Willow Creek Sugarhouse 2015

I was gonna wait to get this started but I am getting excited for the season. Who knows when the sap will actually start flowing. Long range forecast has changed like it always does and warm up doesn't look like its coming until March. Tapping will be a little slower because of all the snow so I will have to leave myself a couple extra days just in case. I will take it as more time to get stuff done.

I was gonna start tapping this weekend but put a hold on that since its probably gonna be single digits for highs. so I will wait until probably the end of next week to the beginning of the following. just keep watching the weather.

Went out in the woods with the chainsaw and worked up quite a sweat just from walking on untouched paths. That and snow falling on my neck from the little pines. But got all the lines cleared and had to use the snowshoe to dig out one log that fell over a lateral.

Fixed some side ties on the main lines still a little adjustment to do but for the most part that all set.

Today going out to fix some squirrel damage and boy there is a lot, replace a couple of laterals guessing deer chews and I have to replace a few drops.

Don't forget.....Avoid the crowds and don't forget the valentines stuff for the wife and/or girl friend ;) Happy wife happy life!!!

And one last note.... It might be cold out well really cold but The highest paid team in Red Sox history, spring training is just around the corner!!! Think Spring!!! Not Snow!!!

I changed my count down Russ!

I too was thinking about getting some tapping done this weekend but don't think it's going to happen. It's not only the single digit temps. It's supposed to be windy too so the wind chill will be below zero. That's not the kind of weather that I like to be outdoors in. Good luck with the new season when it finally gets here.

I just don;t like wind period!!!

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Originally Posted by red maples

I just don;t like wind period!!!

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Me either!!!

Lol....wuss...ok fine I'm staying inside tomorrow too...

That wind sucks!!! wanted to work in the woods yesterday but since we are gonna get yet another round of snow I decided to work on the roof and get at least the edges cleared off I have already shoveled it once. but its piled right back up. ice Dams are getting bigger too. So worked on that. Today its just too dam nasty out to even wanna be outside. but running errunds and getting some more gas for the plow etc.

with the next round of snow coming another 9-16 inches or what ever forecasted this will be the first year since I have been doing maple I may have to shovel out mainlines and some laterals too. this is crazy!!! I think we will break 100 inches pretty easy after this upcoming storm and all but 14 of those inches have come in the past 3.5 weeks.

Well, I guess at least the bees are well insulated...

Yup. Same story here. I was going to start tapping this weekend but no freaking way looking at the weather outside. Doesn't look like there's any hurry for it anyway. Looks like next weekend is the start.

I'm hoping that by next weekend we will see some above freezing temps in the forecast. This snow and cold sucks.

I was gonna start tapping by Wed. but well yep snow FRIGGIN' AGAIN Tuesday into wed. only 2-4 inches right now but it could turn into 2-4 feet by the way this winter is going. the maybe more snow next weekend. So I think I am gonna plan to start tapping the 23rd or 24th looks like the weekend of of the 28/1 looks like the first real warm up and then some at least about freezing temps for day highs from there through march. geez. 2 years in a row. Kinda like going back in time. I think we just got spoiled the for a while starting in early to mid Feb.

Hey Chris if you see this thining about bees if you guys are riding past the hive can you brush the snow from the front of the hive. they won't come out its too cold.

Can't even get a sled out there yet...god this is killing me...can't even see the hive...Not worried about them coming out...unless they have little snowshoes...

They should be fine...I hope that was a really strong hive going into the winter. My 2 here are still going good. sorry I didn;t return your calls both times when you called I was working on snow. I borrowed my neighbor's bob cat and moved the snow piles back took me 5 hrs. and I was pretty **** frozen when I Was done I must have dumped a few hundred pounds of snow on myself too. and then I was shoveling off the roof for 2 days!!!

So besides that stuff I was able to get out in the woods a little bit rough going got things pretty much ready to go. still a few things here and there. Started tapping this afternoon. didn;t get to many in it was warm and I was wet!!! hit alot of "quick snow" walking along fine and poof up past my waste... then I gotta get out....

OK so -12 here this morning. looks like most of the state ranges -6 to -32 according to WMUR. Doesn;t look like this cold weather is going away for at least and other week + maybe as long as wed/thurs next week. with the exception of monday at 35-37 but cloudy which won't help matters much being these things have been frozen solid for at least a month or more. this will be by far the latest start for me since have doing the maple thing.

anyway...that depressing news aside. I got in another 100 taps yesterday afternoon before the sun went behind the trees and I got a chill from that nasty wind. I think the temp dropped 10+ degrees yesterday when I was in the woods. gonna get out after lunch today see if I can some more in.

