well has anyone in the southeast part of the state tapped yet I was thinking of tapping some today,
well has anyone in the southeast part of the state tapped yet I was thinking of tapping some today,
Turned on the vacuum a week ago, had a couple of good run days, I dont expect it will be warm enough around here till Monday or tuesday for another run. But yes, not a bad weekend to tap some trees around here...enjoy!
Forgot to update! I put out about 15 buckets earlier this week on my deep woods reds. Not much happening so far.
I'm going to put out ten tomorrow and see what happens this week
2022 is season 7
2016: 20 taps on buckets, 4 gallons on a borrowed 2x3.
2017: 32 taps on buckets, 8 gallons of syrup, on a "loaner" Lapierre 19x48.
2018: 80 taps. First time tubing. New 10x12 sugar shack, Lapierre 2x5. Made 17 gallons
2019: 100 taps. 22 gallons. Added a small RO 50 gph.
2020: 145 taps, 30 gallons, sold half. Murphy cup is a great addition.
2021: tapped Feb 23, 150 taps, 35 gallons.
2022: 200 taps. I lost 50, added 100. Having fun but short season?
I tap in my yard and my son puts out an additional 10 taps in wet lands, they put out just as much as the ones in my yard,quality is fine, but not sure of the sugar content
I first tried tapping red maples on buckets a few years ago and it was hit or miss. About 1/3 of the buckets gave less than a gallon of sap all season, the others did OK but no where near as good as the sugars. Then when I tried 3/16 tubing, on gravity or small diaphragm pump, they came alive. Even 10' of elevation drop (or more) was enough to get the sap yield of the reds close to that of the sugars. Sugar content is about a half percent less. The syrup flavor is really good with the blend of sugar/red maple. About 2/3 of my taps are now on reds, all on 3/16 tubing, gravity or vacuum. I wouldn't have tapped any of them on buckets since they are deep in the woods and difficult to collect, but with the tubing and my automated sap transfer setup it is a breeze.
Dave
Mountain Maple farm
2022 NAMSC award winning dark amber syrup
2023: 320 taps, 70% red maples. Mountain Maple S4 diaphragm pump controller with automated sap transfer and text messaging
Website:
https://www.mountainmaplefarm.com
https://www.facebook.com/MountainMapleFarm/
well my trees are finally starting to run! boiled 4 gals today [only put out 9 taps so far] should have close to 4 for tomorrow the way they're running,
hope they stay running now!
I jumped in yesterday. Twenty gravity taps in lowland reds.
I tapped 9 on Sunday, 1st one was like tapping a sponge sap all over the place, all taps are dripping at a pretty good rate, hopefully it'll be a good season