You think its coming to an end already?

[sap seeker]

If you look at the 15 day forecast from Accueweather, you really don't see much at all for cold weather at night.... Seems too early to be ending :confused: Guess Mother Nature always has her own plan :D

[Revi]

It might come to an end some time around next weekend. We have plenty to boil this weekend, and it looks like there are a few cold nights early next week. I think we'll pack it in sometime in early April, as usual.

[TapME]

I'm with Jeremy on this one, 6 cords of soft wood almost gone. This is the April thaw and then it come full force again for a week or more. Hang on to your evaps it's going to be a ride you don't forget.

[Revi]

We are running out of wood, and the sap is still coming!

We cut up a pile of scraps and we are hoping to make it through a couple more boils, but I think the season is almost over now.

We're going to pull the taps next weekend whatever happens.

We have made more than we ever did before already.

It doesn't sound like much, but 25 gallons is pretty good for us.

I think we'll end up with around 30 gallons when it's all said and done.

[TapME]

My syrup has been tuning lighter here too.

Revi; only 25 gallons is what you made, I'm past that and looking at 40 here. Hope to have another week of making syrup.

[PerryW]

I'm at 70% (70 gallons) here in the Littleton NH area. Grade is still on the Fancy-Medium Boundary.

Looks like a freeze maybe monday night, and (more likely) tuesday night.

Still some snow in the sugarbush and frost in the ground. Ponds are still solid ice.

I'm hoping for two more weeks of sugaring.

[royalmaple]

Ending, holy balls it just started.

Still going strong.

[sap seeker]

Ending, holy balls it just started.

Still going strong.

Hasn't run here in a few days and I'm north of you:confused:

[royalmaple]

buy a vacuum pump from me.

[sap seeker]

buy a vacuum pump from me.

:D Not sure how cost effective that would be for 12 taps.:)

[tessiersfarm]

Some of my woods trees are just getting going in good shape. I think if you have roadside trees you may start to dry up but if your in the woods at least two more weeks. Long term shows several freeze thaw cycles into next sunday.

[Revi]

We are having a little break here, but it looks like a couple more runs are possible next week. I think we'll get to 30 gallons, which is a lot for us.

It's been a really fun season.

Whatever happens it's been a lot better than last year.

I think we'll plink the taps next weekend.

Time to move on to other things soon.

[gmcooper]

We are far from over here. Shut off the vac pump today tank running over wood pile running very low. I have the worst head cold I've had for a couple years. Boiling til 2 am does not seem to help. Looked at a few reds yesterday and they have not really changed much in past week or so. A couple road side reds i drive by daily seem to be popping a bit but they are always quite a bit ahead of most around here. Looking for 2 more weeks.
Mark

[abbott]

Hasn't run much since last thursday in Sumner. I've made more syrup than i expected this year, so any more is just a bonus. You really think its going to run again?

[Revi]

I think it will run again, but the season is winding down. Here's the treemet from Vermont, and there hasn't been a run since last week there:

http://users.gmavt.net/perkins/pressure.jpg

I think we'll get some sap on Wednesday and Thursday.

It might be the perfect amount to boil down and call it a season next weekend.

[Revi]

It might not be over yet after all. Check out this graph from Proctor Maple Research Center. It looks like we may get a run today:

http://users.gmavt.net/perkins/pressure.jpg

[sap seeker]

I was hoping for today and tomorrow but have my doubts. Will probably pull this weekend by the looks of the forecast.:(

[Revi]

Not much yesterday, but maybe today will be a better run. It was 29.5 at my house this morning, and maybe it got colder up on the hill.

I'm not holding my breath, though.

[sap seeker]

Nothing yesterday, hoping for one last little go round today but not holding my breath. Hasn't ran here since 3/26. Only got to use the barrel evap. once.:( I'm amazed that some guys south of me are still getting sap:confused: Seems like this will be the weekend to put stuff away, only got two weeks worth of sap this spring, the 10th -26th, aver. 6 gal. per tap, 1.75 gal. of syrup. Good going while it lasted, just wish it had been a little longer.

[Revi]

I pulled the buckets today, because they will fill with water even though they have covers. I think we are going to pull the tubing taps this Saturday and call it a season. We might have enough sap to chase what we have in the evaporator and pour some off. We didn't get much today, and yesterday was no huge amount either. We have maybe 50 gallons of sap, so we'll have a couple hour boil on Saturday to finish off the season.

[Revi]

Surprise, surprise. There was a little run today up at our sugarwoods. it actually was coming in a little. I think we must have about 40 gallons.

That will help to move some syrup along on Saturday. We're pulling on Saturday, but every little bit helps.

[TapME]

We picked up 120+ gallons here today, hoping for the same tomorrow.

[gmcooper]

Revi,
why are you guys packing it in so early?
Sap still running down here granted not great runs but vacuum is still filling a 400 gallon tank per day or more. Gravity buckets here in town that I drive by everyday still look like 1/2 5 gal pail per day.

Still looking at 1 or two more weeks for us.
Mark

[sap seeker]

We did get a little in the buckets Wed. and Thurs. after a week of nothing. Atleast enough to do a small boil on Sat. before picking everything up...I think.:D

[KenWP]

Not hardley here. There was no forecast of frost here but for some reason it froze last night again. Might just be enough to put me over my limit. I will know in about a hour most likely if I get sap today or not. Had a fair run yesterday with no frost the night before.

