Vernon County

Hi fellow sappers, I went over Friday aft March 25th what a day, wind advisory for up to 50 mph gusts.with snow squalls. And there was plenty of both, the ground was white again trees bending over like I walk.But I did get my top tanks drained down to the big tank by sugar house. Sap tested at 2.5 percent. Saturday my son and I cooked 210 gal down to 6 gal syrup.he went home, and me well its clean up time YES finished that at 6:30 back to the cabin for time by the wood burner and supper. Sunday the 27th 17 degrees sunny and still a steady breeze out there. Went up top to empty old off color frozen sap from the buckets. Each one had about one quart inside. ready to see what the warm up brings this week, our syrup is quite dark this season where most seasons we make light to medium amber. Saw 3 deer running full out dont know what spooked them. God Bless.

Wow five days at the sugar bush, arrived Thursday March 31st had snow squalls with a covering of snow again. Gathered 540 gal sap with 70 in the tubing tank. took 7.5 hrs what a day, flurries steady cold wind up top. Friday April 1st 22 degrees will cook all day myself, cooked until 6 then cool down clean up.Made 7.75 gal dark syrup. then pumped two tanks into the big tank for Saturday.When I went down to the cabin I heard the first Peepers in the marsh,Saturday April 2nd woke up to 2-3 inches snow My son came and we cooked until 6:15 cool down clean up. The syrup was medium amber lighter color and taste the previous days? we made 9.75 gal syrup. Sunday April 3rd we gathered again every 3 trees was two full buckets to dump. took us 4.5 hrs got 550 gal sap and more in the tubing tank. he went home at 1 so I made three trips up top to get more firewood, think its dry enough to burn. were short a full days worth of wood.More peepers now, Monday April 4th I gathered all things for home will return asap to work on the stored 600 gals. saw 4 deer by sugar house, had a loud pack of coyotes sat night lots of geese in the marsh.God Bless.

Four more days under our belt, arrived Friday April 8th had an inch of new snow on the ground at home, but as I went west the snow all but disappeared.Spent three hours splitting more wood, had some dry elm and maple. Checked the buckets up top ,sap inside was off color or spoiled. Saturday April 9th morning temp was 24 degrees so got up at five am went up top with a headlamp to empty all the buckets for a fresh run of sap. 7:30 my son came we cooked the first half of stored sap until 7pm, more clean up hit the bunks at 10. Sunday April 10th we started evaporating at 8am finished at 4pm. we made 18 gal of dark amber syrup this weekend. I did the clean up he went home, then went up top to check on that expected run but found an average of 2or3 inches in the buckets.Monday April 11th the original plan was for more sap gathering but thats a no go so decided to call it a season. Got my 800ft mainline rolled up, packed things up for home. Season was above our average by 6 gallons for a total total of 54.5 gal some medium but most dark amber. Still need to go back and pull taps haul buckets down, wash all tanks pull tubing taps flush the line, saw deer at the bird feeder, heard a rooster Pheasant in the marsh along with peepers in force. God Bless.

Thought I would say hi everyone, tapped my back yard maple this afternoon February 7th on the north side of the tree and found it dripping. But still plan on the usual date of February 25th-26th. Sure has been a strange winter hear in Lodi. God Bless'

All I can do is read reports for the next week or so. I don't return from my winter migration for another week. Hopefully I will have my taps in by the 15th. Looking forward to an interesting season. in 2016 I tapped on Feb 14th with sap running and in 2017 tapped on Feb. 11 with taps running. If I was home I believe that I would be tapping, probably with success. Will share more in a week.

Hi everyone, traveled over to the land on Saturday Feb 18th have 230 buckets -lids along. Snow cover was sparse so glad to have the 4 wheeler to get things up top.There was 3-4 inches of snow in the valley shade, that went from snow to ice to bare ground as I went up. Placed my top tanks in their place but could not cover them with snow, that is a first for me in 13 years of sugaring. Saw two deer, heard lots of geese also. Stayed over and Sunday I cut more fire wood re marked the main line path down the hill with orange ribbons Like Irish Ridge the ice was a challenge on that task. We will be tapping the 25th so its truly on from there.God Bless.

