Despite almost being blown out of the bush, we collected enough sap Saturday to get to 165 gallons in the tank. Lit the evaporator for the first time Sunday afternoon - while I was up on the roof replacing shingles, the kids were firing and they were averaging 20 gals an hour for about 4 hours, before we had to shut down for other things. (I don't know how they did it - I kept records last year and the best I ever did was 22 gals one hour, and 18 gals average over a 3 hour period. ) We're getting close to the first draw so may light it up again tonight and finish off what's left in the tank assuming it's not solid after today's freeze.

So far this has been the strangest season yet. I can't decide if this is going to be a lousy year, or if we just haven't really started yet.

I have 100 trees tapped - I'll probably add another 50-100 for the March break week, if the weather seems like it will cooperate. Certainly haven't been overwhelmed with sap this year.