No Sap running around here this morning.... -30C deg this morning... (that's -22 F) :o
Bit of a shock after this mild winter.
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No Sap running around here this morning.... -30C deg this morning... (that's -22 F) :o
Bit of a shock after this mild winter.
With 5-6 degrees and lot of sun , we got all are 250 ish taps in place and all the lines tighten up . By mid afternoon the trees were running well and did a good job of flushing out all the sap lines. Probably a short lived start of the season but it’s finally starting to look more like syrup season every day . Good luck to everyone this spring!!!
Yup I also got my 60 taps in Saturday afternoon and boiled down over 60 gallons last night just enough to sweeten my pans. Hopefully it runs well today and I'll get syrup off.
We went through a 3-4 day stint of favourable temperatures here... Sap was running for those that have their taps in... I'm not one of them.. and I haven't seen much activity from the local guys, yet... I didn't see any smoke in the Elmira area yesterday either... Turning cold again for a few days, now... I will get tapping this weekend... Not sure how many... Thinking about 150ish to start.
I did, however, start a little experiment that I've been thinking about for some time, now.. I tapped 8 large old maples on my road.. They sit at the top of a decent hill with maybe 20-30 ft of fall...
I set up a 3/16" gravity line from 25 taps, to a barrel at the bottom of the hill... I'm really excited to see how the combination of full-sun roadside trees and gravity work out.
The trees along my road are typically tapped with buckets by other neighbourhood folk... (first come, first served).... I finally beat them to it this year... I only took 8 trees though.... Lots more to go around, if they tap this year.
Well I have collected 180 gallons from 60 taps. Boiled enough to sweeten my pans but still have another 110 gallons to boil down. So far sugar is at 2%. That's a 1.5% drop from last year :(
Bit of a late winter storm going on here... Blew snow last night and had to do it again this morning. A couple more cold days to come, but looks like things are going to start to swing on Sunday...
It doesn't look like ideal conditions by any means, but the forecast is calling for 9 days out of the next 14 that will have positive daytime temps, after freezing nights... I guess I better get tapping.
Attachment 21064
You will have a hard going back to Pails after you see just how well 3/16 line going into drum works. Sure doesn’t look like syrup season this morning with all this snow blowing around.
FYI, if that's Crown land be careful, I had tapped trees on the side of a road before and a conservation officer came along and said I need an L.U.P.(Land Use Permit) to tap trees on Crown land.Quote:
Originally Posted by wmick
What a tax grab that is. Had to pull my taps right then. 10 taps
this is Northern Ontario though:mad::mad:
Hmm??... That sucks... I never really gave that much thought as the trees down my road have been tapped by someone or other for years... They are on what I would consider the Road Allowance... between the ditch and the farmers fence.. I've never heard of problems arising, but you never know? We dont really have "crown" land around here, but these particular 8 trees that I tapped happen to be adjacent to Grand River Conservation land and not a farm. I put my name and phone number on the barrel... I guess we'll see what happens... fingers crossed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Someclown
Thanks for the heads up..
It's comin.... As usual, I'm not quite ready for it... but the forecast is looking like syrup...
Attachment 21093
Took Friday off work to tap trees, but spent most of the day blowing snow, instead.... Same on Saturday... Bad timing for a blizzard... Managed to get out Sunday and get taps in.. Very deep fresh snow in the bush.. My old joints and muscles are not happy... The younger trees were bleeding sap pretty good, while I was tapping at +1degC. Still a few odds and ends to finish it up... Sap will be running today. It's +4 this morning.
I will try to remember this next year, and get things done earlier, when weather permits.