Hi fellow sappers, spent 3 days over at the land,Friday Feb 24th arrived 3pm thankfully we had about 5-6 inches of dense snow so was able to cover my top tanks after all. Did that till dark,restful evening and night. Sat morning my son and friend came to help tap, took 5 hours to do 240 trees. Then they ran the 800 ft mainline down to the sugar house tank and hung it up on suspended wire near the tank. 4pm by then, but still had time for the Big Dirty. that is cleaning the soot out from the bottom of the flu pans raised flues. The weather was nice sun warm and a few trees running.Supper and a movie then bunk time,had some critter try to get in under the cabin but failed, it kept pulling on the wire at the bottom kind a of creepy sound when your trying to sleep.

Sunday 26th sunny cold 13 degrees calm, we went back in the valley to tap our 17 on 3/16th tubing, replaced some squirrel damage and ready to go. saw 2 deer on the sunny hillside. Season is on, God Bless.

6 am Monday. Nice update. I agree, the season is on. TV says we have received .67 inches so far overnight and about 4 more hours of rain. Hard to say how much of that packed snow around your tanks will remain when this is over. I checked my pails last on Friday and had a gallon on average of ice in each pail from the cold days and nights. Checked again yesterday and some had melted. Enough to collect after the rain and maybe even light a match later today. Wood peckers are going crazy in the woods. For a week I have been watching a couple of bluebirds claim a bird house. Looking forward to your next report.

Back from a 4 day sugar camp, Friday March 3rd arrived late had buckets of water, cabin needs and the finish pan to get back to the sugar house. Able to use the atv for gathering, started 3 pm guess 20% buckets over flowing. finished 10:15 pm 485 gal sap. Gathering with a headlamp is not any fun, had coyotes barking on our hill a bit unsettling for sure. Saturday my son and I cooked all day till 6,cool down clean up late supper and bunk time. Saw 3 deer today hear robins sand hill cranes geese small birds. was a nice day. Sunday March 5th we had more sap to cook, also 50 gal in the tubing tank, we have never had tubing sap on first weekend. Finished at 2pm, total syrup made 11.5 gal light to medium color.After clean up started gathering at dusk, but rain came so went to the cabin and wow did it kick in, sleet rain snow was pounding on the south east wall . Monday woke up to 1-2 inches of sleet slop fog mist but had to gather again slipped and slid all over the sugar bush but collected 450 gal all in storage tanks for future boiling. Then time to head home asap. the 3 sugar moon nights kept sap flowing but today taps shut off. God Bless.

Love your report. Really nice start to the season. I was wondering about your rain. I woke up to the sleet hitting our windows in the middle of the night. We also got some rain Saturday afternoon but it was more of a nuisance than anything else. Sap continues to flow by us. I have to keep the fire going tonight to keep up. Not sure what the snow will do for us. At this point, not even sure when it gets here. Til next week.

Well had 4 more days of this syrup thing, Friday March 10th arrived at 3:00 pm have 6 more inches of snow on top of last weeks 3 inches of sleet. Took water and finish pan back to the sugar house, thank fully was able to use the 4 wheeler went up top looked like a gallon or so in the buckets. had a opossum walking in the wheeler tracks, thought it would be hibernating yet. 7:25 supper and a nice fire in the stove. Saturday March 11th My son and I started cooking at 8:00 am things flowed along nicely till about 3:00 I was reading a gold mining magazine looked at the thermometer UH O 228 degrees my son whats burning. dumped some water in the finish pan pulled wood out of the fire box dumped out the bad syrup rinse the pan and start scrubbing scorch. That was not an easy task. Then refill start up the process again, cooked until 7:00 cool down 8:00 pm supper. had light snow falling evening thru night had 3 new inches. Sunday March 12th started cooking at 7:30 finished at 1:pm, my son headed home, I did minor clean up then went up top to gather. Collected 180 gallons, took me until 8:30 pm. Had snow squall and flurries pass thru, about 1 more inch snow. that was the deepest snow I ever gathered in, buckets would drag in the snow while caring them. lots of turkey tracks all over the woods, did see 2 Toms in the afternoon.At my 2 am wake up to put wood in the stove my bottom bunk has a support 2x4 in center, so you curl up to get out, and instant double charlie horses so stumbled around the room thought they were gone till I bent down to stock the stove, what a pain it is WOW. Monday March 13th should have gotten up sooner had a crazy dream that made me more tired then when I went to bed UGH. Did final clean up went home at noon. God Bless.

