Rochdale 2015

[Maplesedge]

Finally, this winter begins to end! Temps looking too good to wait any longer, so just finished putting in my taps. Had to dig to and around the trees to get the milk crates on the ground. Trees still cold enough that I barely got a drip from any of the holes, but I'm ready now for whatever comes. Last year I tapped on 3/7 and didn't get a decent flow until 3/25, but with the next two weeks predicted to get into the 40s every day, it could be better this year. Last year was colder. Have fun everybody, here we go again!

[Maplesedge]

Mid 40's today. Trees still warming up. Only a couple cups of sap trickled out so far. Bees are all flying.

image.jpg
Had to dig down.

image.jpg
Look at the crown on this queen!

image.jpg
This is the king tree, 6 or more gallons of sap per hole on a peak flow day.

[Maplesedge]

Second day, mid 40's again, trees still waking up, maybe a quart in each bag. Not worth collecting yet. Probably be boiling into April again, like last year.

[Maplesedge]

Day 3, high 50's today, gorgeous! Taps all dripping now. Took off my first six gallons. If it keeps up, I could do a small boil on Sunday, but supposed to cool a little bit. Have to wait and see. Big puddles around the trees, ground too hard to absorb the melt off. Sap looking clear as crystal. Sweet and clean. Going to be a nice year.

[Maplesedge]

Day 4, only mid 30's today and winds gusting to 40 mph, so feels much colder. Hardly a drop since yesterday, but still early yet. Looks like I might skip boiling this weekend. Plenty of snow to keep my sap bags cold this year. Dug my evaporator out yesterday, so ready when the time comes.

[Maplesedge]

Day 5, high 30s, low wind but low flow. Not worth collecting. Forecasts for the next two weeks look much the same.

[Maplesedge]

Day 6-1/2. Had to take the electric car to Boston yesterday. Little hole in the wall called Carmen Trattoria next to the Paul Revere House in the north end serves an amazing mushroom crepe in bolonegnse sauce. Home too late to check the bags, but picked up over 12 gallons this morning, so that's about 2 gal per hole. Not bad for this weather. I think rain helps somehow. Maybe low air pressure? Should have enough to do a boil mid week. forecasts looking great for the next two weeks. Woo Hoo!

[Maple Douglas]

Excellent results thus far. I like reading the updates people post.

I have almost 5 gallons total. My milk cartons keep falling off the spile, I cut a fairly small hole and the bottle goes over the lip at the top of the spile. It's fun regardless. My red and a silver about 150 yards in the back are the big producers. My other 2 silvers and the other red are not producing anything at all.

[Run Forest Run!]

Maple Douglas, since you only have a few taps, I highly recommend you use some bindertwine around your cartons to better secure them to the tree. I do that with many of my containers and have never had one fall off since. You don't want to waste any of that precious sap.

[Maplesedge]

Good advice, Karen, losing sap is no fun. I tried milk jugs my first year and had similar problems, so went with the five gallon collapsible water jugs cause they were cheap at walmart. Five gallon plastic buckets would work too. That photo of your syrup must be the lightest color I've ever seen.

MD, are you boiling it yet? you can always boil it down a bit and save it in the fridge until you get more sap.