Tapping Greyfox Farm 2013

With the prospect of 40 degrees tomorrow I tapped half a dozen today just to see what this season will bring. I'm tapping new trees this year; my woods was logged off about 30 years ago so the bush is all smaller trees and I'm giving the trees that I tapped the last two years a chance to rest. I'm at 800 feet elevation, North facing, and they're mostly reds so we'll see. Mine is a completly hobby operation so loss of revenue isn't a consideration, I just want to keep the bush healthy.
No matter what, I'm finishing tapping-in this Sunday. It's my wife's birthday on the 24th, and the Daytona 500. Best wishes Mark Martin. Oh yeah...and Shirley.

Spent the morning over at our friends house teaching her son and daughter-in-law how to run a simple tubing-to-bucket system. We tapped-in half a dozen which was about the extent of what was available. It was fun working with someone 30 years younger and showing them the ropes. This is something they NEVER would have learned back in Florida, and I'm glad to get them outside to enjoy winter.

Back here we're still not boiling. I've collected about a gallon block of ice from one tap and zip from the others, but there's some good looking days on the 10-day for next week, so I hope to be producing by the first weekend in March. Still not sure about how many I'll tap this year, best guess 20 or 25. TBD as the season dictates.

I was at the real job today and the snow was melting off the roof, coming down like crazy. I ducked out a little early so I could get home in time to see how well the test taps were performing. I came inside just long enough to charge the wood stove in the house and then headed out into the sugar woods. I got to the bucket that I put in last week that has three nice trees running into it, opened up the bucket, and reached in and dunked my hand into a bucket full or.....nothing. Dust. (sigh) Oh well, the ten-day looks good for the end of next week. Of course that was the same forecast as last week...and the week before...and the week before that. Maybe Memorial Day we'll get a good run. If not then, 4th of July for sure.

Temps are looking good next week

Just getting dribbles here and hoping for better runs next week.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MapleLady

Just getting dribbles here and hoping for better runs next week.

---

Yeah, I think your right, it looks like we'll get the 40/25 degree split here starting next week as well. I'm just antsy to get things rolling and my natural pessimism sometimes takes hold. It looks like this season MIGHT be a more typical season than last year. Good luck to you "down-state."
Speaking of pessimism,a pessimist, an optimist and an opportunist walk into a bar. The bar tender pours a drink. The pessimist argues that the glass is half empty. The optimist argues that the glass is half full. The opportunist reaches over and drinks it. (drum kick, ba-dum-bum!)

Same here slow trickle of sap. This is my second season and I find myself getting impatient after making a half gallon of syrup last weekend. Based on the weather forecast and if the snow holds off, I may get around to finish putting my last 20 taps in.

Looking at the predicted temps for this week, I think I will finish putting in my taps today -- only 10 - 15 more over here. Hoping for a small boil by Tues. I think with such an early warm up last year, my mindset is that it is time. Historically, it's still on the early side. Time will tell, but we'll be ready over here! :)

Good luck guys. I just got back from tapping-in a section of new trees. Nothing was running, as expected, but I'm in good shape for the start of the season, which should be next week up here. The last time I looked at the forecast was yesterday and it was calling for 3" of snow, so if we get another -7 inches we'll be right on target. It's noon and I've got a good 10" with no sign of stopping. The snowpack should be good for the trees once they wake up.
On a separate subject, today is the Daytona 500 and my wife's birthday as well. Naturally we'll be celebrating here. I have plenty of outside work to do, but I came inside to spend the rest of the day at home. It's important to celebrate these milestones. Oh yeah, and happy birthday too.

I got home today and went out to the house to see how we did. It was a good day for this time of year; we got 8 eggs from 16 hens... Wait, that was from the hen-house, not the sugar-house. I clumped out to the sugarbush after dark and amazingly, magically, and happily we have a run! Not all the trees were running, but I have enough to do a first boil on Thursday. There were a few trees still dripping tonight at 7:00. I hope everybody else had a good day today as well. Maybe it's finally "game on!"