Ohh brother...Couldn't sleep thinking I had an early start boiling today. Had to check in on you first before I head out. What a weekend you had. Sorry to hear about your 228. I dread the thought. I am almost paranoid and stay pretty close to the fire. When I go through the night and load up I am still out every two hours reloading wood and more importantly checking the level of sap even though I set up so accidents are impossible. I have the same snow levels over here. Slippery mud underneath. The springs out of the hillside are the worst. Still no turkey track here; deer track yes. Forgot all about your mine claim. Its my rib muscles that are all messed up from my buckets. Getting to be a long season for me. May next weekend be easier on you. God bless my friend.

Hi fellow sappers, We did not make any syrup this past weekend. Thursday March 16th was a mild day but had rain all day, so I decided to not gather for 8 hrs in that. Friday March 17th was cold and super windy High of 27. Saturday March 18th was 6 above in the morning with a high temp of 25. So Sunday March 19th I drove over to dump out ice from all pails, on the way up the ridge road with the atv and trailer I hit hard ice and even with chains on all 4 tires I spun out and started to slide backwards down the hill, a bit of panic set in but the trailer jack knifed and stopped me. have to have something happen to keep this old heart of mine going. The second run I stayed in more snow and went right up, pails were mostly full and was able to slide the ice out. It sure looks funny with a block of frozen sap under every tree, guessing 600 gal. also while waiting for the temps to warm, I split some more dry wood about a pallet worth. I stayed over night. Monday March 20th low was 28 sunny warming up fast got the Blue Bird houses cleaned out and had to bring all our wash water home because all containers were frozen solid. Saw small birds, bobcat tracks in the snow. Our hill top is snow free but snow gets deeper on the way down with 8 inches in the valley shade. Until next time God Bless.

Friday March24th arrived at 9:15, as soon as I opened the truck door could hear the red winged black birds are back. Well took water and the finish pan to the sugar house, then went up top to gather and found most were overflowing, 8.5 hours later had 600 gallons.was a nice day very calm, trees running strong. Another late supper and sleep. Saturday March 25th my son arrived ,He started out in Lodi with heavy snow turned out 8 inches came down, but not a flake here.We cooked all day with last fire at 8pm made 11.25 gal medium syrup. Fixed him supper at 9:15. high temp 50 low was 32. Sunday March 26th 23 degrees calm we cooked all day he went home at 4 so I ran the whole show till 8:30 made 11.5 gal darker syrup then clean up. The cool down took longer than I thought but made it back to the cabin at 11pm was clear calm 29 degrees quarter moon. Food and sleep. Monday March 27th 7am sunny cold calm 24 degrees will gather sap today started at 10:45 finished at 3pm. got 345 gal put in tanks for future cooking. Will need to drop a few standing elm trees for dry fire wood to boil our last time. The maple sap has been testing at 2.25 percent,so my fire wood supply went down faster. Last season was running 2.5 percent. Also had an issue with sugar sand in the finish pan. God Bless.

Nice weekend report. I just smiled as we boiled on here as the snowstorm depth reports came in. No snow here either. Our temps matched yours and our very full 5 gallons pails matched yours. I haven't seen the snow fleas this year. Yesterday was the first day that there were more flies than moths around the pails. I haven't reached a 2.25% per cent all season. Topping out just above 2. Those are some long weekends you put in. All I have for now from the west of you.

Hi guys. I thought I had made a post but now don't see it. Will try to recreate...
I put in taps Feb 28th. Earliest ever for me. Retirement helps for that. Now on week 5 and I am elated about how its all gone. My record for syrup production of 6.5 G from last year is getting blown out of the water! At 9 gallons so far and one last big run and boil this weekend should get me close to 12 G!! I can relate about Charlie horses. Entire hamstring cramping that has interrupted a card game, sleep and an otherwise tasty meal at the Creekside in Readstown. My friends thought I was choking on the broasted chicken! Have had great help from fellow sapsuckers, nice days for boiling and all around great season. Still at 27 trees tapped. Had a run last week of 170 gallons of sap in 5 days. Surviving only because I have the RO bucket and a new Starcat evaporator dubbed the Moon Buggy. No more moving cinderblock around. Glad to see you are all still at it. Haven't heard from Tom Moore. Always think of him when the peepers start croaking. Have a great day! -LuAnn

