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I lucked out Saturday with no damage of any type but the sap is starting to change already. This looks to be a shorter season than last year for me. I hope the cold nights coming up will but the...

I don't know how long things will keep running here in Saylorsburg. Buds are already enlarging but we are still getting most nights in the upper 20s.

Just outsourcing part of the sugar production. ;)

I hope this years syrup run doesn't end like last years! Trees that gave nothing last year are turning out 2 to 3 gallons a day this year, so...

My trees are 'wood lot' trees with long trunks and compact tops, sort of lollypop shape. So the sugar content is not real high but they do produce a lot of sap. I am still cleaning up blown down...

Storing the sap in the shade where it can freeze at night helps. I use large(30 gallon) plastic containers and garbage cans(new of course). As to how much you will need it depends on the type of...

OK While I am not ready to give up the trees have stopped. Not even the freeze we had on the weekend could get them started. My season lasted all of two weeks this year! :(

I hope the cold will 'reset' the trees for at least another boil or two. Checked the trees last night and only a few show serious bud activity, guess I will pull the taps out of them tonight(maybe).

The bees are bringing in pollen and the red maples have stopped running. My one small sugar maple was still running yesterday.

I hope the weather man is wrong. But I fear this week will be the end for me, the bees have started bringing in pollen. I guess I will be combining the last boil of the year with the de-winterizing...

I average 80 - 1 as well. Woodlot red maples around here do not have good sugar content but that is all I have.

Got my taps in Saturday and set up the flue for the arch Sunday. All ready for the snow. ;)

If the maples bud out then refreeze does that effect the sap in any way?

One of the joys of sugaring is the variety of taste we can get. I figure it is due to soil types and how the season progresses. It seems that the sap chemistry is constantly changing during the...

One of my coworkers is thinking of using a batch pan made of aluminum next year for personal use. Is there any danger in using aluminum in an evaporator pan? Will it affect the taste any? :confused:

Pulled all my taps out yesterday. Not the best of seasons but I think I did as well as last year.

Well I didn't add it to the sap but I put 3 cups into the almost syrup before I finished it off. It did add about a pint and a half. :)

Before I get hammered about the 'logic' of what I did. I...

I would think it depends on how big the tree is, how much leaf cover there is during the summer and how high the water table is. I have two large trees close to a seasonal stream on the southern...

This year I am not getting much foam and the burnt foam I was getting last year came out with the foam screen. At first I thought it was fly ash but it has no 'body' and collects as niter sand on...

I have a few pounds left over from last year. This year I am running 80 gallons of sap for one gallon of syrup. Maybe I will stretch out the last boil.

How about adding maple sugar?? ;)

I used round wood stove gasket material between the pans. I have to hold it down with pavers which I built up on the sides of the pans to give some protection from the cold wind.

This year I went from steam pans to a 24X30 flat pan. I have noticed that the niter looks like flakes floating around the pan but it breaks up when I try to remove it with the foam screen. It then...

And here I am running out of fire wood!!

But I do have two trees that still refuse to flow. Very strange year.

I use the same thing I use on cast iron pans. Just plain old kosher salt. BTW the trick is to get to it before the wife does!! ;)

Went from getting 8 gallons on Wednesday to 21 gallons on Thursday. Maybe the trees are finally opening up. 3 of my trees still have done nothing though. These 40 trees on the ridge have always...