Crawford County 2023

[Irish Ridge]

Feb. 15th (Wednesday) Ventured out into the woods today and tapped 25 of my 50 trees. Not a single hole was wet or dripping. Snow was minimal on the ground but the ice was thick as could be from the steady rain the day before. Semi steep hillside, ice...what could go wrong. Only fell twice. Slid about 5 yards on one of those falls. It was at that time the task was called for the day.

Feb. 16th (Thursday) Snow in the morning on top of the ice scrubbed the day in the woods but created time to organize the shack.

Feb. 17th (Friday) Put in 20 more taps today. My consistently best trees were dripping. Tapped all but 5 trees. Three are way too close to a ledge for me to go near until the ice is gone. Two more will get tapped today when I check buckets.

The guys that boil on Vineyard Coulee went by today with their truck and trailer overloaded with buckets and tubes. Must be thinking alike.

Only 2017 saw an earlier tap day (Feb. 11th) and first collection day (Feb. 13th) for me. We will see what the spring 2023 brings.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Irish Ridge,Glad your getting some trees tapped,Icy hillsides are the worst to navigate what I use are ice fishing cleats, seems safer but can not always rely on them. 25th for us for tapping. My back yard maple at home has only produced one and a half gallons from February 9th so hope we did not miss al lot.Have a safe and peace full season. God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, Feb. 27th...Rain quit early this afternoon. Around an inch total. The pond is full. Still snow in the woods. OK, still lots of ice in the pails that had been totally solid a few days ago but was able to collect enough sap to keep me busy all day tomorrow. I can now say that all the trees are working with me. A short post but serious work begins tomorrow at daybreak.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Glad trees are coming awake, I knew the rain was coming so I covered all the snow around top tanks. process pack snow around two 100 gal tanks then cover with white tarps then more snow over that. so covered every thing with the rain forecast.1.26 inches rain in Lodi.

[Irish Ridge]

Wednesday, March 1st.....First boil of the season. Ice all over on the ground at our outside location. Our wood is located close to our our stack and the rule for the day was thou shalt not hurry when making a wood run. All I could imagine was a slip and then falling into the stove or stack. No wind all day. Steam and smoke went straight up. The temp was ideal and we finished outside right at 7 p.m. which was the time of a forecast rain shower or worse which did not come until overnight and Thursday morning around 9 a.m. This morning (Thursday) March came in like a lamb. Our test water boiled at 208 this morning. That is a record low reading for us. After completion, we have 2.5 gallons of dark amber syrup. A nice start to the season for us. Sap collection this afternoon and back to the stove Thursday.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Thanks Irish Ridge for the report, I will be heading over tomorrow Friday to gather and get ready for first boil Saturday. We sappers have learned to walk on some rough landscapes thats fore sure.I was up in Green Bay today sure is a bunch of snow up there, we had that rain they had snow. Take care and God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Thursday, March 2nd. The morning was spent finishing on the gas stove. The afternoon was spent collecting and boiling. Friday morning, the 3rd, was finishing once again with Friday afternoon taking time off catching a couple of northerns on Mississippi River back water ice. Saturday, the 4th, was spent boiling all day, even through some small rain showers in the afternoon. Kept the fire going through the night into Sunday the 5th, and am now set to finish this batch Monday morning on the gas stove. Rain came as promised late Sunday afternoon. Trees are running well.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, March 6th. Rain throughout the last evening. Fog this morning. Two more gallons to log in. It is a light amber color and great taste. Wind picked up at noon but still got out in the woods to empty pails. Frost still in the ground on the side of the hills. Still a solid flow all on gravity. Knew it would happen eventually. We found our first moth of the season in a bucket. No ants yet. The fire gets lit early tomorrow with lots of sap to process.

[Irish Ridge]

Friday, March 10....A slow week here. Midweek we were able to finish another two gallons but the trees have simply stopped. Over night (Thursday night) we got around 3 or 4 inches of snow. Today will be spent out on the tractor moving snow around by the shack and then making a path out to the woods. Actually not complaining about the midseason break.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, March 13th....After the weekend off, a check of the sap in the buckets was a pleasant surprise. Full buckets with ice to skim out. The afternoon was spent bringing sap in. Tuesday the 12th now and by 7 a.m. the fire will be going. A full day boiling is in store for us. 18 degrees out there right now, why do we do it?

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Why do we do it ? because its all about the experience, and making some great syrup from our own woods. You mentioned putting wood in every 2 hours at night, our evaporator takes an arm load of wood every 6 minutes. So my day dreaming cost time, syrup, and money. Had 3 above this morning in Lodi hope the sap I gathered Sunday is still liquid. its covered up with tarps and snow. Keep in touch.

[Irish Ridge]

Wednesday, March 15th....It took about 8 hours to finish yesterday's boil. We were able to finish it inside on Thursday morning. It's been cold and freezing rain and toss in a little snow so I stayed out of the woods for the past few days.

Friday, March 17th...Finally a little better temp but no relief from the wind. Anyway, I figured I better check and collect any sap before the continued freeze. Pleasantly surprised to find my 5 gallon buckets all full which meant a very long day of collecting. Tossing some ice found in the buckets will reduce a bit of time in front of the fire.

Saturday, March 18th...continued freezing temps all day and the steady north wind kept me inside all day.

Sunday, March 19th... The plan for today is getting a fire and boil going this afternoon, listening to Marquette win around suppertime, and continue through the night, all day Monday, and be caught up sometime early Monday evening.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Glad you were able to make some syrup with the cold temps, I knew we would have had a problem with those cold temps, from the bulk tank valve to the evaporator the sap turns to slush and creates a supply problem.

[Irish Ridge]

Tuesday, March 21st, Well we did get done with the outside work Monday just before supper. Tuesday morning was finishing on the gas stove. A short time later we had just over 2 gallons of additional syrup for the season. We have now begun riding the bell curve up and hope to crest our average on our next boil. Speaking of boiling, got one going right now after yesterdays collection. Sap is running strong and clear yet. Some buckets still have ice in them but I am not complaining about that with the warm temps.

I was all set to pull buckets Monday afternoon but sap was just pouring out of the trees so I just could not get myself to do it. The season continues on Irish Ridge.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, March 27th.....It was a long week of collecting sap and boiling. We have three unfinished pans of sap to put on the gas grill. We are still getting a nice 2% sugar content on average and still a lighter color of near finished product. Sap is still clear but the moths are definitely out. We have topped our bell curve of yearly production. It will end as better than average but the game plan is to pull taps midweek before the weekend storm and the very warm extended forecast.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Thanks for the report, Yes some moths in the sap but my biggest issue were the snow fleas. They got under my top tank tarps, and were so thick the white tanks were black . If you try to brush them off they smear and smell like garlic, all I could do was blow them away from the tank caps before filling them. the most snow fleas I have ever had to deal with.

[Irish Ridge]

Wednesday, March 29th....It's "pull the taps" day here. Only a gallon per pail average over the last 24 hours. Some trees had already quit. Still clear to just a bit less than clear. Ice this morning with the dusting of snow overnight. The north wind is also blowing at 10 to 12. The outdoor boiling should end early this evening and then its inside finishing for a few days. Haven't got a total yet but it will definitely end up above average.

[Irish Ridge]

Friday, March 31st.....3 batches of outdoor sap were taken up the last three or four degrees to make 6 gallons of syrup on the gas stove today. Totaled out at an exact 18 gallons for the year and our third best year ever. Rain and storms overnight and more storms rolling through around supper time right now. It is a good time to be done. Just one huge clean up required now. Excellent season. Now on to wood cutting and splitting for next year.