Michigan

[toquin]

Whats the word guys? Had 12 boils in Feb. 1on 2 off 2 on 3 off etc. Gathered 500 gals. today. Would not bet on the weather the next 2 weeks with your $$$

[ebliese]

I dunno, we just had our biggest collection of over 250 gallons. That was probably due to all the rain we just got. I know the season started early but it could go on and end at the "usual time." From my notes the past few years, that would be March 21st.

[ScottT]

Our sugarbush and shack is in The Thumb. I did a boil on Monday and the weather there looked great this week. I only have 23 taps but I expect to have a lot to do this weekend. Temps look good for us through Tuesday March 7th. These cold days between runs and boils is half freezing my sap and keeping it fresh all week. Can't complain. We don't live nearby and only boil on weekends. The next possible run looks like around March 15th.

[Ed R]

I tapped February 21st. I kind of wish now I would have waited to tap till this weekend. A couple of to warm segments and to much rain. I left 25 taps that I will put in this weekend. According to noaa's climate prediction model the month of March is supposed to be colder than normal, which is great if you are on buckets.

[Pdiamond]

One day at a time.

[red4476]

Well my trees, two big silvers have decided this weekend is it. Flowers are opening.

[Ed R]

Don't stop just because the flowers open on reds and silvers. You can still make great syrup for several more weeks as long as your taps will run.

[Pdiamond]

When I had silvers on the farm they quit running before the sap went buddy.

[ScottT]

Thumb area. We collected 60 gallons off 23 taps. Temps over the next few days look promising for more.

[dugit]

We are getting some dry holes and doesnt seem to flow when i think it should. Maybe just the strange year.Maybe need to retap but Im not going to. We've made 42 gallon so far from 178 taps so we're doing good. Average 1 qt per tap, thats always been our rule of thumb. Been a better year than I thought it would be. We'll hang on a while longer and see what happens. May Your Pails Run Full dugit

[ebliese]

Our most recent collection was the 5th, about 100 gallons, and boiled on the 6th. The sap slowed down for a few days but seems like it's starting to run again in my neck of the woods. I suspect today and tomorrow (highs in the mid 40s) will produce sap but then it looks like things are going to shut down for a while with mid-30s coming by weekend and into next week and some snow.

[Ed R]

Sometimes it will really run if temps get just above freezing and the sun is out. I've been fooled a couple of times.

[Pdiamond]

Some of my trees are running really good and some are still kind of meh. The woods trees are the slowest, I think we need some more sunny days instead of all these cloudy ones.

[toquin]

Ran a little yesterday, some cloudy. If it looks slow today might dump barrels and wait to see what happens after this cold spell.

[dugit]

I'm thinking the same as Toquin

[Pdiamond]

Collected 115 gallons from my bags and 57 gallons from my tubing today. All testing at 2.4% sugar.

[ebliese]

I have noticed an uptick in the sugar content. No cloudy sap yet here.

[ScottT]

Heading into The Thumb tomorrow morning to check the taps and do some boiling. Hoping for a busy weekend.

[ebliese]

Now it seems like February and March have switched places! At least in our neck of the woods. Cooler, cloudier, and snowier.

[toquin]

Calling for high teens,low 20s tonight then 45-50 mid week. We will see if my tap holes held up.

[Ed R]

Most of mine were running late in the afternoon yesterday when it was just above freezing so I think I will get more sap even if the taps are hurt a bit. I tapped about 25 more on untapped trees this morning to make sure it would be worth it to keep going. We will see soon enough.

[toquin]

23056 Running good after 10 days

[ebliese]

Yep, 80 gallons yesterday and 174 today! Sugar content is dropping, though, but that's expected. I'm seeing anywhere between 1.5% and 2.4%.

[Pdiamond]

Mine seems to be staying pretty constant at 2.4 to 2.6%.

[ebliese]

Are yours' mostly yard trees? Just curious cause the 2.4% I got today was from yarders.

[ScottT]

Last weekend I was getting between 2.5 and almost 3% from my trees (combined). Our sugar bush is in a wooded area in a field. Thumb area.

[ebliese]

Oops. I think I should have included that we have 6-8 30 gallon barrels the sap goes into for collection. We measure and record the sugar content of every barrel, hence why we are seeing anywhere from 1.5% (woods trees) to 2.4% (yarders). Towards the beginning of the season we were seeing 1.8% (woods) to 2.8% (yarders) with our very first collection being mostly from the yard trees at 2.2-3%. So I suppose, all in all, we're not that far off from what you guys are seeing. I wonder if it's just a different way of collecting the data.

At any rate, running out of wood here so my season might end in the next few boils. :lol:

[ScottT]

Boiled for almost 10 hours today. 22 degrees. Wind and snow squall warnings in The Thumb. Windchiil was 8 degree. Boiled about 40 gallons today and we still have another 65 left to boil. We pulled our taps. Left our sap buckets outside all day so they would freeze more and stay fresh for a few more days until we return to finish boiling. Sugar content was running around 2-2.5%. All of our buckets were full when we collected today.

[toquin]

Done! Almost 230 gal. bottled. First run was 2/7. Had a lot of off days but no warm spells when it was not running. Pretty lucky gravity did not dry up. Will start thinking about next year tomorrow!!

[Pdiamond]

Are you done because the trees are done or you want to be done?

[toquin]

Lets call it weather not favorable for sap runs:lol:

[ScottT]

Doing my last boil tomorrow. Taps were already pulled and we are finishing up our sap in The Thumb. Checked on the sap yesterday and it's still cool, tastes good and does not smell. Four our first full year of making maple syrup, it's been great.

[ebliese]

We pulled our taps on the 22nd. The sap is still flowing but some of the yard trees were starting to bud. We dumped some sap that smelled "yeasty" whether it was from the yard trees or woods trees. Bottled total for the season is 33.5 gallons. That's above what we were estimating for this year (and 10 gallons more than last year's total).

[iamtreavis]

We pulled our taps on the 22nd. The sap is still flowing but some of the yard trees were starting to bud. We dumped some sap that smelled "yeasty" whether it was from the yard trees or woods trees. Bottled total for the season is 33.5 gallons. That's above what we were estimating for this year (and 10 gallons more than last year's total).

33.5Gal from 100 buckets?

[Ed R]

Don't underestimate the bucket. Some years they produce great. One year we made 700+ gallon from 1300 ish taps on buckets. Tree+weather+ sugar conc.

[toquin]

When we still did buckets, 5gal plastic, some nice 30" trees in the grove by sugar shack. some days had to empty twice.

[ebliese]

33.5Gal from 100 buckets?

Yeah, it surprised us, too. Technically it was 106 taps (we have drops going into buckets). We ran out of firewood and bottles. As Ed R said, the weather can play a factor. This season was longer for us, even though we tapped about a week later than others in the SW MI area. We had a lot of freeze/thaw cycles as well as precipitation (whether rain or snow). Definitely a muddy season and also seemed to be a cooler March. There were multiple collections where we had full buckets, even right up to the end. That also shows our sanitation methods were good. We are very happy with the results but realize it won't be like this every year.

[Pdiamond]

My trees are not showing any signs of budding yet. Looking at extended forecast may be able to make it into April.