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Thread: Crawford County 2018

  1. #21
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Prairie du Chien, WI
    Posts
    201

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    Wednesday, March 21 - Trees have really slowed down the last few days. Looking for my next boil on Friday to be done before the snow on Saturday. The morning was spent finishing up our first two boils and we came up with just over 5 gallons of a nice light amber color and fine tasting syrup. IMG_1322.jpg
    2019 47 taps and 10.75 gallons of syrup
    2020 45 taps and 21.25 gallons of syrup
    2021 50 taps and 13.5 gallons of syrup
    2022 50 taps and 18.5 gallons of syrup
    2023 49 taps and 18 gallons of syrup
    2024 49 taps and 9.75 gallons of syrup

    56 acres above the Mississippi River in SW Wisconsin
    43.01N

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    West branch Kickapoo River Valley, Southwestern Wisconsin
    Posts
    192

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    Hi Irish Ridge, nice looking syrup, ours was very light also. Looks like a bunch of snow down your way, Viroqua forecast 1 to 3 inches there. Good luck this weekend.
    12x16 Sugar House 2x6 Maple Pro wood fired evaporator Arctic Cat 4x4 1980 Snowmobile 225 taps on buckets 17 Taps on 3/16th tubing on steep hillside

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Lancaster, Wisconsin
    Posts
    25

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    We pulled taps on Wednesday evening-boiled the rest we had in the bulk tank on Thursday and did our final boil this morning. We got everything cleaned up by noon today and ended up with 237 pints of syrup. Once the trees started they didn't give us any break in the action this year.
    Either lead, follow or get out of the way!

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Prairie du Chien, WI
    Posts
    201

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    Sunday, March 25 - Went out this afternoon to collect sap and found less than nice clear sap of the early season. Buckets are now all empty and I plan on being careful and observant with my next collection possibly also calling it a season in the very near future. Will "finish" another 2 gallons or so Monday afternoon.
    2019 47 taps and 10.75 gallons of syrup
    2020 45 taps and 21.25 gallons of syrup
    2021 50 taps and 13.5 gallons of syrup
    2022 50 taps and 18.5 gallons of syrup
    2023 49 taps and 18 gallons of syrup
    2024 49 taps and 9.75 gallons of syrup

    56 acres above the Mississippi River in SW Wisconsin
    43.01N

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Prairie du Chien, WI
    Posts
    201

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    Tuesday, March 27 - 1/2 an inch of rain overnight made for some very slippery walking while collecting sap this afternoon. Sap is still flowing relatively slow. Actually pulled 1/3 of my taps which had either stopped entirely or were giving less than clear sap. Should have a day worth of boiling tomorrow. I took a reading of sugar content and still comes back at a strong 3%. No complaining there. Got inside the house by noon and "finished" another 1.5 gallons on the gas stove. Did I mention it was slippery while collecting? Not just that, but I also sunk straight down in the mud on the trails. One last observation, the wood ducks are back on the pond now that the ice went out last week.
    2019 47 taps and 10.75 gallons of syrup
    2020 45 taps and 21.25 gallons of syrup
    2021 50 taps and 13.5 gallons of syrup
    2022 50 taps and 18.5 gallons of syrup
    2023 49 taps and 18 gallons of syrup
    2024 49 taps and 9.75 gallons of syrup

    56 acres above the Mississippi River in SW Wisconsin
    43.01N

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Prairie du Chien, WI
    Posts
    201

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    Saturday, March 31st - After finishing off one more gallon inside it was time for a walk in the woods to check buckets. The trees made the decision for me that today was the day to pull the rest of my taps. I will have one more boil tomorrow afternoon which should produce just under a gallon of syrup. Serious clean up will begin Monday. On an side note, the fire trucks went screaming by my sugar shack on Thursday around 5 p.m. We figured it was a grass fire that got away from someone but it actually turned out to be a fire that started from blowing embers from friends making their own syrup. They left the fire unattended at the end of the day. It came in as a garage fire but I haven't gone over to investigate because I think heads are hanging low. Be careful, be safe, have fun. A year end summary will follow in the near future.
    2019 47 taps and 10.75 gallons of syrup
    2020 45 taps and 21.25 gallons of syrup
    2021 50 taps and 13.5 gallons of syrup
    2022 50 taps and 18.5 gallons of syrup
    2023 49 taps and 18 gallons of syrup
    2024 49 taps and 9.75 gallons of syrup

    56 acres above the Mississippi River in SW Wisconsin
    43.01N

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    West branch Kickapoo River Valley, Southwestern Wisconsin
    Posts
    192

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    Noticed our evaporator puts out a lot of sparks and ash, checking in the dark wow. looking forward to your end of season report. We are still struggling with a lot of mud in the valley, looks like it will be gone about the time we quit for the season.
    12x16 Sugar House 2x6 Maple Pro wood fired evaporator Arctic Cat 4x4 1980 Snowmobile 225 taps on buckets 17 Taps on 3/16th tubing on steep hillside

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Prairie du Chien, WI
    Posts
    201

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    April 3rd. End of season report, here goes. We tapped Feb. 18th. First lesson learned for next year is to just tap a few test trees next year. I am in a position where I can go tap trees at will on a minutes notice so I plan on doing that to prevent dry holes. No big run this season on my north facing slope. Frost was deep, snow not so much. I determined that I would rather walk in the slippery mud and wet leaves than deep snow. Good sugar content this spring. The sugar maples were always over 2.5 per cent sugar content and most often closer to 3 and 3 plus per cent. 8.5 gallons of total syrup this year. Our lowest amount in a season but still an enjoyable season and a hobby worth participating in. Wood ducks but no peepers by the pond at this time. A little clean up to go and then it is on to other spring activities.
    2019 47 taps and 10.75 gallons of syrup
    2020 45 taps and 21.25 gallons of syrup
    2021 50 taps and 13.5 gallons of syrup
    2022 50 taps and 18.5 gallons of syrup
    2023 49 taps and 18 gallons of syrup
    2024 49 taps and 9.75 gallons of syrup

    56 acres above the Mississippi River in SW Wisconsin
    43.01N

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