Collected 40gal today and had to leave one group as I don't have any more room to hold plus it will probably stay cooler. Kinda glad it's slowed for a day or two myself need to catch up on boiling but hope it starts strong for those that need it.
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Collected 40gal today and had to leave one group as I don't have any more room to hold plus it will probably stay cooler. Kinda glad it's slowed for a day or two myself need to catch up on boiling but hope it starts strong for those that need it.
Slow day here today, maybe 10 gallons. Should be on tommorow i hope
well cold again tonight and tomorrow high of minus 8 low -14 with wind chill -30 nice! going to tap late this week. long range has finally got some consistant - / + in it over the next few weeks. Snowshoes will be required for tapping for sure !!
Monday was a little better then Sunday for me, it was still not anything to write home about but I collected about 15 LQuote:
Originally Posted by Run Forest Run!
Anybody selling syrup around the Newmarket area. Have somebody looking to buy some locally but I am a pretty far drive from there lol. Post or pm me your info. They are only looking for personal supply 1-2l thanks guys.
I'm about 20 min from there but only made enough so far to share with friends and family. March is not looking good either. Looking at the forecast, it looks like our days are over.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hkb82
I am not far, PM sentQuote:
Originally Posted by Hkb82
Thanks to everybody that replied I let them no I could put them in contact with somebody local so if I hear back I will be in touch thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by NTBugtraq
WOW, it seems we missed our big flow day!
We didn't get our taps in until about 5pm that Sunday evening, we were returning from vacation and it's the best we could do.
I just went out to check, our largest maple, who also gets the highest sun exposure, is just barely starting to drip....
@NTBugtraq - what device do you use to measure your sap brix?
Things have been pretty quiet for four days now. I collected 65L on the 19th and then 29L on the 21st. I boiled all but 13L of that down (thank goodness I reserved that 13L for the oh s*** bucket - whew!). Suffice it to say that I've learned from you sugarers who've been doing this for decades, if not generations, that you are never good enough to not have your exit strategy. My 'extra' cold sap was by my side, and I needed it. Thanks to you seasoned sugarers I saved my batch from certain black death.
From 80.5L I made 2L of light syrup. I feel like we haven't really even had our "traditional" season yet. What we've had are mini bursts of sap that have us boiling every four or five days and then we get a week off. It's actually a decent pace, but I keep wondering if, or when, we'll see the real deal. Thank goodness I've got a stash (like in Quebec) to see me through lean times should they happen. :lol:
Boiled 35 gallons of sap and made 1 gallon of syrup....its a nice medium amber. Taste awsome!
I was boiling today too. I had 88L in this batch. I haven't got it quite ready to bottle yet, but it looks like it will be close to 2L.
Karen,are you a night owl? At 2:37 this morning I was in a deep sleep!! Glad to hear you saved your syrup,as I am teaching a young lad now,no matter how many thousands of gallons of sap you have boiled,still better to have that o:;,-$! Pail handy to save your syrup,and more importantly your pan.
Did yours come out light to?Quote:
Originally Posted by Run Forest Run!
Bruce, yes I'm a night owl, and don't ask for any life or death answers from me before lunch. lol That's when the coffee kicks in.
C0ps, it's looking like a light batch is what I'll have. The 2L batch I finished a few days ago is also light. Surprise, surprise, I've looked out the window this morning and some of the taps are dumping sap. I know the temperature outside was about -.5*C when I went to bed at 3am, but I didn't think it would be enough to kick start the sap so much!
That's awsome. I looked at mine early afternoon and nothing dripping
On another note. Looks like we might have another couple of days left in the season and time to pack it in.
COps, check out accuweather's forecast. It looks promising after April 2nd.
I also boiled down 35 gallons of sap got 4L of a medium Amber.
Brought down 11 5 gal pails from the cottage.
Hopefully they will thaw out by the coming weekend.
Been an interesting few days. On Friday I made 1.150L of Syrup. Saturday to now collected another 40ish Litres of sap. I was kind of surprised to see sap flowing today as I thought it was too warm overnight, also surprised to see a couple of my trees that have not been producing well this year have started to put out at the 11th hour.
Made 1L last night and it is my lightest of the season so far.Quote:
Originally Posted by c0ps
Sorry to take so long to respond. I have a digital refractometer and a manual (actually 2 manual refractometers, one for sap, the other for syrup, different brix ranges). They never agree, so I use the number inbetween the two values.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fort Wisers
Today has been great in a couple of ways. First, I managed to bottle 15L already today, and I could have bottled another 8L if I wanted but I decided to combine that with a batch tomorrow instead. That's my best day for finishing syrup ever. Also, it was 67.8 brix, which is higher than any other batch this year. In past years I have ended up with >69 and even >70 brix batches, but so far mine have all been very close to 66 brix.
