Tapped January 28th 2011

[MFarmall]

Buckeye, are you above or below Chillicothe? I am in NE Pickaway Co.
Looks like a lot of different weather forecasts going around, think see what get this coming week and be glad for what get.
Mel

[WoodButcher]

it shows a high tomorrow of 33 for me, way too cold out there, not enough sun either to thaw em out.
i know most of the chatter in the thread is from maplers in southern ohio , and me being in Chardon up north is like being in canada compared to the south .

even though i have the itch ,and the itch is definitely earlier this year , a couple things are making me wait till wednesday .

1. if you cut a tree in half right now, i bet ya its still frozen inside . with bone chilling winds for today and tomorrow with barely any sun and snow storms , those rock maples will be like ice cubes. plus i like to see a little melt around the bases of the trees too . its nice rain will be in the forecast on wednesday as well.

2. im running buckets, not tubing. tubing lines are a closed air system , meaning no air gets inside that tap to dry out the drilled hole prematurely . thus , allowing tubing installers to tap a week or so earlier.
when you got that 7/16" spile tapped in there with wind chills around 20-25 (even if actual temp is above freezing), it may impact the hole quite a bit.

i guess people are loving that a 'warm up' is going to happen on a sunday , when they have all day to do stuff.
but im going to spend my day cleaning buckets, and setting up the sap trailer. ill tap by wednesday morning for sure.

will it even make a difference between sunday and wednesday? maybe.. maybe not . but for me its not worth the hole drying out or cracking the sapwood tapping a spile in... i dont wanna chance being able to squeeze out that last gallon or two of Dark Amber i love so much !

but to each his own ... thats what makes it so fun .

[buckeye gold]

MFARMAL,

I'm west of Chillicothe, around Bainbridge.

I spent a lot days on a Super M growing up on the farm.

I expect a run to start today, our low was 30 last night and it's 44 right now. It's gonna pop i think.

[MFarmall]

Buckeye, got finished tapping around 4 this afternoon. Now just hope it gets below 32 tonight, 34 right now. Sap was trying pretty good to run while tapping. Might get to fire up tomorrow evening. Hope weather man is wrong for next week, seeing warm temps for lows middle of week to next weekend.
Bainbridge still have the little dental museum?
Mel

[Doc]

Went to church and as I was sitting there I could hear every "potential" drop of sap in the bucket. After church the family wanted of course to go out to eat so sitting there...more potential drops I could hear. Of course over at my sister's house my niece was cutting my son's hair. I was told that I was looking a bit "shaggy". More drops....
Finally, I couldn't take anymore!!! I raced home and began tapping mid afternoon. I put in about 3/4 of what I plan for this year. Some holes were dripping pretty good while others were dry as a bone.
Now I sit quietly. My feet up, warmed by a good fire with my furry helper contently laying by my side after an afternoon in the sugarbush, I listen closely. I hear now both the "potential" and "for real" tapping into the buckets.
Everyone...Enjoy the season!!! May in now begin.

[buckeye gold]

MFarmall,

Yes the Dental Museum is still here. I was a little disappointed in the overnight run this morning, but I think today may have been better. I boiled anyway and made a little over 2.5 quarts. I had more sap, but my wife and daughter were moving the dog kennel and needed help. So I drew off what I had and flooded the pan with the rest and let the fire burn out. I just checked and it steamed down to an Inch of sap from 2.5 inches, so i got a nice sweet pan to start tomorrow with. I hope this weather doesn't mess us up....it's looks to be on the warm side. Oh well it surely will cool and then come back. If my taps start slowing I'll pull them and move to new trees. I counted 183 maples I've never tapped ...Good luck sugaring. I hope by tomarrow you tanks are full.

[buckeye gold]

MFarmall,

Yes the Dental Museum is still here. I was a little disappointed in the overnight run this morning, but I think today may have been better. I boiled anyway and made a little over 2.5 quarts. I had more sap, but my wife and daughter were moving the dog kennel and needed help. So I drew off what I had and flooded the pan with the rest and let the fire burn out. I just checked and it steamed down to an Inch of sap from 2.5 inches, so I got a nice sweet pan to start tomorrow with. I hope this weather doesn't mess us up....it's looks to be on the warm side. Oh well it surely will cool and then come back. If my taps start slowing I'll pull them and move to new trees. I counted 183 maples I've never tapped ...Good luck sugaring. I hope by tomarrow you tanks are full.