Just got back from forest, collected 26.5 L from 6 trees. Probably closer to 50L if I brought it all back, but quite honestly I didn't expect to bring as much back as I did, so I was limited to what I could bring back.
Just got back from forest, collected 26.5 L from 6 trees. Probably closer to 50L if I brought it all back, but quite honestly I didn't expect to bring as much back as I did, so I was limited to what I could bring back.
2018 28 tree's, 32 taps... 1206 L collected, 19.6 L Finished
2017 14 trees, 16 taps... for now 465.5 L collected, 10.5 L Finished
2016 26 trees, 38 taps... for now 675 L sap so far, 10.5 L finished product
2015 7 Trees, 7 Buckets
2014 13 Trees,9 Buckets,5 Water Cooler Bottles,1 Turkey Fryer,ended up with 12 L syrup,light to very dark color
2013 9 Trees ,13 taps and buckets,1 Turkey Deep Fryer,Close to 15 L of syrup , light to dark color
As of 4pm today I had collected 200 gallons. I imagine my 240 gallon tank will be full by the time I shut the pump off tonight. Really wasn't expecting this. Was only supposed to get up 3 today but high reached 8.
Maple Rock Farm
www.Maplerockfarm.ca
400 taps on Vacuum
18”x60” Lapierre propane evaporator with Smokey Lake auto draw off
Homemade 3 post RO with MES membranes
Ford TS110 tractor sap hauler
Well, we dumped close to 200 litres on Friday.. temps were too warm and sap didn't taste right! Was sad to do it but got back on track yesterday and today.. currently boiling down 188 litres.. smells great!
2 acres of sugar maples. Woodburning arch with small evaporator and propane burners with steamer pans Year 5.
2015 - 35 taps on 30 trees. 1556 L sap and 44L syrup!
2016 - 42 taps on 40 trees. 2274 L sap and 64L syrup!
2017 - 37 taps on 36 trees. 1573 L sap and 47L syrup!
2018 - 33 taps on 32 trees. 2314 L sap and 53L syrup!
2019 - 30 taps on 29 trees. 1640L sap and 51 L syrup!
2020 - 31 taps on 30 trees. 760 L + stopped counting sap and 25 L syrup!
Leslie, sorry to hear that you couldn't keep up and had to dump bad sap. That's crazy for February!
I seriously have no idea what on earth the forecast has in store for us, but I'm just rolling with it. I got 43L in the past 36 hours which is just about perfect for my boiling method. Nice and manageable. I thought I'd be regretting tapping in mid-February, and I got some serious eye rolls directed my way at home when I pulled out the drill, but I feel somewhat vindicated now. I've got more trees that I can tap if I need to ramp up my production toward the end of the season, but for now I'm content with what I'm gathering. I still have quite a bit of syrup left over from last year's haul!
Have a great night boiling. And to Galena - get well soon!
~ Karen ~
2012 - 10 taps, 1 turkey fryer - 169.5L sap 4.2 L syrup
2013 - 23 taps, 2 turkey fryers - 748.5 L sap 17.56 L syrup
2014 - 22 taps, 509 L sap 12.5 L syrup
2015 - 28 taps, 1093.75 L sap 25.1 L syrup
2016 - 25 taps, 1223.5 L sap 28.25 L syrup
2017 - 21 taps, 518.5 L sap 12.7 L syrup
2018 - 28 taps, 2 turkey fryers & Denali 3 burner propane stove - 798L sap 16.9 L syrup
2019 - 28 taps, 1409.5L sap 40.12L syrup
Sugar, Norway, Manitoba, Silver and Freeman Maples
Brought in 278L of sap today - I had not collected since last Thursday. This brings the season total to 1300L of sap. That's already 26L per spile and it's still February!!! Currently boiling today's haul and it is a fabulous boiling night as the steam is just flying off!
