Early season in SE PA?

[adatesman]

Weather has been goofy, and a friend in the Hudson River Valley (NY) mentioned that they have a strong flow going so I checked one of my trees. Yup, sap is flowing strong.

Seems weeks early this year, and I’ve not yet even started the modifications I have planned for the new pan.

Anyone start their season already?

[Openwater]

I usually don't tap until after we've had a deep freeze that freezes the trees solid; usually happens mid-late January.
One of my clues is when ice forms on the Susquehanna river.
I'm not seeing any consistent below freezing temps in the near future either.
Although, HowardR got a long-range forcast that predicts a deep freeze starting last week of January.

"According to two long-term forecasts, there's a polar vortex coming in 2 weeks. If it arrives, I'll tap my trees as soon as it ends:"

https://www.zerohedge.com/commoditie...rtex-unload-us

[Trends]

Hi Openwater,
Do you keep you're Walnut sap separate from your Maple?

[Openwater]

Hi Openwater,
Do you keep you're Walnut sap separate from your Maple?
Yes. I don't RO the walnut sap. I also add pectinase enzyme to my walnut sap the night before a boil to break down the pectin that forms the walnut "jelly" that clogs up the syrup filters.
My maple I usually RO down to about 7-8%.
The walnut gives the syrup a little different flavor than just plain maple syrup that we like.
I've been gradually decreasing the walnut trees I'm tapping, mainly because they're in more remote locations and too spread out to put on mechanical vacuum.

[Trends]

Thanks for the info.
Have you ever mixed your Walnut & Maple syrup together as a product? and if you have would you mind sharing your ratio you settled with.
I'm thinking of mixing a gal or 2 this year and have not found a starting ratio for taste testing.
Cheers

[Openwater]

All the sap gets mixed before it goes in the evaporator. We only keep the sap separate before RO and pectic enzyme addition. After the maple sap goes thru the RO and the walnut sap gets the pectic enzyme, both saps get added to the head/dosing tank that empties into the pan float box. I've never made pure maple syrup from our trees; it's always been processed with the walnut. Last year I boiled 7 times and the raw walnut to maple sap for each boil was a little bit different; I didn't notice a huge difference in taste from batch to batch. It all tastes good to me!
Boil 1: 8 gal walnut sap : 70.8 gal maple sap (before RO)
Boil 2: 8.3 gal walnut : 86.7 gal maple
Boil 3: 4.5 gal walnut : 94 gal maple
Boil 4: 5 gal walnut : 52.5 gal maple
Boil 5: 6 gal walnut : 84 gal maple
Boil 6: 6.5 gal walnut : 71.5 gal maple
Boil 7: 8 gal walnut : 39.5 gal maple

[adatesman]

Looking bleak here in Philly.... Hitting 72deg tomorrow and rarely goes below freezing at night. Have gotten a grand total of 5 gallons of sap from 37 taps over the past 2 weeks..

Guess the bulk of the flow was weeks earlier than normal and I missed it. Bummer, as I had built up a proper 2' x 4' divided pan for this year and was hitting 10.5gal/hr with it for the 39gal of sap I managed to collect.

Supposedly we have a cold snap coming over the weekend, so hopefully the trees start flowing again....

[berkshires]

Aric is that you? I remember you from rc.com!

Gabe (Cracklover)

[adatesman]

Busted! :lol:

Howdy Gabe! Man, RC seems like a lifetime ago. You still climbing? I've not been in ages, due to lack of partners for outdoor and dislike of gym climbing. Was at the Gunks over the weekend, but only passing through and didn't get a chance to climb. Seems we got into the maple thing about the same time? My first steam tray evaporator was ~2014, but I did it with brewing kettles a couple times before that. This year I finally built a 2x4 divided pan and a quick&dirty cinder block arch to fire it. Next year will build a proper arch and will likely go back to firing it with a wood pellet-fired rocket stove like my other evaporators were.

[adatesman]

Have gotten a grand total of ~4 gallons of sap from ~40 taps over the past 2+ weeks here in Philly, even after reaming the tap holes a week ago. There's a cold front coming through this week, but I have doubts it will make a difference and will be throwing in the towel this weekend. Very strange season this year, and only got ~40gal of sap instead of the 300+ I had expected based on past performance. :(

[Maple_Matt]

first time poster, lurked for a few years - appreciative of all the knowledge & perspectives shared. A really fun hobby, creating lots of family memories together and teaching the next generation.

I'm in Bucks Co, backyarder - 5 taps, norway maples - 55 gallon evaporator.

Tapped 21Jan - sap ran 29Jan --> 11Feb with roughly 9 gallons yielded. Condensed the yield to hopefully add to a future boil... but only a few dribbles here and there through today.

Howell living farm in Mercer Co NJ is just across the river - gravity system and a few buckets setup by 21Jan - not sure where they stand?

Super weird.

[adatesman]

Yeah, stopped in to check on the 3 dozen taps I have at my partner’s school, and over half of buckets were bone dry after a couple days in spite of reaming the holes and it going below freezing at night, and the rest had under an inch and oodles of drowned ants.

Pulled all of the taps and calling it done for the year. On this day in 2015 flow only just started and I collected 20 gallons from a dozen or so taps at home, just over the course of the day.

Weird season this year, that’s for sure.