Some work in the house and sugarhouse this morning until things warm up some what outside!!!

Getting alot of calls for syrup as of late people asking for this year's crop... people still don;t get it. if its frozen out so are the trees can't make syrup!!!

It's -19 here this morning! I don't want to go to work today.

0 here again. I have my sister down from VT. and my Brother and his family up from NJ. Wanting to see how maple syrup is Well not yet!!! She lives just north of stowe past the notch. She was loving it outside it was 29* yesterday they have been MUCH colder than us this winter but she couldnt believe how much snow we have. snow is compacted pretty well now 7-8-9 feet what ever we got there in that 3 week period has compressed to 2.5 -3 feet in most areas. It was fluffy but I will take that over heavy concrete snow any day.

Cleaning the house and stuff has set me back on tapping but I got 300 in 200+- to go. heading shortly to get some more in. cold though. Planning to the get the RO going Monday in hopes the weather will change and we will get sap sooner. looks like wed. will now be the vacuum leak checking day. then we freeze up for a few days. then I can finish getting the SH ready.

Had a nice visit from family over the weekend. Back at it today.

Hit 35 for couple.hrs today but it didn't last. Release is not in yet and saw a few drops of super nasty stuff coming out.

Got all the tanks rinsed out, and filled and one filled with water to flush the ro. Amazing what a little insulation will do for retaining heat. Should save some money on heat which is good since the delivery rates doubled since last year. Got the cage tank just about plumbed in. That should make rinsing the ro a little easier. get the ro flushed in the am, and then on to the vac and release etc. Hopefully get out in the woods and check for leaks on wed.

The forecast for yesterday predicted temps in the mid 30's but it never got above freezing. They're predicting a high of 44* for tomorrow so we might see 40* if we are lucky.

Yeah thats what I am figuring on too. I just hope we don't get much rain thats the last thing I need is a 3 foot ice ring on the trees!!! especially with freezing temps coming thurs and Fri. The wells arounf the trees are not quite big enough yet.

Got the RO all set up today finished the Plumbing for the cage tank. Its on the final rinse right now. Has a few drips here and resealed the fittings and everything looks pretty good I have 2 small drips on the other side but I will just keep an eye on it even with high pressure they didn't increase in speed. hopefully they will seal themselves once the rubber ends warm up a bit.

Warmed up the Vac pump filled it with oil and turned that on for a couple minutes today. Still need to do a once over on the releaser but I'll do that first thing in the morning and get that hooked up. dripping pretty good even though we only hit 31* today. the sun was pretty warm today for a little while.

Its coming soon I can feel it!!! hopefully we can get some sap this weekend and maybe start sweetening pans by early next week.... 3.5 weeks until maple weekend!!!!

well we offically hit 45*F down here today. haven't seen that since x-mas. work up a sweat just walking with snowshoes on.

So today was a day of progress. Got the releaser all cleaned and lubed up. hooked it up was closed off the lines first to make sure everything was OK. sounded good pulling 28.5 at the releaser. opened up the lines and after the swoosh nasty stinky sap went through we were ZERO inches of vacuum HOLY LEAKS BATMAN!!! first one was a broken 90* elbow on the last line coming off the wet line. and that was like 2 leaks because it was right at the whip and was pulling from both the wet and dry lines. got that hooked up and I was at 12" getting there. a couple big squirrel chews and and a spot where I remembered I bumped the lateral with the chainsaw. Fixed those and POP up to 19"

2 loose taps and 1/2 roll of electrical tape(I was hitting every nick leak or not. Finished the day at 22.5" should be somewhere between 25" -27" . Getting there!!! hopefully Saturday things melt enough that I can get out and walk the woods some more.

Don't know how many times the releaser dumped it was pretty stinky but lighter brown by the end of the day. trees need several days like this to get good an thawed out.

Been working in the house on some stuff, ordering business cards, taking care of some farmers markets applications and upping my insurance Since adding on $12K worth of stuff, orderd a few stainless fittings for the filter press and a little book keeping, things are moving along quickly looks looks like boiling Tuesday or wednesday? after a 2 day warm up sunday and monday Trees should be flowing pretty good by Tues/wed. Finally!!!