Hi all, had a long stay at sugar camp. Arrived Wed March 29th with plans to cut some dead dry standing elm, Started that 10:00 finished at 1:30. then split it all and piled it up by the sugar house door. was a cool windy 35 degree day. Thurs March 30th slept in that morning felt good for sure, was sunny 16 degrees The day was to gather some sap, but buckets were frozen so I pulled 72 taps along our field path,had to get the rain gear on with some light rain hitting me. Friday March 31st 41 degrees thunder storms got me up at 2:30 am was a great show of Gods creation. Went up top and gathered 130 gal of sap in the morning. then spent the whole day pulling the rest of the taps. I mark the tap hole with those hunter trail markers, makes next season easier to find where to drill. Glad I had rain gear the big storms came about 5 or so while I was hauling buckets down to the cabin, made two trips up and down in that storm. Sat April 1st my son and I had 625 gal to cook, worked all day with a 11:30 supper, was a windy cold day, Sunday April 2nd was clear and frosty, we cooked and finished at 4pm, the afternoon was warm had honey bees around even saw a butterfly could not figure that one out. Did some evening cleaning and organizing. with the season over we cooked 2,625 gal of sap made 62.75 gal of syrup our 2nd best ever. Monday April 3rd filled my pick up with all I could haul and the snowmobile on the trailer. saw 7 deer heard geese, owls , coyotes, lots of small birds. And the first peeper Sunday night. Oh forgot to tell about my neighbor, he stopped to see me while I was packing up the pick up ,and told me he and his wife were worried about me with the truck sitting there so long. Told me he went up his ridge road to check on me and see if I was drawing flies guess I was in good hands. God Bless.

Nice update. Glad you had such a great year. We had similar good results. I remember that night storm. My wife nudged me and asked why I wasn't getting up to watch. Just too tired. Easy as that. Haven't heard the peepers yet but the fish made it through the winter. Time for you to finish cleanup and then get set for some prospecting.

Hi fellow sappers, back from 2.5 day stay at the cabin. My 19yo grandson came over to help me, he brought his Honda dirt bike with him which I rode a bit, boy that thing will make a old guy feel 19 again. We gathered all the tanks- tarps and began the cleaning process.and pulled all 17 tubing taps, flushed them and drained the line till next spring. That was Friday April 14. It was hot sunny 87 degrees. Saturday April 15th 7:30 am I decided to cut two very large high bred poplar trees down by the cabin. They were 21 years old and I could not get my arms around them. up a ladder with a tow strap then 100 ft rope with a come along to another tree ,Bingo all went perfect. and I dont half to rebuild the cabin. Then I finished the tank washing and he split a pallet of fire wood. supper, movie time and sleep, we had some thunder storms and rain in the night. Sunday April 16th got up it was raining so we packed up, went home. Saw 7 deer- geese- and sand hill cranes, And now while posting this its snowing, hope you all have a great summer and God Bless.

Yesterday Saturday January 27th I took my snowmobile over to our sugar bush.I decided to place my top tanks out and cover them with snow and tarps, seeing our snow is melting away. The second week of January we had three snows with a total of 20 inches, followed by a week of sub zero temps than a warming trend, and now down to 3 to 6 inches in the woods. Also noticed the ground is not frozen so would bet the trees are running. I will wait until last weekend in February for tapping. But open to a sooner date. It was a damp foggy day, stayed over in the cabin Saturday night with burgers for supper and a movie. Enjoyed the quiet night by the wood stove fire light. Sunday morning I saw two eagles, plenty of birds at the feeder. Hope you are all well , lets see what this mixed up winter will bring us.




date.

Another mild day so I tapped a maple behind my house and my fears were true,sap was running and the tap was on the north side of the tree.BUMMER FOR SURE. to early to tap yet to late to wait. never seen this before .

I usually only have time to collect and boil for a two week span so I went for with this warm up. Put in 50 taps from 10-12 on Sunday and collected 100 gallons this afternoon. Had half a dozen 3 gallon buckets overflowing. Northern Iowa County

Tuesday, Feb. 6th. Greetings all. Enjoying the warmth of St. Martin and watching the thermometer back in Crawford County. And now my fears have been confirmed by these reports. Not returning until Next Wednesday so Thursday of next week will be my first day back at this crazy hobby of ours. I don't mind missing the first big push but I would hate to see it get so crazy warm too soon that buds start developing way to early. I'll be looking forward to more posts as I sit here each day doing the math on how much sap and potential gallons of syrup I am forfeiting.

