212maple - dont worry about those buds, you've got plenty of time yet! (side note: are you just off hwy 212? couple places I've been seeing sap sacks just off the road - might one of those be you?)
toomanyirons - hope you are feeling better!
I'm surprised how many of you have sap to boil already. Got all my taps in now, and as of yesterday about 50% were dripping. Not enough to do anything with yet, though I'm sure that will change by the weekend.
Dan
-15 years sugaring and counting - hoping to create a tradition my kids will always remember
-400 taps, mostly buckets (Silver Maples + a few Boxelders just for the heck of it)
-Custom-built 2x6 evap with Smoky Lake Maple raised flue, boiling in dad's old farm granary, now converted to sugar shack
-Cobbled-together RO with XLE4040 membrane
-New in 2021: experimenting with 3/16 tubing & a Shurflo pump.
All of mine are running, getting about 7-12 gallons of sap a day right now. Will be boiling this weekend, have about 55 gallons of sap to cook, will have more by the end of the day.
Thanks to all for the kind words. Feeling better but not 100 percent. My ambition is back but still have no stamina. Will try to do half a processing run tomorrow (Saturday), to dial in the system and just to see how far I can go before I run out of energy. As of last night I have 30 gallons of sap in inventory. 14 trees were running at various degrees. I have 44 taps installed, 20 trees tapped.
I get completely winded when carrying a 5 gallon carboy full of sap. Reminds me of the bad old days when I used to smoke tobacco. LOL
Another long time maple sugarer in my area passed away two nights ago. He was a crusty old dude, I had some very interesting conversations with him. Knowledgeable guy, intolerant of stupidity. Sad to see that generation leaving us.
Been that, done there.
Sap has been steady at 1 to 1.5 gallons per tap. Really surprised so far on sugar content of 3% so far. Collected close to 200 gal so far on 40 taps.
SDdave
It's not the size of the tree...it's what inside that counts!
Great run going here just east of St. Paul MN, with daily freeze thaw predicted for the next 10 days. Just 2 trees and a total of 3 taps here in my suburban yard. So far, almost 22 gallons of sap harvested, and almost a gallon of syrup made. Was reading on another thread that some folks have squirrel issues. I have plenty of squirrels here, but in the 5 years I've been doing this, they never bother my bags...so far.
Slow going here 100 gallons total sap collected from about 110 taps. Made 1.25 gallons of syrup on Saturday and will be processing the rest of the sap tonight.
Home made RO thanks to MapleTrader
2 LP fish fryers
2013 5 gallons syrup
2014 14 gallons syrup
@ Silver Maple - thanks for your advice. I put another 100+ taps out on Sunday and collected 215 gallons last night from my 325 taps. Once the snow melts some I think I will try to put another 50-100 in. (I don't have any taps along Hwy 212)
We cooked 22 gallons last night, 66 for the year so far. Pans are getting sweet though. Next few days I think things will crank up.
Need a good freeze I think. The last 3 days collection on 40 taps is 50, 12, and a whopping 2 today. Cleaned my pan and RO though. I'll take a little break, I know the wife would like me in the house before midnight for a change.
SDdave
It's not the size of the tree...it's what inside that counts!
My trees on the island of Minnetonka are still locked up. The silver gave a little more than 1/2 gallon a day since tapping on Sunday 3/18 but the other varieties really aren’t measurable yet. This is a bit surprising as the last several years were running as early as mid to late February. Now I think I should have waited another week.
JC
44° 55' 23" N
2x6 smoky lake divided pan custom arch ‘The fire truck’
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