In terms of syrup, last week's collections produced a little over 23L although I'm going to have to re-filter most of it due to pesky niter. Is anyone else having niter issues so far??? I filter through an Orlon filter with 2-4 pre-filters in it and I'm still getting niter that settles out after a couple of days. This is the same way I have filtered each of the past 4 seasons but I can't seem to catch all of it. I finish on the fire and filter immediately into a stainless steel pot. I then quickly decant from the pot into hot glass bottles warmed to 200F. I think my next course of action may be to double up on the Orlon filters for next time as I've got a new one and the older one still seems good (at least it's not clogged). This seems silly to ask but does February sap produce peskier niter?
50 trees, 1 spile per tree
homemade outdoor fire box crudely made from concrete slabs
5 steamer trays as pans
Karen, first off, I think all of us are glad to be sugaring despite all the misgivings earlier. Looks like another cool spell rolling in but I don't mind, it means I can get some work on new sugar shack done. Kudos to Lesley for being sensible and dumping sap that smelled off...painful to do, but save yourself all the hard work of making it into horrible-tasting syrup. You're learning, girl! :-)
And thanks for the well wishes and yes much better, the TLC and care package resulted in a miracle cure, though I still played safe and cancelled work today in case it was flu too. Just some extra-nasty food poisoning wreakin a little more havoc than usual on me. New man in my life is fantastic. He owns a neighbouring property that I keep an eye on (which includes a sizable sugaring op but would take major $$$ to get going again). We've always gotten along well just as friends and been able to talk. Now, things have progressed and only get better. I still can't get over how kind and considerate he is. I feel so relaxed and safe with him around. After making countless bad decisions over the years in this realm, I'm so glad he's in my life.
Last edited by Galena; 02-28-2017 at 08:25 AM.
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup
Thx Karen,
It's sad to dump so much. But yes Susan, I am learning. Another huge haul today for our tiny sugar bush.. can't believe it's February. As for the eyes rolls to tap in mid February.. the climate just isn't what it once was... we'd be foolish to ignore such warm spells in my opinion. I did get a few comments also 'never tap before march' etc. But look at what we are doing in February.
Also, I'm running into the same problems with temps not being able to keep sap cold, we don't have any snow even on our property left so we've actually resorted to ice blocks. I am not gonna let today's haul go to waste. Only going down to 9 degrees tonight.. not cold enough for sap.
Last edited by Lespetras; 02-28-2017 at 06:42 PM.
2 acres of sugar maples. Woodburning arch with small evaporator and propane burners with steamer pans Year 5.
2015 - 35 taps on 30 trees. 1556 L sap and 44L syrup!
2016 - 42 taps on 40 trees. 2274 L sap and 64L syrup!
2017 - 37 taps on 36 trees. 1573 L sap and 47L syrup!
2018 - 33 taps on 32 trees. 2314 L sap and 53L syrup!
2019 - 30 taps on 29 trees. 1640L sap and 51 L syrup!
2020 - 31 taps on 30 trees. 760 L + stopped counting sap and 25 L syrup!
You're definitely right about the warming trend, Lesley, and we're best to heed it. I think it's in that book on sugaring, The Sugar Season, that came out a few years back that showed part of a chart where temps and collection dates have been kept since the 1920s. Definitely important to learn from the past but sadly we can't live there. Best to do what we can, when we can, while we still can.
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup
Batch number 3.. 188 litres of sap, 5.1 litres of syrup. Sugar content 2.3%, ratio 1:36
2 acres of sugar maples. Woodburning arch with small evaporator and propane burners with steamer pans Year 5.
2015 - 35 taps on 30 trees. 1556 L sap and 44L syrup!
2016 - 42 taps on 40 trees. 2274 L sap and 64L syrup!
2017 - 37 taps on 36 trees. 1573 L sap and 47L syrup!
2018 - 33 taps on 32 trees. 2314 L sap and 53L syrup!
2019 - 30 taps on 29 trees. 1640L sap and 51 L syrup!
2020 - 31 taps on 30 trees. 760 L + stopped counting sap and 25 L syrup!
Batch #1...55l sap, 1800mls syrup, 3.2% sugar. Batch #2 in nearup stage.
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup