Tapping in Ontario

gunnergoforth. I thought I recognized the handle. I can't remember which board though. OTB, OHL, CHC, or OOD?

I had a visitor come to the shanty 2 Saturdays ago. I was finishing up the boil for the night and letting the fire go out. I was listening to the Leaf game on the radio, when I heard something. It sounded like a gobble. So I went out the door and and turned the corner and there was mr. tom.

This afternoon I was bringing in the buckets with the argo. I saw around 5 deer in the hay field. My lab gave chase for a bit and they crossed the laneway to another hayfield. Started counting, there were 7 total. When I was coming up this evening with the syrup pan 4 deer were in the hay field. This time the dog wasn't with me. She got tired of running back and forth from the bush. These deer didn't even run away. Just watched me drive along.

Anyways ennismaple is Valleylad at the OHL and I'm cramadog2 at those 4 sites. Syrup makin is fun. But don't get too big or you won't have time for spring turkey like me, too much work to do. ;)

I was out yesterday and checked the bud on my trees they are still dry and small and with a forecast like this, this season may never end.
Today
Sunny. High plus 5. UV index 5 or moderate.
Tonight
Clearing this evening. Low minus 8.
Sunday
Sunny. High plus 4.
Monday
Sunny. Low minus 8. High 10.
Tuesday
A mix of sun and cloud. Low minus 4. High 11.
Wednesday
Sunny. Low zero. High 13.
Thursday
Sunny. Low minus 1. High 13.
Friday
Sunny. Low minus 1. High 13.
Have a great aster everyone.

With -5 temps last night me thinks my trees should rain forth great bounty today. Back aches already.

Well their is no end to the sap today made 6 gallons of syrup and still not at the end of the sap,

Now I am very confused, yesterday we made great amber nice and dark yet today we are back to light/medium and the temps. have remain and sap is still 2.3% and clear. :confused:

Your set up may be the reason for the change. If you're like me when you quit at night there is still a load of sap in the evap, so when you start the next day, you're still boiling "old" sap and if the weather gives you a good cold snap, like you got, it could take several hours to get it through the evap and some mixing would occur. Maybe on the end of day 2 or beginning of day 3 there is no trace of old sap from warmer weather and all your sap is fresh and bright and you eventually get that coming through and get light syrup.

I've seen it posted on the trader that something like this is pretty common after a good freeze.

Out trees are running fast and furious. Just no wood for the evap and the only folks that have wood want an arm and a leg for it and it's all cut short and chunky for woodstoves. Spent the day cutting down and splitting long
skinny peices for next season. New signs on the nearby roads are bringing a surprising number of shoppers up the driveway.

Thanks Brent for the explanation that maybe it but the sap was less than 24 hour old and I tear down the evaporator and wash it out before boiling each time, the nights have been getting colder. I due hope you find some wood soon to get the last of the runs!

I've got the wood woe's too Brent. I left the tarp off the woodpile, the wood was way over in moisture content to begin with but 6" of wet snow on top of it it's just not worth boiling. Too bad though as my pails and buckets are all overflowing. I already started to disassemble everything last week as I thought it was over then, I'll know better next year.....wait for the fat lady to sing (or the peepers).
I don't think I'd have time to boil anyway since I screwed up my first 23 litres. I used a kosher defoamer this year and got way too much in the batch, now my syrup (all in glass bottles of varying size) looks like cr..p. I'm going to heat and filter a litre to see if it clears up if it does I'll have to redo it all. I do have about 15 more litres to bottle in another batch so hopefully it's nice and clear. I will make sure I check it before I bottle.
I was hoping next year would be a little easier but reading everyone else's posts I know that even if I improve my evap rate I'll just tap more trees. The only saving grace will be I'll be able to take time off work and my health should be better.

Thanks again to all the maplers who've posted their knowledge and experiences it has helped us newbie's from making all the mistakes there are to make.

Hey Argo, I recognize those handlesas well I'm on the lodge and OOD. I bottled almost a gallon Sat night and seemed quite good. Had a bunch of taste testers yesterday at the in-laws Easter dinner and everyone loved it! So of course everyone got a bottle to enjoy. I have pulled the buckets now and I'm finishing up about 15 gallons of sap today on the BBQ. Can't wait for next year with a real evaporator. So it is now time to clean everything up and get ready for TURKEY season. I would like to thank everyone on this forum for the knowledge it really helps a newbie to get things right. Definitely my new addiction!!!

went out to boil today and everything is frozen, and I can't light the fire to thaw it out as there is nothing in the pan.

After another LOOONG weekend of boiling, I'm had enough for this year. Course it was killing me to dump out about 40 gals of crystal clear sap yesterday as we pulled the buckets and taps, but I have no more time for boiling this season. Now it is time to finish up my flue pan for next year.

This year's record below.
Date.....6am...Morn....4pm...Aft....Wind.....Sap.. ....Boiled

07-Mar....-2....Sun......6.....Rain....Light.....Tapped.....N/A
08-Mar.....4....Sun......8.....Sun.....Med......25 Gals....N/A
09-Mar....-2....Frz Rain.0.....Sun.....Light.....25 Gals....N/A
10-Mar....-2....Clear.....2....Rain....Light......45 Gals....N/A
11-Mar.....7....Rain......1..Sun/Cld..Extrm.....50 Gals...30 gals
12-Mar.....-12..Clear...-4.....Sun.....Med......0 Frzn.....N/A
13 Mar.....-12..Clear....-5.....Sun.....Light.....0 Frzn.....N/A
14 Mar.....-5....Clear....4.....Sun.....Med......0...........4 5 gals
15 Mar.....-6....Clear....5......Sun....Light......75 gals....55 gals
16 Mar....-3.....Clear....8......Sun....Light......45 gals....75 gals
17 Mar....-3.....Clear....8......Sun....Light......35 gals....60 gals
18 Mar.....6.....Ovcst...8......Sun....Light.......10 gals...45 gals
19 Mar.....1.....Clear....8......Sun...Light........0 ..........N/A
20 Mar.....-6....Clear....2......Sun....Light.......30 gals...N/A
21 Mar.....-6....Clear....5......Sun....Light.......45 gals...45 gals
22 Mar.....-6....Snow...3.......Sun....Strng......25 gals...55 gals
23 Mar.....-6....Clear...-1.......Sun...Light.......0..........N/A
24 Mar.....-4....Clear...7........Sun...Med.......30 gals....N/A
25 Mar.....-2....Clear...8........Sun...Med.......75 gals....N/A
26 Mar.....11...Ovcst..9........Rain...Light......25 gals....N/A
27 Mar.....-2...Clear... 9........Sun...Light......10 gals....55 gals
28 Mar.....1....Clear....12......Sun...Light.......15 gals...55 gals
29 Mar ....1.....Rain....8........Sun...Light.......10 gals...65 gals
30 Mar - 4 April - Travel
5 April .....-2...Snow...4........Sun....Light......80 gals...45 gals
6 April - 8 April - No runs
9 April.....-4.....Sun.....8.......Sun.....Med......120 Gals..N/A
10 Apr.....-2....Sun.....6.......Sun.....Md...........0....... 65 Gals
11 Apr.....-1....Sun.....6.......Sun....Strong.....30 Gals...45 Gals
12 Apr.....-2....Sun.....8.......Sun....Med........25 Gals...65 Gals
13 Apr - Taps pulled and clean up.

Total for the year - Between 90 and 100 litres of syrup made.