Michigan April 'Late Season' Sap Reports

[DonMcJr]

I'll start. Low of 26 F last night and high of 46 F today. The Tube Line flowed about 10 gallons today and sap still looks clear and good.

I'm at the point where if I don't boil every day I get close to running out of Storage and I have 150 gallons storage for 41 Taps...

Some trees are very close to Budding so not much longer left...

[hfitch]

I pulled today. My trees are going to pop any day now and my sap is starting to get cloudy and off colored. Still have 20 gallons of sap to boil down and that will be added to the 9 quarts of almost syrup I have in the freezer. I'll be finishing it all off on Thursday. Thinking I'll get around 3 gallons of syrup, give or take, for the year. Not bad for the first year, already looking forward to next year!

[Run Forest Run!]

That's a lot of syrup Heidi. Congratulations on a super season!

[DonMcJr]

Yes Hedi good job on your 1st year! I'm at 9 Gallons, 50 oz and counting...

How'd the Steelhead Trip go?

[Tweegs]

I suspect my last boil will be tomorrow.

Picked up 200 gallons yesterday, but that was from both Sun and Mon. Sap is getting cloudy and has a hint of yellow (boiled a bit down on the stove last night, looked, smelled and tasted fine). Buds are swelling, peepers are peeping, temps signal shut-down beyond Thursday. It’s all I can do to keep the sap picked up and enough wood cut to boil it. I’m beat.

Should have plenty of wood to get through tomorrow and maybe a short boil Thursday night if need be, but I’m pretty sure I’m pulling the plug this weekend.

50 gallons bottled up so far. What’s in the main tank, whatever sap we get today, and what is left in the evaporator should push me up to around 60 gallons for the season.

[Roy Coates]

Im watching, listening, reading, learning and still hoping for this final week of sap production. Everyday the temps in my area are dropping below freezing except sat. My sap is slow and still clear. We shall see

Extended Forecast for Ortonville (KMIORTON4)
Tuesday ………Wednesday………Thursday……….Friday ……….Saturday………Sunday .Monday
41 | 25 °F…….43 | 28 °F ………59 | 27 °F…….54 | 27 °F…..57 | *37*°F…52 | 27 °F 52 | 28 °F

[Jonnyp390]

I pulled most of my taps yesterday. Left a few yard taps in to see if a can't get a couple more days of sap coffee for the wifey. Did our last boil of the season yesterday and it was wonderful. We did 10 or so boils this year, went through 250 gallons of sap, and after I finish this last batch today we should be a little over 5 gallons of syrup. The 1950's Eureka screen tent that served as our sugar shack was the place to be this March and every time we boiled we were able to share the experience with family and friends. We gave away 25+ bottles of syrup (you never know how many friends you have until you start making syrup) and hopefully have enough saved to get us through a year of Sunday morning pancakes. I had high hopes for the year, and looking back now, I think we surpassed every one of them Now I have 3 days to get cleaned up and get the boat prepped, cause the end of the sugaring season signals the start of another great Michigan tradition - jigging for Walleye on the Detroit River!

PS - Can someone help me figure out how to add my signature line to the bottom of a post? Thanks

[David in MI]

Im watching, listening, reading, learning and still hoping for this final week of sap production. Everyday the temps in my area are dropping below freezing except sat. My sap is slow and still clear. We shall see

Extended Forecast for Ortonville (KMIORTON4)
Tuesday ………Wednesday………Thursday……….Friday ……….Saturday………Sunday .Monday
41 | 25 °F…….43 | 28 °F ………59 | 27 °F…….54 | 27 °F…..57 | *37*°F…52 | 27 °F 52 | 28 °F

Roy, we're probably not far from you over in Groveland Twp. off Bald Eagle Lake Road. Our trees are primarily on Northward facing slopes and we didn't get a good run until March 16. In fact, we still had lots of snow in our woods until last week so I'm hoping we have several good runs this week. The weather appears poised to give us a nice run every day.

[David in MI]

PS - Can someone help me figure out how to add my signature line to the bottom of a post? Thanks

Make sure you're signed into the forum; in the upper-right hand corner look for the link to "settings" and click it; next page, left side of the page you will see a link for "edit signature."

[DonMcJr]

I pulled six of my Taps that were Reds that weren't putting out enough. Had one bucket from a tree in the woods that smelled like Wine??? Anyone ever get that?