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We were gone over this past weekend so I didn't get any taps in till Monday. Over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we have put in 75 taps. We have about 35 gallons of sap so far. Looks like today it might slow way up, but this weekend looks great. I need to get the evaporator out now and get it ready. How many taps does everyone else have? I have some trees tapped in town that are doing the best. I hope to start boiling tomorrow. I will check in later and see how everyone is doing. upmep
Start your evaporators is right Upmep! Collected about 75 gallons this week (65 buckets) and it looks like a good sap weekend coming up. Hunter is unavailable this weekend so I plan to start boiling tomorrow morning and shutting down about 3:00 to collect sap then probably run the same schedule Saturday and if there's more sap Saturday afternoon do it all again on Sunday.
Got a 4H group coming on Saturday March 5th and am really looking forward to it! I plan on having them tap a few tree's, empty a few buckets, (haul a little sap, hehehe!) and I'll send a 4oz. jar of syrup home with each of them. My hope is that the more adventuresome will taste the sap in the bucket, then the sap that's been boiling awhile and also the finished product to emphasize the fact that it starts out with a hint of sweet and through the evapozation process gets gradually sweeter til you end up with "the golden wonder". I'll have plastic spoons and dixie cups for that. Should be fun. It's been a while since I had a group here. Ted
That sounds fun having the 4H group come out. I especially like the idea of having extra sap haulers. My wife helps on occasion but she can get kind of obstinate at times. Don't tell her I said that or she won't go with me at all anymore. The local county conservation group does one of those demonstrations here. I just got my evaporator going and plan on about the same weekend as you are having. By the weather it looks like it may be a decent year. upmep
First boil today! Steamed off 40 gallons just kind of feeling it out. Hoping to get a REAL arch next year. My rickety ol' cinder block widow maker has definitly seen better days! It's kind of jeewhompus and leaning a tad bit but I think I can squeeze one more season out of her. Collected again today and have 70+ gallons in the truck. I'll start boiling earlier tomorrow and hopefully my son can run it for the hour and a half it'll take me to collect sap. Looking at the weather I think it's going to be a good sap day though a little windy for boiling outside. Oh well, you gotta take the good with the bad or stay at home, and I've never been a stay at home kinda guy! Good luck everyone and HAVE FUN! Ted
Oh yeah, just wanted to say: Hello? Mrs. Upmep? My name is tbear and I just wanted to tell you...... hehehehe
Just checking in. Hello all! Never tapped in Feb. but you guys and this weather are giving me the itch! Better get my bags ordered asap! Moving evap and wood around today. Good luck!!
tbear,
This is Mrs. Upmep. I don't mind stoking the fire and collecting the sap from here in town but am a little grumpy when it comes to hauling sap through the wood.You need to
encourage upmep to get a better sap hauler. i.e. Gator, Mule etc. it would less noisy be than his wife. :)
Upmep: Well played sir! Well played!
Hey IowaSap! Good to read from you again! It's early form me to be tapped (by the calender) but I think I've collected 175 gallons so far. I like to think of it as free sap.
Busy day today. My son, 3 granddaughters, 2 young boys and a gal I don't know, all wanted the tour and questions answered. While I was trying to run evap, haul sap, move sap and keep track of numbers. It was fun but busy as .....heck! How's everyone else doing? Ted
Got another 90 to 100 gallons of sap but way to windy to boil outside today so I finished off the near syrup from the first two boils on the kitchen stove. Ended up with 2 and 3/4 gallons of amber. Be back outside tomorrrow. It'll be windy but nothing like today. Man is it blowing! Ted
We got 250 gallons of sap on 59 trees yesterday! It was a big run! Today we boiled off 200 gallons but our table is so big 2.5'x6' that we only drew off a gallon and a half before we had to shut the table down. We are having the darndest time establishing a gradient and getting a hard boil in the draw-off section of our finishing pan. Also, we're burning mostly green white oak slab wood and it can really cool our fire when we load it. We did cut down a dead standing elm yesterday and mixing in the small branches with the oak seems to help a bunch. Anyway, we still have about 85 gallons to boil and there's still 50 gallons in the collection tank at the hill, so we'll be boiling tomorrow!
My wife is keeping a production journal while I am supposed to post here, I'm so glad to hear of your guys' progress. Good luck! Pete