Wv Mapler Tapped 02/17

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Picked up another 230 gallons today and sap quality is still fairly good. Imagine everything this week will likely be a B grade, but that is good as I have a lot of demand for it and haven't even come close to making any so far. Temps in upper 60's tommorrow and about the same for the next 10 days. Normal end of season here is March 15th to 20th, so any sap this week is a blessing. Will probably get another 50 to 100 gallon tommorrow evening from the two bushes that I didn't pull the lines out of the tanks and it is over. Probably be somewhere around 4900 gallon of sap for the year from 500 gravity taps and probably around 90 to 92 gallon of syrup. Not the best syrup to tap ratio, but a great year in my book any year and especially considering what it looked like this time last month and I thank God for all the blessings.

[Homestead Maple]

That's an excellent way to look at your season, being thankful for what you have been blessed with. We don't have much control over the weather. The ratio is a little off.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Thanks a bunch and the water meter sure worked great and seemed very accurate.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Picked up another 120 gallon of sap yesterday and boiled off 350 from the 120 and the 230 from the prior day. Ended up with 4890 gallons of sap from 500 gravity taps with aproximately 85% of the sap coming in a 2.5 week period.

Will likely end up around 91 to 92 gallons of syrup and a great season. Good luck to all the maple syrup brothers north of me for a great season also.

[royalmaple]

Brandon sounds like a good season indeed. Did you end up making commercial?

I got a watermeter but never hooked it up this year. Will be nice in the feed line to just keep a more accurate guess-ta-mit.

You calling it quits now?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Matt,

I am done and it was all Med and Med/Dark except the last 15 or 16 and they will be dark or B. I haven't finished them yet, so will have to wait and see but hopefully they are all B. Don't ever have to worry about making any C down here, the weather always shuts it down and the trees dry up.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I am finally done with everything except the evaporator and I will likely put it off until I get a bigger blower and duct installed to try it out when I clean it. All lines are flushed, tanks wash and put away for next year and I finished off the rest of the syrup last night and canned it. Ended up season at 92.5 gallons which was a touch higher than I had guessed. This was from 4,890 gallon of sap or a 52.86 gallon of sap to syrup ratio which was a little better than expected. That last 7 gallons I finished last night was extremely dark, but had a much lighter flavor than color. Either way, my helpers and myself like the very dark stuff the best, so they will be happy with the syrup I give them for helping. I usually can't get it dark enough for them.

[Slatebelt*Pa*Tapper]

Brandon, i dont think it is over yet is it... Weather channel says its going to be a cold March here..

i know im a bit north of you, but i didnt think you would stop yet. unless you got what you where looking to get in syrup??

Tree's ran so so yesterday after all this rain stopped they kicked in a bit. Looks like i will collect about 20-25 gallons sap today off the 60 taps.

i still want one or two more gallons of finished...i made appox 2-3/4 gallons so far.

charlie

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Charlie,

This is the post for 2007, I am still going so far this year.