Headed out and collected another 75 gallons off of 50 taps yesterday afternoon. South facing trees didn’t produce much but still had a few overflowing buckets on some trees in the bottom.

I see a bunch of activity out there, I was in South Dakota this last week for MSHA training, my son and daughter in law will be mining gold on a permitted claim in the black hills. So My wife and I had to be certified to help at the mine. Looks like end of February first weekend of March for tapping here. Had a text today from a large producer above Green Bay, he told me he has 50 barrels put up already thats like 2,500 gallons WOW. The weather sure is a challenge this winter. God Bless.

Boiled down 200+ gallons on Friday and Saturday and got about 5.5 gallons of syrup for the week. Should be a decent run through Thursday before the cool down. Will probably pull taps and call it a season in the middle of February. Wild year for syrup.

Hi Lulu, Mr. Sugar Maple, Irish Ridge and others - Tom Moore here! Long story short - we made the move from Waukesha County to our 20+ year land in Vernin County and built our last home. Moved in April last year. Needless to say, no tapping last year and none this year, as we're getting ready for some new kid goats soon. HOWEVER, my blood is boiling to boil sap! Going to try to do it right and wait out this year and get re-organized for 2025. Keep posting all of you - I'm living vicariously thru you this year. Not tapping for two years is making me crazy. I walk the woods each morning (now that we're 5 minutes away instead of 3 hours) and really tuning in. Reading all your posts - so keep it going! Tom

Hi Tom, welcome to Vernon County. Congratulations on the new home I would love to have a home there, my home is 80 miles from the sugar bush. With my son moving to South Dakota our plan was to have him come back March 1st and tap get things set make syrup. Now with this warm weather dont know if the trees will wait. In a normal year that is about the right time for tapping. God Bless

Saturday, Feb. 17th...Hey Tom. Good to hear from you again. I remember the three hour drives to our land here in Crawford before we built as well. We always thought it was worth it. Retired in 2010 and don't ask where the last 14 years went because I sure don't know. We returned from vacation Thursday. Friday was spent tapping my 50 trees. Not a tree was running with the cold weather. Today will be getting everything else ready up top. It was sure nice being able to set buckets right onto the ground. My woods are free of snow. The weather report for this neck of the woods shows a good week ahead and who knows after that. Tis the season.

Great to hear from you, Tom! I was worrying about you last year. Must feel good to put down deep roots on your land that you love. That is cool. I had what I thought was a great plan, spend a few weeks in Arizona and be back at end of Feb to get the season going. Instead, here I sit in Tucson checking the weather a couple of times a day and reading sugaring updates here and on facebook. The artic blast that I thought was going to happen while I was gone never did materialize. I'm with Irish Ridge, thinking about all the sap that I'd have collected by now. Nothing I can do about it so I'm just going to enjoy the nice weather, hike the beautiful mountains and work on my golf game. I'll be over to tap on March 2nd. I'm sure I'll still get something out of the season (north facing slope helps). In the mean time, I'll check in every so often and hope that the buds don't pop. Take care everyone!

Pulled my taps a week ago before the cold spell and have everything cleaned and put away for the year. Finished up boiling last weekend for a total of about 9 gallons of syrup. Not too shabby for having the taps in for 10 days. Pretty crazy to be all done when I’d usually just be starting to pull things out of storage.

Saturday, Feb. 24th....Was a nice week for collecting sap and evaporating. Sap flow was good, not a lot of wind to bother me and the smoke stack until yesterday, and not much mud to slip on in the woods. Actually scared up a grouse. We had three strong days of boiling and got done outside yesterday around noon. This morning we "finished" up inside on the gas stove in the kitchen and arrived at a grand total of 5.25 gallons for the week. Syrup was a nice amber color. Looking at the long range weather, I am thinking that the upcoming week may just be my last week of the season. And now it is time to get back outside and organize fire wood for this next week, empty ash, and overall cleanup. Was a good first week - No surprises.

Hi everyone, well the season is a total bust for me, we decided to not tap at all with this unpredictable weather, 74 degrees today. Was at our land this weekend found greasy soft muddy ground in the valley and dry firm ground up in the bush.I cut more fire wood and put my tanks back inside the sugar house. Saw 4 deer heard robins and red winged blackbirds. No peepers yet, but cant be far off with the warm gusty winds. Friend John found where a huge boulder came down a steep section of the land and took out a 20 inch birch tree,glad that caught it because with the route it was on it could have worked its way down and thru our cabin. Just nuts. I hope those of you who are sugaring will be able to complete your season, God Bless.

