Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[alexa.holleran]

Thanks, guys! That's notably different advice than I'd gotten previously -- namely, that I probably didn't need to clean my pans throughout a season, given the small size of my operation. But if you're cleaning every boil to every few hundred gallons, then I'm well overdue. No wonder I have so much buildup! I just picked up a bunch of vinegar and will be cleaning them out tonight. Credit to the wisdom of my sugaring elders!

[alexa.holleran]

BillyinVT, sounds like a very similar setup you & I have, both taps and evaporator! How much syrup have you finished this season? Any GD?

[GeneralStark]

Up to 1.25 gpt since....wendesday. Most of that came in yesterday afternoon after the trees thawed. Nights in the high teens, cloudy days with marginal sun, fresh snow and temps in the mid 30s just aren't cutting it. It did run hard for about an hour yesterday evening when the sun did come out, but then it froze up quick.

I for one am ready for spring but it seems like sugaring season is going backwards this year...

[billyinvt]

BillyinVT, sounds like a very similar setup you & I have, both taps and evaporator! How much syrup have you finished this season? Any GD?

I finished around 70 gallons this season. There was a brief 2 gallon GD draw at the beginning. I am maxed out on this set-up without an RO. I am reading up on this forum to build a simple one this summer.

[blissville maples]

Sap flow really cutting out. Started noticing a note of funny flavor so I went out and pulled all my reds, probably 400 out of 3300. Curious to see if they were the culprit as their bud heads are about ready to pop, happened last year also. We're down to the final week I believe, the weather going to change fast iver next week and half I believe. We have made 1320 gallons so far which has exceeded my expectations for this year, no final tally but around 90,000 gallons of sap!

[DrTimPerkins]

Yup...the lady of large stature is warming up her vocal cords. We still have 18" of snow on the ground, but looks like a strong warming trend after Wed. Hopefully we'll make it through for at least another week or so. Been good so far, but we've made hardly any dark syrup.

[WestfordSugarworks]

Wow, 18" of snow still over there. What's your elevation there, Dr. Tim? We have patches of up to 6" in both our woods but other bare spots. Some spots probably up to my knees in the hemlocks. I hope we can make it through this warm spell.

Looks like it won't freeze from Tuesday or Wednesday through next Tuesday. But showing cloudy each day. I attached a screenshot of what our forecast looks like for Jericho. Can anyone explain what actually would cause the sap to turn bad in quality? Will it be changes in red maple sap composition due to the flowering process? Or something else? Some years I think the sap just gets too warm and turns sour on us, but the temps forecasted won't make that happen in the next week or so. So i'm curious, if the sap did turn, what is technically causing that. The more I think about it, the more I think we will make it through. We ran check valves this year so sap flow shouldn't be an issue (I hope). It would be nice to be able to keep pulling good sap through this. We are just above 0.42 gals per tap in our Westford woods (no idea what Jericho is), and I think we'll hit 0.5 gpt which i'll be really happy about. That woods has never hit that mark in 20 or 25 years+ of production.

Screenshot 2018-04-09 at 2.07.33 PM.jpg

[skixcvt]

We have called it a season here in Southern VT. About 1700’ in elevation, east and south facing slopes.

We’re only stopping due to other obligations (and almost out of wood!), flavor was still excellent, sap around 2%. Probably a bit higher after these last couple nights in the low teens.

We made 85.5 gallons on approx 300 taps. No vacuum (didn’t set the 3/16” up quite right). Tapped end of February (missed an excellent run or two), started with AR, quickly went to DR (would have been dark amber on the old grading scale), then we had 18 days off and about 50” of snow, brining it back to AR. We finished with DR, the darkest we’ve made in at least 8 years.

We still have about 12” of snow, but southern slopes are almost bare (again).
We will be giving sap to a friend who hasn’t had the best season. His west facing trees (1100’) are finished.

[GeneralStark]

I hope we can make it through this warm spell.

Warm spell? I would be happy if it would warm up enough for the the trees to actually thaw and run for more than an hour or so... Even with today's sun, this polar air mass is so cold that only small trees were really running. I don't think it's going to warm up enough to really do much for another couple days. Even then, without the sun, I'm skeptical. Trees respond to more than just temp. in terms of budding and I think that for those of us in the Champlain Valley, we don't have much time left. With 50's and rain forecasted later this week for several days, I think the end is in sight, but I'm not convinced it will ever run that well before the trees start to bud...

I'm not complaining. It has been a great season... I'm ready for spring.

[Msboucha]

I'm starting to question whether or not the trees haven't just started sealing up. We were having decent flow before this last cold spell and now half haven't leaked with what little warm up we have been getting, although it doesn't really feel as warm as the thermometer says. Anxious to see what later this week brings for temeprature, these 18 degree mornings in Franklin County are getting a bit old.