sugaring in iowa

Sanitized, sterilized,or at least cleaned my spiles today. Boiled them for twenty minutes, soaked them in bleach solution for twenty minutes, scrubbed the outside with a green scratchy pad, soaked in bleach solution another twenty minutes, scrubbed the inside with a bottle brush, soaked in bleach solution again, tossed them in the dish washer then boiled them again. Over kill, I know. But cabin fever knows no bounds. I don't like to say things like this as it sounds like I'm wishing my life away, but, I wish it was March. Insert heavy sigh. Ted

In Iowa I'm sure it warms up enough in February to start. Here in Maine we sometimes get a little run in late February. So the season could be about a month away, depending on the weather!

Thanks revi! I've not had much luck tapping in February, the buckets tend to just hang there as the holes begin to dry/heal up. But maybe this year will be differant! One more month? I'd like that! Ted

Ted

I am seriously thinking of tapping some trees - we have had 7 days of good weather and the next 10 days look great

Hi Bill, good to hear from you! Ya know, I've tapped at the end of January, the beginning, middle and end of February, and the beginning of March. I've just not had much luck (sap) before March. It seems, no matter what the weathers like, my trees just don't give until March. We're prepping for a couple weeks vacation (starting a week from tomorrow) so, I couldn't tap now anyway. That all being said I'll be interested in how it works out for you! Good Luck and have fun! Ted

This is upmep. Has anyone started tapping yet? The weather has been off and on warm. I was looking at the notes I've made over the years and the best for me has usually been during March. What does everyone else think. I ordered 25 more taps and got them in the mail yesterday. I'm ready to start.

We held off tapping due to it really cold again. We will keep a close eye on the forecast going forward. It is looking to get really cold again late this week again. Will probably be 10+ days before we tap. We are trying to get a hood built for our evaporator so would like to get that finished. We are looking at 200 taps this year if all goes right. Will definitely post something when we get ready to tap. Thanks Bill

Okay, so I'm looking at this coming Sunday to tap. Forecast looks good. But then, that can change. Anyone else? Ted

Thinking about Monday here, it does look to be getting close. Hate to miss a drop!!

We are going to try and tap Friday after work - We got the new steam hood in place this weekend and just need to install the drip pan - tonight we are starting to wash buckets - Should be running hard by early next week after seeing the forecast this morning - Good luck everyone Bill