Western MA - My drill finger is getting itchy

[berkshires]

I put in 86 yesterday they were running pretty good all 3/16

Hey that's great to hear! You're right next door, so to speak, in Blandford. I think the super-cold nights for the two nights before I tapped were the reason I didn't see much on Saturday after tapping, but I expect it ran pretty good for me on Sunday, and today and tomorrow should be killer. At least I hope so! I won't be able to get back to the sugarbush until next weekend, so time will tell.

Gabe

[sweetwater sugar shack]

The one's I put in are in westfield so a little warmer down there

[SeanD]

I cut a limb from a sapling that was against one of my lines and it dripped pretty well on Sunday. Tasted pretty good, too. I'm not ready, so I'll get going in February.

[berkshires]

The one's I put in are in westfield so a little warmer down there

Oh yeah, like four degrees warmer on average. Still, I'm hoping that I should've gotten a decent run Sunday, maybe a little today, and tomorrow should be good.

[WESTMAPLES]

honestly ive put out 4 test bucket taps in westfield and montgomery at my bushes and my results are wait alittle longer. i like to `test the water` so to speak, before going all out tapping and because there is nothing worse than fighting frozen releasers, tanks, pumps, lines, float box, ect....when i haven`t got enough coming in to justify processing before this next cold snap (15 or less degrees for multiple nights) goes by. keep up the good work

[berkshires]

Makes sense. If I had no other constraints on my time, I'd definitely still be waiting (though it would be hard with these warm spells).

[bigschuss]

I'm up in Savoy at 2,000 and I can't even imagine tapping right now. My average date of first tapping is right around the first week of March. But reading this thread sure makes me anticipate the season a bit more!

[berkshires]

Well I just drove out to my sugarbush and... the trees say it's still winter LOOOL! I've probably got around 8 or 10 gallons in a dozen buckets. Not really worth firing up the evaporator for. A couple of the trees ran pretty well - ones that get the best sun (go figure), but most have only an inch or two of sap. And all the sap is totally frozen solid. So I think I'll just toss all the sap cubes in a 50 gallon tote, hang the buckets back up, and see what happens over the course of the next week. It should be cold enough this week that the sap will keep until next weekend. Hope to get another little run over the weekend and into Monday. That plus what I've got should give me enough to boil next weekend.

[johnpma]

I'm actually down at the south Shore for work in RI and I don't see anyone tapped yet which is surprising as it is a bit warmer down here.....good luck! I hear we have some more winter coming early in the week

[SeanD]

I was really keeping an eye on what the next ten days held as we got into this thaw. It looks like we are having a typical winter to this point in the sense that we've had substantial cold and some snow, a January thaw, and a return to cold and snow - at least in this area. I'm sure the trees with good sun started to thaw a bit, but I think they are taking their time. While I do look at the predicted highs in the forecast, I also watch the lows. Even though the high might get to 40, if it's coming out of the teens or low twenties, sap might only run for a few hours that day. The ground is still pretty frozen and the January sun just isn't that strong yet. In two weeks, the day is 30 minutes longer. Two weeks after that, it's an hour longer. It may not matter too much for the tubing, but it definitely helps the buckets. Of course, I'm small enough that I can afford to wait for things to be perfect.