Update not a drop of sap except from about 4 trees. Go figure.

[Revi]

Revi,
why are you guys packing it in so early?
Sap still running down here granted not great runs but vacuum is still filling a 400 gallon tank per day or more. Gravity buckets here in town that I drive by everyday still look like 1/2 5 gal pail per day.

Still looking at 1 or two more weeks for us.
Mark

We have had a great season, and we're ready to move on to other spring activities. It was fun.

[tessiersfarm]

I'm with revi, sap was cloudy tonight, no freeze in forcast call it a year while it is still fun. Was actually a pretty good year for us.

[sapsick]

same here. most syrup weve ever made 13 gals and the whole family gettin together for one last boil for tomorrow then callin it quits. take a day off and start plannin for next year.

[Revi]

We had a good year, but more importantly we got the fun back.

We are going to boil again tomorrow and call it a season. We may get another five gallons or so, depending on what happens tomorrow.

It will be extra dark for sure.

[KenWP]

I boiled today untill the wind and rain came up so bad. It was a trial to keep the boil going hard enough so shut it down and start over tomorrow. I will end up boiling Sunday again because of that.

[buxtonboiler]

Just finished pulling all my taps. Time to get ready for next year. Only 330 days to go.

[gmcooper]

Brought home another 400 gal 1.8% sap tonight and boiled down. still left 100 gallons in the vacuum tank to get home in the morning. Wood pile getting low after restocking it 3 times. Just about a record season for us. Couple more days will put us over the top for sure.
Mark

[sap seeker]

Picked up and cleaned everything yesterday. 71 gal. on 12 taps for 16 days of run for 1.75 gal. of syrup. LOTS OF FUN!:D

[BackwoodsBill]

:mrgreen: Pulled all taps yesterday, will boil off last of sap today, clean equipt. for next season, and call this season a success being it my first will start planning for expansion next year if my health holds up i have concluded that iam hooked on sugarin! and hope i can talk my daughter and son in law to get involved what a wonderful tradition to get started in my family to be passed down! to future grandchildren well must go now to check evap sap level wish the best to all!




lots of old maples 25 taps homemade propane tank evap. sweat powered sap hauler (yikes no snow shoes!) border collie named kate that can get to the sugar bush quicker than i lotsa determination and a heck of a lotta fun most of all thankfull to still have the health to do it leaves me to feel definately blessed!

[MainelyMaple]

Pulled the taps yesterday here in auburn. sap was getting yellow and cloudy so we pulled them. besides if we want 500 taps next year we have to start geting the place ready right away.

[TapME]

finished the last boil yesterday and started to do the sweet from the pans. Has been a good year here. Will leave the taps in for a couple of more days in case mother nature changes her mind.

Mainely Maple, your not done yet. :) will see you this year I'm sure.

[gmcooper]

Looks like we might be done as well now. Should have run today as we had a decent freeze last night here. Lines were still partially frozen at 9 am today. By 4 pm all I had was about 40 gallons of nice clear sap. should have been at least 200+ in there.
Mark

[Revi]

We're finishing off the last of the stuff we have, but all the taps are pulled and we are down to the last of the last.

I noticed that the only flow today at the proctor maple research center was from north facing taps.

http://users.gmavt.net/perkins/pressure.jpg

The blue line is the sap flow from the north facing taps.

I think we are missing a bit of sap, but not too much.

It does look like perfect sugaring weather the next week or so, though.

[KenWP]

I now know what a peeper is. Seen and heard them for the first time today. Temps went up about 15 degrees warmer then the forecast. Had a short run of sap mostly one trees that I tapped this week the older trees had nil or very little. Has to freeze all night to get a decent run if it only goes just below freezeing.

[Revi]

I heard the wood frogs yesterday. They are making a racket in the recently unfrozen vernal pools here in Central Maine.

The funny thing is that they wil shut up when you get near them, and won't start again until you leave.

This is the beginning of real spring here, and a sure sign of spring.

The red maples and especially the silvers are doing some budding here now.

[TapME]

going to collect tomorrow and will boil. It's been running here and should make another 10 gallons. There's 200 gallons of sap waiting to be syrup.

[maplecrest]

thinking about washing tubing. was 23 degrees here this am but very dry. wind has dryed everything out. so will see what i get for sap today got 800 gallons yesterday in 2 hours that it was warm enough. red allert here for burning so dry. time will tell

[Revi]

I heard the guys up north are making lots of syrup. It's perfect weather for them. In the 40's during the day and way below freezing at night.

Still lots of snow up in the mountains too. I can see Sugarloaf and Mt. Abraham and they are still totally white.

[TapME]

collected everything here and pulled the taps out of the trees to find that they are still running nice clear sap. The wood pile is the problem and this is the reason for stopping. 150 gallons of sap from the collection. The folks that let me tap have all said that I am welcome to do the same next year and some have offered more of there land for tapping. We here could easily double the tap count and may just do that, time will tell.Hope everyone got what they wanted out of the maple run.

[gmcooper]

We are done and now the worst part is cleaning up. Gravity is done and spent the afternoon on the vacuum system. Pulled about 1/2 taps. I found several still running today including some reds in the cooler spots. Woods are covered with deer tracks. Woods are full of ticks and I have been picking them off since I came out of the woods. Could it get any better! I did wander off course abit looking in a section of my uncles farm that I had never walked thru. Found more sugar maples and some reds for next year. Going to have to get creative to get them on vacuum.
Mark