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Sap still running at 425 GPH and the sugar is 1.5%. Now the weather man is saying it will not freeze tonight but tomorrow night only. I heard the Island pond outfit is doing poor. It is possible Quebec will have a very poor year. Time will tell.
Spud
We are definitely behind since we only really started going last Friday but we normally boil into early May. Relatives in Quebec not having a good year, not much of a snow depth. Doubt a low crop production will impact prices since they have plenty of reserve.
Quote:
Originally Posted by spud
Wow that was a tricky boil! The sap did not want to stay in the pans and I had one foam over that required shutting off the blower to get it back in control. Thank goodness for a floor drain. The sap that came in over night was somewhat fermented by the time I ran it thru the ro, so more defoamer than I would generally like to use was required. I thought I might make rope but fortunately no. I did make about 14 gal. of dark syrup. Right on the dark/very dark line though I will likely grade it as very dark due to the strong flavor. No sign of any bud flavor, but definitely strong. It went thru the press, but very hard going and will have to clean the press before more syrup. I have generally been getting 30-40 gal. thru between cleanings, but not with this stuff.
I'm hoping that with a cooler night the sap that comes in overnight will not start to ferment, but we'll see. It is still nice and clear and 1.5%. I'm thinking I am pretty close to pulling the plug but will keep going through the next freeze which looks like tomorrow night. The peepers are doing their thing tonight...
well I received a very nice letter, it was from my liver. It was thanking me for the end of sugaring season and not having as many boiling sodas each night.:lol::lol::lol:
Quitter....Quote:
Originally Posted by Flat Lander Sugaring
No freeze again last night. Valleys were colder. Got one more shot at a good freeze tonite. If we don't get it, we'll likely be done by the end of the weekend or before.
No freeze here either. Down to 35 over night so at least the sap quality has improved. I pulled in another 400gal. since 5:30 yesterday and will once again go over 1 gpt in 24 hours. Sugar is holding steady at 1.6% which I find impressive because last season we were down to 1 at the end.
Clearly good taphole sanitation and good vac. brings in the sap this late in the season. I have never gone this late before.
It froze in Waterbury. 27 when I took the dogs out.
It froze here on the VT. border. 27 degrees. Prediction was for 33. The valleys and pockets around here are always a few degrees colder. My Dad lives 8 miles downstream from me and is consistently 2 deg. cooler than myself. Predicting even colder temps. tonight then that should be it. Syrup is really dark but still tastes good. My buyer loves it that way so I'll press on to the end.
Decent freeze in my lower woods again early this morning, had 30F at 5am and lines frozen solid, cleared the sap up considerably. This has been an interesting season for us; with no idea what to expect from these woods I can never completely tell what the next day is going to bring. Monday was our hardest run yet, I wouldn't have predicted that.
It seems that the way our valley holds the cold (which killed our early season) is exactly what is keeping us going now.
Hopefully we can stretch it out, I'd like to at least hit 5lbs/tap