Zionsville Sugaring

[Bemis]

I tapped this year on 02/14. My little operation is in downtown Zionsville using the street trees that are in my yard. Seven sugar maples in all. Last year was the first go at it and we made 1.5 gal. I've collected about 40 gallons of sap so far, and I'm getting a cinder block arch going this weekend. Urban sugaring at its best.

The town manager got a call this week about "what's wrong with the trees on 5th Street."

Good Times.

Brett

[JohnM]

Sounds like the maple bug has bitten in Boone county.

Have a great season Brett!

[ericjeeper]

Cool to see more Hoosier boilers on here.
The cement block arch will work fine.. But it will work better if you can mound up some bricks or even dirt in the back. To force the flames and heat up against the pan.

[Bemis]

Finished my third boil tonight. I'm sitting at nearly 4 gallons for the year. The cinder block / steam table pan arch (5-6 gph) makes for some well flavored syrup. I even made the newspaper this year.

My wife is thinking I should be done for the year. With this warm spell I may not be able to get things boiled fast enough. Making 4 gallons from 6 taps in 5 street trees is pretty cool. We've had some big runs.

Flat pan next year.

Cheers

[JohnM]

The temptation to wind up early is always there. I find the best tasting syrup is made the latest in the season.

When I hear the frogs sing, (peepers) I know it is over.

Haven't heard them yet.

Enjoy your syrup!

[ericjeeper]

I have a pond not more than 40 feet from my house.. And the little boogers have come to life already.
I am going to leave my bags hang til the weekend coming.. Just in case we get one more flow.. Then I am going to pull the taps and sterilize for next year.

[DougM]

Hey Brett,

I live near Lebanon, but our sugaring is done in Hendricks County near Coatesville.

Over the years we've gone from a home-built rig to a manufactured one; let me know if you're looking for something in particular for next year and I'll see what we have around.

Doug

[warren yoder]

Hey, maybe some of us should get together here. We live just east of the big city of Kirklin....in Clinton County. There are a ton of trees around us. Tapped the trees around our house (7) for the first time last year...made 7+ gallons. Have my fourth batch of the year ready to finish on my day off-tomorrow. This will give me a litttle over 5 gallons. Have pulled the taps...am going to dump about 50 gallons of additional sap I have stored...enough is enough. sure is great stuff though!

[Bemis]

I've been dumping over the past couple of days. No real budding yet as far as I can tell. Half of my trees are still dripping. I pulled the buckets and sanitized everything in hopes of a final run. The weather looks really good coming up. I'd like to get a bit more med amber. Plenty of dark/B from last weekend.

My wife has her doubts.

cheers

[Bemis]

Hey Brett,

I live near Lebanon, but our sugaring is done in Hendricks County near Coatesville.

Over the years we've gone from a home-built rig to a manufactured one; let me know if you're looking for something in particular for next year and I'll see what we have around.

Doug


Thanks for the heads up Doug. I can't keep from wishing I could find a sugar bush for cheap around here, heh. The town center has a ton of street trees that must be 60-100 yrs. I just need to recruit the neighbors. Always room to expand, right?

I'll keep in touch as I'm planning for the 2010 opening.

I was on the front page of the Lebanon paper last Friday. About 30 kids came over from the Zville library (across the street) to talk about sugaring. After the field trip they ate pancakes with 4 different syrups. Zionsville's finest med. amber came out on top in the 6-12 yr old age group.


Great pics on the website btw.

[DougM]

Brett, my grandfather grew up sugaring in NH, then later in life ended up in TN.

Down there he didn't have access to a big stand of woods so he used to drive around Knoxville picking up sap with bins in the trunk to haul it to his sugarhouse. So, city trees can be good, too. Besides, Zionsville isn't that big, you just need a tank you can haul behind a lawn tractor. :)

We only have about 15 taps on the 20 acres my partner owns, all of the rest are on "borrowed" ground that's adjacent to his. As long as we keep an eye on it and don't cut down any trees we're free to use it. There are times it would be nice to own it, but we're OK with our current arrangement.

You never know, you may be able to find someone willing to let you use their trees in exchange for syrup, just be ready with info for them on how it doesn't damage the tree, etc.

Glad to hear about the tour, it's a lot of fun to do those. I'll have to look for the paper - good job on publicity.

[Bemis]

All done in Zionsville. Finished by last batch yesterday. Came out to just over 4 gallons. Not bad with only 6 taps out. I'm already scoping out new locations for the coming year.

Have a good summer.

[Bemis]

It's great to see some posts in the Indiana forum. I stopped by after I saw the forecast for the week ahead. I've been thinking January start since the big warm spell in early March last year. It seems like Indiana is so variable that we might want to get started whenever we can. I think I'm in for Thursday start.

I'm scheduled for an educational event in town this year, and I have a few neighboors that have offered their trees for tapping.

Here's hoping for a great year.

Cheers.

[JohnM]

I'm thinking like you on this one. Last season was a little short. Our fellow mapler in Kentucky has already boiled this year. I'd say we are next in line.

