Western Mass 2019

[berkshires]

A few things to keep in mind about those projected early Feb days:
- Those predicted high temps in the day are just that - the high temp. In Jan and early Feb, it may only be an hour or two anywhere near that temp, coming from lower overnight temps, and with few hours of sunlight. Your trees have a lot of mass, and so does the frozen ground around them. That means they may never, or barely, defrost enough for sap to flow, no matter what the high temp for the day is.
- Frozen lines don't move sap

Probably a good choice to wait a little.

Good luck!

Cheers,

GO

[maple flats]

Besides that, the few days when the sap would run, helps increase the sugar% in the sap. More times up and down raises the sap sugar%. Besides, there is a lot of cold ahead of us.

[berkshires]

Besides that, the few days when the sap would run, helps increase the sugar% in the sap. More times up and down raises the sap sugar%.

I did not know that. That could help explain why I saw my lowest sugar percent in the sap ever, last year. It averaged only 1.4%

This year to maximize the time I have available, I'm probably just going to tap/boil in March. Hopefully that will mean I get the best sugar my maples can give.