2018 Missouri Tapping Season

[buckeye gold]

And their food grade. Unlike a Home Depot or Lowe's bucket.

Lowes sells a food grade bucket. Look for white buckets with a yellow "food Grade" sticker

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Encore-Plas...Bucket/3694238

[StoneHillRidge]

Collected about 3.5 gallons from the 24 taps before the weather turned warm again Went out today after we got a heavy rain last night and had to dump a few containers that were obviously fully of rain water, not sap.

[esetter]

They won't effect the sap smell or taste at all. Remove the rubber gasket and give it a good cleaning. Don't worry about it. Ive been storing in those buckets and you can't tell a thing.

My signature is updated, too.

I installed 3 taps this afternoon. 2 of them started flowing (dripping) right away.

Based on a tip from someone on here, I got some 5-gallon buckets at Firehouse Subs for $2 each (including lids). I washed them and rinsed them with bleach water, but they still smell like pickles. I'm worried they're going to taint my sap. Any thoughts on getting the stink out? Or should I abandon those and grab some new buckets from Home Depot? (I saw online that they sell food-grade buckets.)

[Ray_Nagle]

Well, I reckon my tapping days are over. I was getting ready to tap last week and got a call from my well driller. He needed to meet me at my new house site. That led to a couple days of work to get ready for him, and made me realize I don't have time for the maple syrup this year. In the middle of a house build, I just won't be able to spend full days boiling down syrup. Bummer. And the new property doesn't have any maple trees, so once we move out there I'll be just another syrup buyer.

If anybody's interested, I'm filming the construction of my log cabin kit. When it's done I'm planning to go over all of my costs, which should be kinda interesting. https://www.youtube.com/user/Sqeptick

[Twohungryblackbirds]

Hello everyone! My name is Sarah and this is my first year tapping. I tapped ten black walnut trees on the 19th and have only gotten about four gallons of sap so far. I know they don’t produce as much sap as maples, so I’m just assuming I’m going everything fine. Our weather is fluctuating like crazy in Kansas! I’m probably going to start boiling on Friday.

[Goggleeye]

Hello everyone! My name is Sarah and this is my first year tapping. I tapped ten black walnut trees on the 19th and have only gotten about four gallons of sap so far. I know they don’t produce as much sap as maples, so I’m just assuming I’m going everything fine. Our weather is fluctuating like crazy in Kansas! I’m probably going to start boiling on Friday.

Welcome to the trader, Sarah! Got anymore sap off of those walnuts? You'll have to let us know how it turns out. I've always wanted to tap walnuts, but I'm too busy with maples. Don't hesitate to ask any questions, and there are a handful of folks here on the trader that do tap walnuts, so they may have some advice to offer there.
MG

[oldcabin]

I was able to collect this morning. I got 38 gallons from my 65 taps. Still trying to get my evaporator up and running.
I had one tree produce about 1/2 a quart of darker,but clearish sap. Didn't smell. Any ideas what thawas about?

[unclejohn]

last 2 days have been great due to warm days and nights in 30's. got 140 gallons in 2 trips through the sugarbush. had family help me because its hilly and muddy. started boiling yesterday afternoon and continued today. will stop the boil before bedtime tonight, and finish in the kitchen tomorrow. hope other mo producers have been enjoying the good flow.

[Rslun]

Thanks for the info on the buckets everyone. If I get too concerned with the pickle smell, I'll hit up the local donut shop. I feel weird just going in and asking for buckets when I don't even buy donuts there. Maybe I need to buy a dozen to ease my conscience.

Thursday night I collected the sap and had about 2.5 gallons from my 3 taps. Will be boiling today.

[skinny78]

Just got home from a trip to Texas and will be tapping soon. Wish we had more moisture in the ground here but we will have to make the most of what we have. May not tap all of our trees unless we get some rain. Guys take a look at the sap sacks, we used buckets for years before we found out about sap sacks. They save a ton of time and require very little clean up. Good luck all!