Sweet blessings to you this sugaring season.

[DougM]

I don't know...every time we tap this early it seems like either we get a few warm days and then everything freezes solid for two weeks again; or we end up shortening our season because our tapholes are closing up while the trees are still runnning in March.

I think we're going to wait until at least late next week and check the forecast again.

Doug

[Dave Y]

DougM
I see in your signature that you are wood fired . Did you convert your propane arch, or did you get a new arch? by the way it good to see you on here, again.

[ericjeeper]

I am trying to figure out whether to tap or not myself. Weather forecast could not be any better for the next 7 days out at least. I might take one tap and sap sak out and do a test tree. currently 34° here

[DougM]

Dave,
Thanks for the reply, it's good to be back.

Yes we went back to wood. Gas was getting too expensive, so last year we bought some fire brick & switched it over. The season wasn't great weather-wise, but we were happy with the switch overall.

As Eric says the forecast is good for the next several days. I will probably be wrong since we're not tapping, but after the extreme cold we had I'm thinking the trees won't run until they have had several days of thawing weather.

Doug

[Bemis]

I'm polishing up the gear tonight and might poke a few holes in some Maple trees. I'm only tapping street trees that get a lot of southern sun exposure. I'm hoping that will thaw them out faster than a wood lot. I'm going to take it slow at first and put a few more in if I get some good runs.

Hoping for a good season.

Brett

[ericjeeper]

They are flowing very well down here by Martinsville. I just tapped 30 taps.

[The Birdman]

Just put 200 in started running by the time I got them all in. weather looks good for the next two weeks.

[Bemis]

First syrup of the year here. Boiled 26 gallons for about 1/2 gallon of medium Amber. Great flavor and a great day to be outside. Four hours on a cinder block arch. Trees have stopped running pretty much. Looking forward to some freezing weather.

Cheers

[Bemis]

Finally some good weather. Found four more trees for a total of 10 taps this year. Have 40 gallons in the bin for a weekend boil. Used the new sap hydrometer and it was floating at 2.7% @ 34 degrees. Street trees are a great thing.

Cheers

[warren yoder]

Finished 2 gallons of dark amber from the "old" sap yesterday...couldn't care less if it is dark...it's great stuff! I work today then Monday and Tuesday then am off for two weeks...looks as though I can boil to my little hearts content.

[DougM]

Warren, - or any other mapletraders, for that matter - if you're not boiling all day Saturday you're welcome to trek down to our place near Coatesville. We're doing our annual open house day, so we will be there for sure, and there will probably be a few extra people around, too.

Let me know and I can send directions.

[Bemis]

Finished off 2 1/2 gallons today over a 12 hour boil. Plenty of time to decide I'm buying a proper pan next year. Looks like about a gallon more this year and then the season will be over. I've had a great time either way.

[Bemis]

Well it's certainly over for this year. Straight from too cold to too warm within a week. Found a few more taps for the good one week run. Overall a 3 & 3/4 gallon year for me . I was worried about tapping in mid-January, but it's proven to be just fine. The weather here is just too variable to wait. Made the local papers again this year (maple syrup btw). About to pull the trigger on a 2x3 with preheater pan. Looking forward to next season (January).

[warren yoder]

Warren, - or any other mapletraders, for that matter - if you're not boiling all day Saturday you're welcome to trek down to our place near Coatesville. We're doing our annual open house day, so we will be there for sure, and there will probably be a few extra people around, too.

Let me know and I can send directions.

Doug, sorry I missed your note here....not that I could have made it down-with the way sap was running that weekend and all. I would love to see a real set-up in operation. Are you finished for the year?

I made over 9 gallons this year...previous two years I made 5/6. It was mostly dark amber. But like I said, it is such great stuff for our personal use and selling to friends and neighbors and gifting and all.

[Bemis]

Tapped the trees around the house this afternoon. Not much action yet, but tomorrow looks promising. Plenty to work on before the big sap starts flowing.

[Gandolf]

Everyone is talking about the season being over???

When do you guys normally start tapping?

I just put out 112 taps this weekend and am keeping my fingers (strike that, make that everything) crossed in hopes for a few more weeks of good weather.

Wondering now if I waited to long to tap........

[ericjeeper]

Everyone is talking about the season being over???

When do you guys normally start tapping?

I just put out 112 taps this weekend and am keeping my fingers (strike that, make that everything) crossed in hopes for a few more weeks of good weather.

Wondering now if I waited to long to tap........

No you are timing it about right. Last year i tapped mid Jan.. They hung for weeks, just blowing in the wind. I have a friend north east of Martinsville that always taps the 15th of Feb. as that is when he returns home from Florida.
His family has been making syrup for many years on their weekend farm.
I have yet to tap.Might do it tomorrow afternoon providing my son wants to work it over the weekend while I am away snowmobiling.

[Bemis]

Biggest run yet today. 25 gallons from 10 taps at 2.7%. Looks like I'll have something to do this weekend.