Saturday, March 2nd.....Strange week. Good sap flow early in the week, then a shut down, and another good flow towards the end of the week. Had a great early week boil and an all day boil Saturday late into the evening. Serious study of the long range forecast brought on the decision to pull taps on Saturday simply to avoid mud in the woods with rain in the forecast throughout the week. Did I leave some sap out there? Perhaps, but I was beginning to collect ants, moths, and flies as well. Sap was also not as clear. The plan is to boil Sunday afternoon, finish up inside Monday, start clean up Tuesday.

Sunday, March 3rd...Boiled all day Saturday. Everything is out of the woods and limited clean up began in between putting in wood. Some friends stopped over with beverages. A nice discussion was held on why at least one had to limit consumption to prevent pan damage. There was little belief until the challenge was made to go to the "backyard maple syrup maker" facebook page to view burned up pans. Then there was understanding. Boiled late and then kept a slow go through the night. It meant running out and putting wood in every two hours. When it is 45 degrees all through the night it really isn't too bad. Sunday the wind was terrible and though I boil outside I am protected by from the wind for the most part. We finished outside around 5 p.m. and then it was time to watch the Iowa basketball (Clark) from earlier in the day. We finish on the gas stove inside tomorrow morning while it rains outside.

Monday, March 4th...Some rain, some lightning, some showers. Good morning to be inside and finishing up syrup. Started early and completed by noon. 4 plus gallons today for a total of 9.75 gallons of syrup. We are happy with this total considering we watched the first half of the season pass by from a beach in the islands. We had a real nice sugar content over two per cent and even close to 3 at times. There was lots of sand this year and without good filters, well, I don't even want to think how it would have turned out. One last random thought...this might be our last year. A friend is willing to take all of my supplies over to his land and start anew. We are looking forward to taking him under our wing for a year.

SM...I hated to read you were taking this year off but your decision is certainly based on good logic. I was actually having the same debate in my mind a few weeks ago. Glad I did but now face a major cleanup. At least you won't have the "big dirty" to look forward to. I'll be looking forward to hearing about the out west mining results next spring. Also, still waiting to hear from more of the regulars on this thread.

Thanks Irish Ridge, Glad you had a good season. I am still bummed about not sugaring this season but next spring will come, and we all hope for a normal winter- spring. Thanks 0n the gold mining, this will be our first time mining on a permitted claim. My son and I are going to southern California to pick up a new wash plant so looking forward to that trip. We hope to be mining by end of May. God Bless.

Hi guys. Well, I get to have a sugaring season after all. Returned from Arizona on March 1st. Tapped 30 trees in rain and hail yesterday and this morning they are all running fast and clear after a cold night down to 29. I realize I'm creating one big mess for what may only be a 7 day run but to hear the tap, tap, tap (and CF = crazy fast if you don't remember my rating system) makes it all worth it. Help will be arriving later in the week with plan for 2 day boil Sat-Sun. Maybe pull taps early next week if warm up plays out. Buds are barely visible or not at all on my north-facing slope.

Thats all for now. I'll make season finale report early next week. Go Hawkeyes!

Life is good.

Hi everyone, well another syrup season is upon us, spent the last two days getting ready by taking my pails.lids up top also two tanks for sap storage. then cover them with snow.I started with the snowmobile but for lack of enough snow had to switch to the 4 wheeler. had trouble with the snowmobile spinning out on the steep part of my ridge road and spun out in some rocks,then try to turn a snowmobile around with a tow sled behind.Fun that was.Any how got things done including cleaning up the sugar house.Had 5 inches of snow in the woods but was melting away fast.There were tons of deer tracks all over the woods but did not see any, lots of small birds also an eagle in the marsh below us. Irish Ridge our gold mining season was a bust, the fabricator did not get the new wash plant built and we are still waiting, But did get things in place otherwise. including a built from scratch 10 by 50 20.000 gal water settling tank hoping for a season this May. Still not sure our tapping date next weekend March 1-2 ? God Bless

FYI On Monday afternoon when I returned home to Lodi there is a back yard maple that I always do a test tap on well Monday was dry then Tuesday thru Thursday it produced 3/4 of a gallon of sap. Guess its a go for us tapping this weekend.