Vernon County

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Irish Ridge, well I drove over Friday Apr 14th arrived about 5 pm.When I went thru Richland Center there were piles of hail from a morning hail storm,so they had to plow the roads. At our land some hail but found my valley road with deeper ruts from heavy run off.and still raining, then the wind came Friday night, my little 10x18 cabin was creaking in the gusts.sleet rain came sideways Sat 15th my son came and we started cooking at 8:30 till 9:30 pm all day long the wind came thru my valley like a wind tunnel, had plenty of air for the evaporator. snowed most of the day about 3 inches bed time 11;30 Sunday April 15th we cooked until 2;30 My son went home I started clean up worked until 7;pm we had about 1 inch more snow.A lot of birds were around, some kept trying to come into the sugar house trying to get out of the wind and snow.So with fire wood mostly gone its time to call it a season,it was a record year for us, the syrup mostly light to medium amber no dark amber. Today April 16th I was hoping to pull taps while the ridge road was snow covered not all mud but its to cold, heck its colder now then when we tapped. Washing pails and lids will also come for me, its always more fun setting up then taking down. Looks like this week we could still make syrup oh well. God bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi every one, well thought it was time to start talking and hope everyone is well and looking forward to another syrup season. Yesterday Feb 28 I took my snowmobile over to the sugar bush, with a long list of things to do. when I got there wow what a lot of snow, first thing shovel the front of my shed -cabin door got all gear inside, had to shovel the edge of the roof to prevent ice dams when I start the wood burner.Then drove back to the sugar house shoveled snow away from the walls and a path to the double doors. took the snowmobile up top to pack down some trails then started pulling tanks up top, shoveled the spot where two tanks go and covered them.also took 3 sections of mainline up. Then down to the big tank to push it up on the stand along the sugar house, back to the shed-cabin shoveled snow out from the wood pile and also the outhouse just might need that. measured 17 inches snow in the woods, that is a lot of snow.Friday March 1 at 3 am some thing jumped up on the roof and walked along and jumped off, the walls are 6 ft high with a hillside along it so it jumped about 6 ft up and over. Have seen bob cats on trail cameras think it was traveling on my packed snowmobile paths. Then about 5 am the roof started to leak above the wood burner not a good thing, got up at 6am went out at 7, started hauling my buckets and lids up top 4 trips for that and covered them with tarps, then ran one section of main line down towards the sugar house. That section crosses the ridge road so had to cover and bury it. Back down to the cabin for lunch, pack up and headed home.no deer-turkeys-squirrels-or rabbits seen.Not sure when to tap yet frost and deep snow could be a while, will let you all know when I do. God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi everyone, well the weather forecast for this weekend march 9th and 10th looks wet rain-sleet-snow and 40 mph winds not what a guy wants for tapping trees.Plus my son caught a nasty cold and would not want him out in the woods anyways, so guess its March 16th and 17th for us.Also that is the latest to tap for us, I may go over early week to do more things like finish running the main line down and hang the last 100 feet with wire to the bulk tank on the stand.Also still have a 125 gallon tank to place at the bottom of our tubing .That was new last season 15 taps on 3/16th tubing clear spouts,this year I got a vacuum gauge to put at the top want to see what it pulls. This evening I put a tap in our backyard silver maple like to see when things are starting.God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Hi all, looking forward to good conversation again this spring. The rain began at 12:45 p.m. today. It should be interesting to watch how this weather system plays out. Yesterday, a calm, sunny day, was spent in a skid steer breaking in trails for the Kawasaki mule to run on when I collect sap. Snow is still fairly deep here in the woods in Crawford County but I figure the rain will compact that considerably. Plan on breaking in walking trails Sunday afternoon. A couple of sample taps might be drilled as well. For now I'll stay dry and watch a rooster pheasant keep eating away at the bird feeder. Once the corn field across the road was picked last fall this fella came across and has roamed the remains of a sunflower food plot and stayed under a stand of pines the entire winter.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hello everyone, and hi to Irish Ridge was wondering if you were ok. glad you are enjoying the hard labor, well I went over to our sugar bush Sunday afternoon to do more work, friend John came over to help also. We took the flu pan outside to clean the soot out of the flues, what a dirty job that was. John shoveled paths to the wood piles, and I patched the fire brick in the evaporator fire box. took the snowmobile up top to check things, were not tapped yet plan on next weekend for that. with the warm up and rain forecast hope the snow settles down some. our trees were covered with snow down the trunk would have been hard to find last years holes to tap by. This morning John and I finished running the main line down the hill to the bulk tank. Then moved my 125 gal tank out to our 3/16th tubing, placed and covered with snow and a white tarp. Had lunch and went home about 2.00pm. Did see 5 deer this time, no squirrels or rabbits there was a tom turkey calling this morning, makes a guy start to think about spring turkey season. With the deep snow and late start we may still be doing syrup when my turkey season starts. Have 16 to 18 inches of snow on the ground makes things interesting for sure, told John while we were struggling down the steep hill side with rolls of main line, to think were doing this for entertainment, so we had a good chuckle on that one. God Bless.

