Western New York

[wnybassman]

Crazy times!! Collected 145 gallons right after work. Decided not to process because A) I don't have any more syrup holding/draw off pans left and B) I didn't want to get caught up in the wind storm while boiling tonight. So I decided to catch up on bottling. 7 more gallons of 56% amber. Didn't know if I would stay in amber this time or not. The plan is to wake at 3:00am, start RO'ing while I go collect whatever else is in the tanks by that time and hopefully start evaporating by daybreak. I have my first dinner tomorrow to be at by 1:00, and another at 5:00. So no other time to process this stuff.

My plan worked. Heavy rain just moved out as I walked out the door, flipped the switch on the RO at 3:15am then went and collected another 115 gallons from the woods tanks to make a total of 260 for the morning. Pretty low sugar again, not sure if that will come back this week or not. Now to relax and eat the rest of the day

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Still going. Collected 145 gallons of somewhat cloudy sap this afternoon. I will boil it tonight because I'm afraid it won't make it another 24 hours. More than half my buckets have stopped but the surprisingly the gravity tubing is still cranking. Guess I will keep at it for another week, but then I think I'm done. I can start cleaning buckets and get things organized for next year.

[wnybassman]

Still going. Collected 145 gallons of somewhat cloudy sap this afternoon. I will boil it tonight because I'm afraid it won't make it another 24 hours. More than half my buckets have stopped but the surprisingly the gravity tubing is still cranking. Guess I will keep at it for another week, but then I think I'm done. I can start cleaning buckets and get things organized for next year.

Oddly, my buckets had a better per tap average the last 48 hours than my 3/16ths did. Several that were virtually "dry" for most of the month were nearly filling buckets the last couple days. I give up on trying to figure this stuff out. lol

[Noseguard76]

scorched my pan on Friday. Did it again. Last year I left for a minute to bring in a couple of buckets. This time I drew off a gallon then flooded the pan before I left it for 10 minutes to bring in some firewood. Guess I should have drawn off some more after I flooded the pan to get near finished sap out of the 4th raceway. I'm done for the season

[wnybassman]

195 collected tonight to start processing in the morning while I go get what runs overnight. 1.3% or so.

[bowtie]

Still running decent from my yard trees, one is drying up and getting milky. Still I will most likely pull my few taps tomorrow, getting to expensive on the propane . Can't wait to get new evap and get my new sugar house started now that the weather has broke, hopefully.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Syrup has turned quite dark and flow has slowed way down. Flavor is still good but I'm smelling that late season smell in the steam. Maybe one more boil but definitely going to need to test boil it first on the stove. I started pulling bucket taps today. Most have stopped running.

[Richmaple1]

Its been fun! My first year doing it, and I thank all of you for the information and posting! Finished my last boil this weekend and got the darkest and best tasting syrup of the season.

I got about 2.5 gallons of syrup from 8 taps. That seems pretty low right? Is the standard ratio 1 gallon of syrup from 1 tap? Some trees produced so much more than others, so I'm looking forward to next year as I refine my tree selection, since I will be able to mark them in the summer when the leaves are out!

Thanks everyone! Its really an addiciton, as exhausting as it is!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Its been fun! My first year doing it, and I thank all of you for the information and posting! Finished my last boil this weekend and got the darkest and best tasting syrup of the season.

I got about 2.5 gallons of syrup from 8 taps. That seems pretty low right? Is the standard ratio 1 gallon of syrup from 1 tap? Some trees produced so much more than others, so I'm looking forward to next year as I refine my tree selection, since I will be able to mark them in the summer when the leaves are out!

Thanks everyone! Its really an addiciton, as exhausting as it is!

2.5 gallons from 8 taps is great. They say 1 quart of syrup per tap on gravity is a good yield. It's what I always aim to achieve. Some folks get more, some less. Just depends on weather, when you tap, and the trees. Using new spouts or sanitizing them very well before the next season's use helps a lot too. You are at 0.3125 gallons per tap. Nice.

[Waynehere]

Its been fun! My first year doing it, and I thank all of you for the information and posting! Finished my last boil this weekend and got the darkest and best tasting syrup of the season.

I got about 2.5 gallons of syrup from 8 taps. That seems pretty low right? Is the standard ratio 1 gallon of syrup from 1 tap? Some trees produced so much more than others, so I'm looking forward to next year as I refine my tree selection, since I will be able to mark them in the summer when the leaves are out!

Thanks everyone! Its really an addiciton, as exhausting as it is!

Actually most strive to get .25 gal/tap. I actually got .5 gal last year, but that was a great year for us. You are at .3, so that is great...