Processed 140 gallons from the 18th. Syrup came out real dark, but good.
Trees seemed to poop out towards the afternoon, think they need some cool weather to recharge. Collected a total of 110 gallons. Gonna leave the vacuum off today (20th); I need to do a bunch of stuff today and tomorrow, and won't have time to cook more than the 110.
Tonight it will at least freeze again. Hope the warm weather coming is not going to create a repeat of last year - trees pop then get hit with a hard frost again. That was the end of the season for me. Last year apple trees started blooming, then the cold weather came and killed a lot of the blooms --a lot fewer apples.
Let's keep good thoughts for a bit longer season
Regards
John
All red maples:
2013/4 - A few taps and propane burner
2015 - 54 taps on bags and buckets, 2x3 Mason evaporator - 3.5 gallons syrup finished and bottled
2016 - 72 taps on home-built vacuum/mainline system, home built RO (2 - 2.5 x 21 membranes) - 9+ gallons syrup finished and bottled
2017 - 91 taps upgrade to RO (single 4 x 40 membrane) - 13 gallons syrup
2018 - 91 taps - 12 gallons syrup
2022 - Back after 3 years off, 106 taps on vacuum - 29+ gallons syrup