Saturday sucked here too. I wasn't going to open until 11:00 on Sunday but the crowds started rolling in at 9:30 and by 11:00 we had already passed Saturday's sales total.
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Saturday sucked here too. I wasn't going to open until 11:00 on Sunday but the crowds started rolling in at 9:30 and by 11:00 we had already passed Saturday's sales total.
Nice to be getting sap Finally!!! Same exact pattern as last year. slow start to the season sap here and there then after maple weekend BAM. I hope it keeps up. 450 gallons monday, 450 gallons Tuesday.
Over the weekend I just cycled sap through once so I was boiling 4-5% sap then at 2:30 on sunday I recirculated what I had left and boiled everything out. made a bunch of very Dark which was a good thing actually great flavor too. lots of orders for it. Sap is back up to 2% average between buckets 2.6% and vacuum 1.8% so thats good.
busy as hell yesterday. 36 second graders for a tour. a gentleman wanted to see the vacuum system set-up as he is putting one in. A guy I used to work with came up from boston haven't seen him in 10 years or so. was there the whole time I was boiling. luckily everything went smooth as could be, But I was beat!!!
Just about back into Dark now took a while to get things running smoothly again Flue pan is lightened back up again as well. filtered syrup yesterday when I was done boiling loaded with niter. I know flu pan is loaded too. so I will drain that out and filter it through after everything cools down tonight looks like its alot of sludge back there. should lighten things up a bit just from that. hopefully get close to amber again.
got 17 -2nd graders today, 36 thursday AM , and 40 on fridayAM . then 15 seniors on friday afternoon. and then I am done with tours.
Baseball and softball starting for the kids so throw that into the mix now!!! GEEZ!!! Easter coming up we'll be boiling then too... thats a good thing!!!
Red Sox first game against Philly monday 3:05!!! We'll be listening to that in the sugarhouse!!! can't wait!!!
I love that you get all those school tours. My friends are from all over the country so I'm always teaching someone about Maple. I love when newcomers stop by on boiling days, I get to teach them about the process and show off the homemade evaporator.
not a good sap day... alittle too cold last night I think. Things took a little longer to to get going and then it ran the hardest I have seen it run yet this year... releaser was dumping every 5-7 minutes. for about an hr then the wind picked up and it was windy as hell here then things slowed way down. The buckets didn;t do well today either. only ended up with 280 gallons of sap. hmmmm darn wind anyway. Vac pressure settled in at 26" today too.
See what we get tomorrow.
The 10 day forecast doesn;t look too bad. I am trying not to look too far past that as its NEVER accurate, but its making me a little nervous... day temps look OK but nights are a little warm. vacumm Vacuum Vacuum!!! Need more syrup FINALLY past the 50 gallon mark today!!!
My gravity tanks and buckets are running good here and I got over 1/2 gpt on the vacuum yesterday. Made 21 gallons last night and will be boiling again tonight.
I've said enough about the 10 day forecast. I'm keeping my thoughts on that to myself so as not to jinx anything. I'm not looking past 3 days out.
same here brother!!!
OK, So, We all get some really "out there" questions... here's the best one of the season so far, not sure if it beats last year's " what kind of trees to you make maple syrup from? " WOW
Today one of the parents on the tour asked me "What kind of wood did you use to build the sugarhouse to give the flavor to the maple syrup? " What? Huh??? Wait What??? How do you even answer that?
Man too cold then no sun to get things going, 12:00 and the ice finally came out of the lines. but sap is just trickling out, 1:00 46* and trees are still frozen sun is trying to creep out. need those trees to warm up!!!
My thermometer had been stuck at 30 till 11 AM, but jumped to 37 in 30 minutes. Sitting at 41 degrees now, but not even the icicles on the roof are dripping yet. Was planning on checking for leaks but it needs to start running first.Quote:
Originally Posted by red maples
The sap started running late here too but when it did finally start it ran good. Between yesterday and the day before I got 130 gallons out of my buckets and gravity tanks. That's 17 buckets and the rest on 5/16" tubing.