2018 What is everyone doing in PA?

[sticknstring]

Anybody ever tap black walnut trees? I read a bout it a little today, was hoping for some first hand exoerience on how it turns out. I have access to a bunch of them, very close to home.

[Sugarmaker]

There are some folks doing walnut syrup. I have enough problems with maple! Do a search you might find some info. I know it can be pricey when done. I have never tasted any of it. Folks do Birch syrup also.
Good luck.
Regards,
Chris

[minehart gap]

I’m with Sugarmaker. Frozen. Looks to thaw sometime Friday night or Saturday morning then the sap should flow hopefully.

[Sugarmaker]

Weather forecast shows continued gradual warming into some good potential sap weather mid next week. Its time to have your things ready to kick off the season! Even though I made some syrup it seems like the restart is always a challange too! I know that I have frozen sap blocks in the collection containers that could be removed. Lots of things in the sugarhouse to get going on like canning some fresh syrup for my rent payment. Still cold, just hit 27 F and stopped snowing!
Good luck to all the folks and families making maple! Bee safe and have loads of fun!
I have to get out and do something!!!!
Regards,
Chris

[red gate maple]

Thanks for the encouragement for me to get out there and tap some trees to get the season started. This weekend is it!

[Sugarmaker]

Thanks for the encouragement for me to get out there and tap some trees to get the season started. This weekend is it!

Most of us don't need much encouragement! The hobby is generally quite addictive, you may have realized that already.
Hope things go good for you.
Regards,
Chris

[sticknstring]

IMG_2922.jpgJust tapped another silver at my moms, the sap is running pretty good i think. Definitely much better thsn the first two trees i tapped. Getting a drip every 3-4 seconds outta both taps. Here is a close up of the buds on it.

[sticknstring]

Definitely a silver. Looked at the leaves below it. Definitely a lot of buds. These trees are decent size, one is a triple trunk with each trunk being about 24" where it breaks splits 4-5' off the ground. The other is at least 24" DBH. Attached is a pic of the bud clusters up in the tree, hopefully they are ok to tap.IMG_2917.jpg Here are the leavesIMG_2914.jpg

[sbedilion]

Im definetly not an expert but I doubt any of the trees are close to being buddy. Id tap away! Good Luck!

[sticknstring]

I tapped three different silver Maples yesterday. The final of the three I tapped had five different 12 inch or better shoot coming out of one trunk that was probably 24 to 30 inches in diameter a foot from the ground. That tree had sap flowing immediately upon drilling and I'm not exactly sure how much I will find tonight, but I know that from the two different shoots I tapped on that tree I will have at least some sap. The first two trees I tapped were completely dry when I tapped them and I just had my wife check them and there's not a drop of sap from either tree. Being brand new to this, I am kind of panicking as to whether I did something wrong on the other two trees. They were very big trees so I had high hopes of getting a good flow out of them. They get very good sunshine. Could I have done something wrong or am I just a rookie wigging out over nothing? I'm heading up to my ground to tap a couple more trees tonight and I want to make sure that I'm doing it right. On all three trees so far, I tapped the south facing part either on a trunk where it splits Out from the base of the tree or above a large root. Bored my hole with a 5/16 bit about 2 1/2 inches deep and then tapped my plastic tab in with light hammer pressure until the hammer started bouncing back at me. I tried to ream the holes out good, not necessarily reaming the hole to be miss shaped but more pulling in and out to make sure I got all of the loose wood shavings out of the hole