Tapping in the Ottawa valley

Anyone in the Ottawa valley thinking of tapping this coming weekend? Forecasts show +3C Friday, +5C Saturday, +2C Sunday, -4C Monday, -2C Tuesday and +2C Wednesday.

Cheers,
Eric

I already have a few test taps. The rest will most likely go in this weekend. Monday and Tuesday will not produce any sap but I'm hoping the remaining will. :confused:

I will wait at least another week myself but watch the weather the whole time.

Look like the temperature will be slightly under 0C starting Monday. I guess I'll wait one more week too.

Cheers,
Eric

Hey Rockwood,

Any sap from your tests taps? I am thinking of tapping tomorrow if the rain hold off.

Wino

Ya can tap in the pouring rain if you want but... I'll pass 'til next weekend at least.

I tapped about 30 with my two year old last night lots of fun. All he wanted to do was ride around on my old john deere sled. We want to brain wash him early { maple syrup and old john deere tractors }. i am going to tap the rest on sat. Rain or no rain. There is only one way to get rid of the maple itch and that is to start, Hanging buckets. I hope its not in vane the long range looks ok?

Nothing to speak of sap wise yet. Maybe a quart per bucket facing south, and nothing for the north facing ones. The temperature did hit 4c for most of the afternoon though.

hi guys i really dont think much is goin to go to at least next weekend. i am holdin off dont want to go early and have things bung up. i am lookin at 1 week today to tap even if it starts a couple days after i fig i will be ok --- a full week after tapping i start to be concerned with pluging up:confused:

I am in Renfrew Ontario..and I think I am going to tap tomorrow if the rain holds off...opps, just looked outside and its already switched to snow so it looks like tree's will be tapped for tomorrow...just can' wait any longer. I think the first run will be next weekend...

I am in Renfrew and the sap finally started to flow today, should be a good run tomorrow and the rest of the week.

Same here...it ran a bit on Tuesday. Today should be a good day!

Eric

Finally, saps flowing.. gathered 100 gallons today. Should be an awesome week.

Hello..just wondering if anyone around the Ottawa Valley has a 2x6 or 2x8 set up for sale or even just the pans off a 2x6 I could use with my arch. I am looking for raised flues and a syrup pan with dividers...all SS welded. Let me know if anyone is upgrading after the season.

I will also be selling my set up...either all the pans or whole evaporator (2x6)

I will probably be wrapping up this week. One more boil on Thursday maybe and that will be it for me. Is anyone continuing?

I was expecting to make 25 liters this year from 50 taps, but I'm just over 28 liters so far...pretty good year from my point of view I think.

Cheers,
Eric

Glad you had a good year Eric. I am going to try for 1 more boil this week and then shut it down. All my help is getting worn out!! Did all your equipment work up to expectation? cvmaple

Hi cvmaple,

Yes things went very well for my first year with the small D&G evaporator. It boiled surprisingly fast (compared to my BBQ :lol:). By the time it's all said and done I will have made over 30 liters of syrup from 50 taps which is more than I was expecting. Also no more finishing on the stove since I have a small propane finisher from Atkinson...the sticky mess stays in the shack an no longer in our kitchen which makes my wife much happier.

How did things end up working for you this year?

Cheers,
Eric

We had a great year this time around. We tapped on March 1st because I had my holidays booked for the middle of march. Unlike last year it was a nice gradual spring this year with 2 cold spells which helped us keep caught up with finishing etc. We ran out of wood near the end of march and had to cut up some elm behind the barn and we acquired some cedar which really burned nice and hot. We fine tuned our firing and filtering techniques and we need to build better roads back to our woods. We produced just over 70 litres of beautiful clear syrup from our 68 taps which I was quite pleased with. It is still running a little bit down here in southern Ontario but I have had enough for this year. Time to sell a few litres to pay for some knick knacks for next year. cvmaple

I wrapped things up today by removing my buckets and did my last batch on the propane finisher. I got 48 liters from 50 taps, but I threw a bit of sap out that was left in the tank. I ran out of wood and didn't want to use my home firewood.

The dark syrup I finished today did not filter well at all, but man is it ever tasty.

I will probably spend all week cleaning things up and storing them away until next year.

I'm thinking of doing 60 or 70 trees next year. That's probably all I can handle with the time that I have.

Cheers,
Eric