Tapped in Chester
Got all 15 of my taps in today. 12 are buckets hanging on trees, 3 are taps with drops to buckets at the base of the tree. Most started to drip immediately, with the exception of one huge old tree. Never tapped that tree before. If I don't see some good sap flow on it tomorrow, I may just move those buckets.
Even with snowshoes, trying to get around on 16 inches of wet snow on steep slope was... interesting. More than once the snow under me just slid out on wet leaves and I just aimed for the nearest tree to stop my slide.
Probably got around a half gallon of sap per tree by dusk.
Made a few more little improvements to the evaporator after getting the taps in. Will start my first boil tomorrow.
2016: First year. Homemade evaporator out of little woodburning stove with steam tray pans. 6 taps on buckets. 1.1 galls syrup
2017: Same little homemade evaporator, but souped up. Still 2 steam tray pans. 15 taps on buckets. 4.5 galls syrup.
2018: Same setup. Limited time (New baby!) Downsized to 12 taps and short season. 2.2 gallons syrup.
2019: Still very limited time, with a one-year-old. Downsized even further to 7 taps and a short season. 2.1 gallons syrup