[Tommoore30]

Hi Folks. Sophie the dog and I are back again for 2019. Tapped 34 Saturday. No ATVs. No truck (snow too deep). Hauled everything up the ridge in a sled. Slept like a dead man Saturday night. Sap running on 3/4 of taps. Looking to boil next weekend with kids and friends. Tapped a few more back east (Delafield) and sap running fast. 4-5 gallons will be a great year.
Good luck and have fun everyone.
Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hello everyone and Hi Tom, glad you are back, like you we tapped Saturday also, first used my 4 wheeler to get up top by riding on old snowmobile trail , but when I got off that trail got stuck. So back down to get the snowmobile, was a great day to be in the woods, had my son ,friend Tim, and Sadie our labrador foreman. She is 13 now so her mind says oh boy lets do it but her bones say no way.Mine are starting to say the same thing. Took us five hours to tap, then called it a day and relaxed the rest of the evening.Hit the bunks at 8.45 up Sunday morning to tap the 17 trees on gravity 3/16 tubing, we were done by noon did some organizing in my little shed cabin and headed for Lodi at about 2pm. Got home to do more clean up in my garage Thursday Lodi declared a state of emergency with snow melt runoff, I had 18 inches of water in my garage and water up to my house. The community pitched in with sand bagging so we dodged a bullet on that one. At the land this morning red winged black birds were around, seems early for them. Hope to cook next Saturday. God Bless

[Irish Ridge]

Hello everyone. Well it looks like all of the usual suspects have now returned. Just need an update from Lulu yet. Went for a walk in the woods yesterday afternoon. First I checked buckets and found that the trees had begun to cooperate. No real point in collecting sap as most of it was ice. I kept walking my UTV trails and found several places where I will now have to put a tube and replace gravel due to wash outs this spring. A 5 foot diameter culvert put in last year held and a crazy bridge I built several years ago also held so I can still move around the property once the snow melts. It was easy to see how high the sun gets these days. My ground that doesn't see sunlight yet has deep snow yet. Best wishes to you over in Lodi. May the water recede quickly.

[Tommoore30]

Okay - guessing no millennials reading these threads as it's not twitter or FB. But two guys in their sixties "farmer carried" 22.5 five-gallon buckets a quarter mile down ridge to the fire. We're either feeling burly, stupid or looking for the 500 tab bottle of ibuprofen. Couldn't get a truck past a steep snow drift, so we did it the old fashioned way. (never doing that again, using a collection drum and gravity line next year.) But we had fun, saw bluebirds, deer and are looking to finish 2 gallons in the kitchen tomorrow. Family up next weekend to take a turn and learn what the land can give. Yak trax saved my life this year. (I'll take some endorsement $$$, anyone,...)
Tom, Good Friend, & Sophie the Dog,..

[Irish Ridge]

Hi Tom. I got tired just reading about your weekend adventures. I feel for you. On the other hand, you have two gallons of liquid gold to finish today. Hopefully that drift is gone next weekend for you and the sap flow picks up during the coming week.