Second, I have finally solved my overflowing sap storage problem. My arch can only boil @ 15gph, at most. I have, several times, had sap tsunamis that greatly exceeded that rate, and as such I end up losing sap to the floor of my sugar shack. Yesterday I added a few ball values to my main line. They help me identify leaks in the line because I can turn off large sections of the bush. But perhaps more importantly, there is one inside the pump house which turns off all taps. This turns my main line into additional storage tanks...!!!! With 400 gallons of storage on the wall, the last thing I do each day is turn that valve off. What a relief.
Not much flow in the past 2 days...a little, maybe 100 gallons each day. My forecast still has many likely sap-flowing days, the question will really be whether my trees start budding or no. Trees are budding 20 minutes from me (Beaverton, which is on the shores of Lake Simcoe), but nothing here...
Hey there NTBugtraq I am just up the road from you south of Minden. I made 15 liters on Saturday. It was my biggest day ever, but was only about 8 hours of boiling on my 2x4 flat pan. I have about 50, 4 gallon buckets that were full, but were at least 3/4 ice. The remain 1/4 was highly concentrated sap that was sticky to the touch. It was like I had an RO machine. I likely left some good sugar in the pails but the ice is hopefully keeping this weeks run ice cool. I will be back on friday night to start it all over again. My bloody day job keeps getting in the way of the real work. Here's hoping for a cool down to kick start the trees for the weekend.Quote:
Originally Posted by NTBugtraq
lolz, you fight the right...;-]Quote:
Originally Posted by naturenitwit
Dripping reall good today. I collected about 35g from yesterday's and the day before. No doubt I will have another 40-50g tomorrow with the way they were going today.
Its been quite here
Diddly squat here today too.
Well the drip yesterday could not have lasted all day. Thought I was going out to collect a good amount but was very surprised at what I found. Yesterday around 11-12ish I had most if not all buckets dripping but today I only collected 17g. Still better then nothing but what a disappointment.
A few days ago I had to get to the top of my storage tank to reposition the supply pipe, so I used a little 3 stair step stool. I had to stand on the top stair, and I felt uncomfortable but it worked. Today, it didn't...my side into the top of the arch then the floor...oomph, ouch. I heard cracks in my neck and my back, but I've got full range of motion albeit it while hurting like hell.
A bit of advice; "Never use a 3 step if you can use a ladder"...
And what sucks the most is that the sap is flowing well today. Needless to day I let the fire go out.
Got to be carefully boy. Once you injure that back and neck it's reaccuringQuote:
Originally Posted by NTBugtraq
I agree, next time I fall like that I will fall on a less fallen on part of my body...hmmm...???...;-]Quote:
Originally Posted by c0ps
Land on your feet! If a cat can do it you can to!Quote:
Originally Posted by NTBugtraq
How are you doing for your yearly production Karen? Mitchman
Couldn't resist a walk around my sap line this am to see how the day might go. Found most of my buckets were dripping by 9am. Gotta love it. Plus tonight is calling for around 2 but being a stones throw away from Lake Huron we usually get a bit cooler then the forcast. Then sun and cloud with +8 for Sunday. Looks like I might get another good boil or two this season.
I'm having a slow year Mitchman. With about 2.5 gallons of syrup made, and terrible weather in the forecast, I doubt I'll get much more. Most of the syrup that I've got was made during the strange early warm spell at the end of February. Thank goodness I tapped my trees then.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitchman
I'm calling it quits. Emptied the last remaining buckets in the forest, 80 gallons. Boiling it today and removing taps tomorrow. Same here Karen, glad I tapped in feb.
I pulled a bunch today and then put a few fresh holes and spiles into a couple of box elders that hadn't been tapped. They were dripping well. We are definitely near the end here. Usually I'm drowning in sap on Easter weekend, but that's not going to be the case this year. Crazy season for 2017.Quote:
Originally Posted by c0ps
I am in recovery mode, so if you are looking for somewhere to come sugar, you'd be welcome here...1918 County Rd. 48, Kirkfield, on hwy 48 just before Balsam Lake provincial park heading east on 48 before Coboconk.
Most around here are just over 50% production also, glad they tapped in early!!! Very strange season for sure. Like the Red Sox!! Wait till next year!!!!!