silvers?

[gmcooper]

HHolt,
The silvers might run better for you. Not sure about the effect on them being as far south as you are but they generally do have decent volume of sap and sugar is not real low either.
I would think tour season would be January?
Is there anyone further south than you making syrup?

Good luck this year!
Mark

[hholt]

I see on the maple traders map that there's a guy further south than me down in Kentucky. I'd have tried some of the silvers last year but we had a really bad Ice storm last december and there was a lot of canopy loss. I figured I should leave them alone and let them recover.

Honestly I haven't been able to pin down yet if there's a best time is to tap this far south, and I'm kind of learning as I go. Last year when everyone was talking about how much they were boiling my trees were already leafed out. I'm just gonna experiment a little and expect it to change from one year to the next.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I would guess around the last week of January or around the first of Feb would be good for you depending on where in IL you are located.

[katmike]

I'm in central IL and the last 2 years it's been mid-Feb.

[andrew martin]

HHolt,

I do not know where in IL you are located. I am in Central KY near Lexington, and I will be tapping on Friday. It looks as if we will have 4-5 days of good sapping weather, then it will turn cold again for several days. Once it warms up again, I will put in my remaining 150+ taps. We have nothing but hard maple here. Our season is usually over during the first week of March. If you are close to the KY line, you are welcome to come for a visit if you'd like, we are 90 minutes East of Louisville.

Andrew Martin

[220 maple]

hholt,
I have one Silver Maple and one Norway Maple in my yard at my residence in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Several years ago I tapped both and got Sap in Jan. I did this to boil some on the stove to show my sons how syrup was made. They at that time had not been to the camp when we were cooking. The Silver is the first tree to bud in our area, the Norway is the last, I have seen trees that are ready to leaf out get reset if the temp. drops to 17 degrees or lower for and extended peirod of time, 24 hrs. The past several seasons my Red Maples in my sugar bush have reset, when this happens they never produce seeds,Reds unlike sugars produce their seeds in the spring. Every year I dream of opening my red maples between Christmas and New Years. I'm never ready. Taking down tubing every spring and putting it back up every Jan., turns my dream into a nightmare. One of these seasons I'm going to do it. Hopefully next.

Mark 220 Maple

[Sugarmaker]

Mark,
Any one or two things that really makes taking down and putting up tubing the hardest? I am attempting this but only for the second year. I am spending a lot of time getting set up this year.
PM me if you want.
Chris

[hholt]

I set 22 taps yesterday afternoon, all on silver maples, and heard that reassuring drip drip drip as I went from bucket to bucket. this year I'm just doing tubes fed into five gallon pails. The weather here for the next ten days looks really good.

[tuckermtn]

let me know how you make out with those silver maples...going to give some a shot out here in BC...I have no idea what to expect for sugar content...

-tuckermtn

[hholt]

So far they seem to be running better than the box elders I used last year. My sap hydrometer on a sample from the silver maples this year read 1.6 or 1.7