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Back from the sugar bush ,we tapped the 235 bucket taps up top yesterday. The snow was solid could mostly walk on top. had a quiet night and today Sunday we did 17 on tubing, had to fix squirrel damage but got thru that and then the Big Dirty. what a dirty job.weather was nice nice both days. Did not have any problems getting up the ridge road, most seasons that can be a real problem. But that could change with a big storm. no deer seen, saw tracks though
Well back from a 3 day stay, arrived on Friday morn March 4th after getting all my needs to the cabin, went back to the sugar house to get my 4 wheeler and gathering tank. Went up top expecting a few hundred gallons and nothing. It was like every tree was wearing a Depend underwear, so plans changed I worked on some future fire wood. after some rain Friday night,Saturday morning I went up top to get 2 widow maker trees down, used a 30 ft tow strap and come along had to pull one 35ft till it came down. Saturday afternoon the rain and thunder came in so good time to give the sugar house a good cleaning.storms in the eve. Sunday morn I gathered 80 gal sap and put in a top tank. clean up pack up head home.Saw 1 squirrel heard sand hill cranes, geese,. and the always present owl. Now with the super cold forecast should have skipped the gather cant have the sap freeze in the tank. Boy with these gas prices it costs 40 bucks round trip OUCH.
Just heard the snowplow go by so I figured it was time to get up and read your report. Kind of figured it would mirror my results. A few weeks ago I thought we would be in the middle of a good run. I am just going to accept what comes my way. That rain didn't soak in by me. But it sure took out my gravel drive. Twice it came down super hard and fast. Now I have the chore of fixing ruts when the snow melts. I am waiting to hear how you make out with the frozen sap in the tank. Nice report.
Tapped 23 trees on March 3rd in anticipation of good temps. That didn't happen. About 10 gallons so far. All I want to do in March is be completely absorbed in sugaring. Oh well. Next week looks great and will probably be inundated with sap. Bring it on!!
Tapped 30 trees on the 1st because the forecast looked great. A week and a half later I have 8 gallons of sap. Looking good for my area (north of La Crosse) early next week if the forecast holds.
Hi all here is an update on 80 frozen gallons of sap, well thankfully I made the decision on Wednesday to dump it out. As it was when I opened the valve it was frozen. had to pound a rod thru the ice to get it to drain.I tested it it was only one and a half percent sugar. so Thursday morn did more sugar bush trimming and back home. More gasoline burnt with no gain. Irish Ridge that rain had our valley ditch running fast. we have had that land for 25 years and never seen water run thru there. there have been flash floods and other floods but was never there too see it.Saw my first Robin in Lodi this Thursday, my son heard red winged black birds today.The up coming week looks warm but warm nights may mess it up, we will see. God Bless.
3/16/22: A warm day but maybe just right for our north facing slope. Temp was down to 27 degrees Tuesday evening and sap was really flowing today. Collected about 60 gallons over past 2 days from 23 trees. Happy with that and expect a bit more over the weekend. We plan to boil Friday/Saturday when help arrives. Should be a really nice day for boiling out in the fresh air on Saturday. Season is kicking into high gear and I'm not sure what I was so worried about last week! Good luck everyone!
Thanks for the update Lulugrein, I am back from a one night stay at the bush. I gathered 440 gal sap from 235 trees, and the 17 on tubing had 50 gal in the tank. But WOW the mud was relentless, the 4 wheeler and atv trailer with 65 gal of sap in it made some serious ruts in the woods. they filled in with water the worst I have ever seen.But on the plus side we have sap to cook Saturday. Today Thursday the 17th the trees were dry, needing cold temps to keep going. Saw a number of sandhills flying up and down the west branch Kickapoo river what a sound they make. got the bluebird houses ready for vacancy. Keep posting. God Bless.
Just back from a 3 night stay at the sugar bush, Friday March 18th was rainy windy wet glad to have full rain gear, got all the float boxes connected wood inside for Sat AM first boiling. Saturday 19th we started at 8:30 cooked 325 gal sap syrup was darker then a normal first boil but had a great taste. supper at 8pm Sunday 20th up at 6:30 have 180 gal sap to cook.was 25 degrees clear calm,was nice too have the mud frozen for a little while any ways. finished at 2PM so made a total of 13 gal dark robust grade syrup. Had the always fun clean up, then went up top to check buckets,most had sap so plan on Monday AM gather. Monday 21st up at 6;30 mostly cloudy 34 degrees started gathering at 7:45 finished at noon have about 200 gal in storage tanks. Both still have covered snow around them. headed home 1:30pm and its 72 degrees just nuts . going to stay with it as long as I can, but sure is discouraging. Heard a number of coyote each night, the always present owls. lots of winter birds, robins all over the place. a rooster pheasant in the marsh. God Bless.
Very similar situation over by us... from coyotes howling to the little bit of joy you feel when you wake up to the ground crunching under your feet. That means its going to be a good day! We boiled down about 50 gallons that came out of the RO at about 4.8%. Many trees in the range of 2.5% sugar content. Was a super day for boiling on Saturday. Finished it all in the cabin Sunday morning. Nice color deeper than previous years' early boils. Had a great time showing newbie sapsuckers how it all works. Hope we have another good run starting ?Thursday. Have fun slip sliding around in the woods!