Hopefully mother nature will pay us greatly for being so patient and getting many feet of snow and lots of dam cold windy days. Fingers crossed!!! maybe we'll need to go out and get some more bulk storage containers... thats not a bad thing to have to worry about!!!

Gotta finish up my woods today. Get gravity lines fixed and tapped.(only 27 taps there should take long) then get Sap sac holders all set with bags and get the taps sterilized. Just need to finish up the Evap quick rinse and put the hood on. tighten that up and be ready to go.

Those are all going up just after b-fast Sunday. Then in the woods for line maintanence and get those last 4 inches of vacuum back, guessing maybe a loose tap since its been so cold since I tapped and some little squirrel pin hole chews.

Have fun everybody!!!

Got gravity lines done fixed and tapped. Walked though and put in the extra drops and replacements that I had to fix. So If the counts in the CV's are correct we are at 517 on vacuum this year. 26 on Gravity and 69 buckets or uh sap sacks (there might be a few more we'll see tomorrow) that would make it 612 for this year.

I am glad I washed all the sap sack holders a nice little mouse made a nest in the box and covered them all in sticky mouse pee. AWESOME.... so gotta clean them again!!! just gonna run them through the dishwasher.

just need to add bags to the holders and away we go.

should be fun getting over the HUGE snow banks to get to the road side trees.

Still dumping sap its pretty stinky but getting better, didn't run much today anyway releaser dumped a couple of time this afternoon. I don't think the back woods ever really thawed, no sun back there yet. the smaller trees were dripping a little but the bigger ones need more sun.

Good luck and have a great season Brad!

It was the same here the small trees in the sun ran enough to flush the lines but the ones in the shade and the big ones didn't give a drop. The vacuum is up to 23" now but we need a good run to find the small leaks.

yep same here. not quite enough sap in the line to see the small leaks.

Got most of the sacks up lost a few picked up a few. Folks gonna do it themselves its only 10 taps, well we'll see how long that lasts. They said give us a week we'll probably be bring the sap down to you!!!

I have one more house to tap trees on but I have a bee hive there that I wanna check on that too so I will hit those tomorrow about 7 trees there. lost some big maples to tree trimming and remove from the electric company. but picked up a few more. I think I might get 10 more and put them up I still have more road side trees I can tap.

Finally found the big leak, and wouldn;t you know it, last tree farthest corner squirrel chew about 1.5 inches long 1/2 way through the lateral tubing. a few other little squirrel chew some saddle tightening, tapped in a few taps, and now we are a solid 23" still about 175 taps to walk but its getting up there now I feel a little better probably a few taps need reseated and a few little squirrelk nicks here and there and we should be right back up to where we should be.

Not much happening today AGAIN road sides are always good runners and they had their initial dripping and slowed up too. but with the low vac pressure and trees just not ready to break yet not much sap to speak of. BUT ITS COMING!!! I am almost ready I can start to concentrate ( not sap ) but start working in the sugarhouse more that things in the woods are just about done.

I think I have some leaks at the releaser possibly the lid not sealing everytime after it dumps. the vac pressure kinda bounces around 21" then 24" then 22" then back up to 24" I will have to put a little food grade grease on the gasket and make sure everything seals properly. Guess I will have to play around with it tomorrow.

checking things off the list. Trees in the woods are gettiing better but the snow is deep and the wells are growing but not quick enough sap was coming a little better today I only got about 60 + gallons today I dumped the first 25 or gallons because it was still a little nasty but I got about 30+ gallons I guess its still a little cloudy but getting better. tomorrow will be better and wednesday should be the day things break loose I hope!!! counting the days to maple weekend and I need syrup as we all do.

The good news is I was able to start feeding bees today they were flying around and all 5 of my hives are alive and well and very strong.

It looks like the sap is running a little better for you than it is for me. I think that when I shut off the vacuum tonight that I will probably have about 50 gallons for today. Like you I dumped the sap from the first 3 days flushing the lines and will be keeping today's sap and what I get from now on. The sap coming into the releaser today is nice and clear.

ha I just asked that question on your post but you just answered it. yeah its getting better every day and the no teens tonight so hopefully that helps things along. at this point I think the big road sides are giving more sap but 1) they are sugars and most are pretty big 2) they are all in the sun and 3) the snow is really begining to melt away from them. my woods are always last to go. I really wish I had the time I think I would go shovel out all the stumps so they run finally. hoping tomorrow I will break 100 gallons on sap that would be nice.

HAAAA HHAAAAA!!!! Finally got Vac back up to 26.5 tonight!!! found another big squirrel chew!!! fixed a few little pin hole chews here and there re fixed the big squirrel chew I found the other day and replaced 2 drops that were in pretty bad shape. and found a stubby that I must have missed putting on up to the second barb and was leaking pretty bad.

very excited I am at 100 gallons for the day and with no freeze tonight pump will be on for the night. see what we have by morning. sap is still coming in OK good. it was almost running pretty hard until the clouds really thickened up.

Got sap pump all squared away, worked on Evap and had to level that out a little bit. so thats all rinsed put together and ready to go. list is getting down there. Sugarhouse is still a mess but getting there.

have to take may daughter to children's hospital for a new back brace (sculliosis) sp? she won;t have the brace all her life just until she is done growing she had one for a few years now. then once I get home its back at it.

Got 250 gallons and counting here. It was still running good at 7:00 when we pumped out the tank. We've got the vacuum up to 25".

Thats good. I wish I was at 26" all day didn't get into the woods until 4:00. just did a quick check on the pump topped off the oil and vac is at 26" and sap is coming in pretty good I finally ordered an inline water meter so I can keep track of the sap that gets pumped up. should be here by about friday I guess.

So not counting buckets I guess I am about 150+ with buckets I would have to guess 185. I'll take it. hopefully 100 + on the over night.

Well after it was said and done I had 425 gallons of sap at 1.65% sugar. I was hoping it was a little more but, buckets ain't doin' notin' yet... out of all the buckets and gravity got roughly 25 gallons. driving by they looked alot fuller than what we actually got. Even the big ones which can easily give you a full bucket a day only 1/2 since sunday afternoon when they went up. so everything else was vacuum over 2 days 1 night.

So after bringing that to 14% you know I didn't have much left after I filled the evap but still got her fired up and got the everything dialed in and cooked it down in about 45 mins or so. I didn't push the evap right away I kinda too it easy since I really wanted to boil more but just not enough sap/ not alot of sugar in the membranes either they were nice and clean. Shut er down by about 10:00 or so. I was VERY close to some syrup I just drew a little off into a cup and it looks to be pretty light not quite golden but it could be not filtered so hard to tell but nice light buttery flavor with a hint of vanilla and steam smelled oh... man!!! but that will sit for a couple days before I have enough sap to boil again... so it will go darker. I am sure.

Hope everyone had a smooth evening. and got some steam.

getting a little nervous about maple weekend in just 2 weeks. need some syrup to get started on confections!!! Considering finishing out my syrup pan and start making candy.

I hear you on maple weekend. Hopefully we get some good runs and can start making syrup quick.

The syrup I made last night had a nice flavor. It'd be a dark amber.

no its not dark amber and more just Dark. I have to get used to that. and that being said if its Dark amber its a good chance by new grades it could be Amber. thats why I called mine amber.

I didn't have enough to filter last night so I don't know what it will grade out at. It's either light or amber. Like you guys, I'm starting to get worried about maple weekend. We still have 2 weeks though and a lot can happen between now and then.

light is now golden.... (I personally like light better) I let mine sit and clearout by itself and its solid amber. I hope the grade stays. got 59 gallons yesterday. I love the water meter!!! exact counts for the first time!!! SO NICE!!!

Don't know what to expect today. 15* here this morning but we might hit 40* today and the sun is VERY warm.

Glad you made some syrup brother...I am jealous...my pans are about 2/3 sweetened...need sap!

well a cup pans are 100% sweetened. need sap too.

Got another and 65 gallons probably missed maybe 10-15 gallons or so. sap pump for some reason got fouled up I think because of ice in the tank or ice in the line. sugar came up to 1.75 guess we just needed a good freeze. sap sacks aint doin Squat. I gotta fix em up I don't think its gonna be a banner weekend for them anyway. a few are messed up form the wind. GOt some runnign around to do tomorrow most of the day so I won;t get to em until sunday AM. Wish I had some sap to boil.

I think that when I filter and grade mine it will be amber too. It sure taste more like it should be amber, there's too much flavor for it to be golden. Mine has a slight honey taste to it that we could also smell while it was boiling. I hope that it stays that way for the next boil, I really like it.