Tapping 2019

[maineboiler]

We hope. Tuesday was a good run but not much since. Tomorrow should be good if the wind dies down and my buckets have not blown away. I’ve got orders to fill

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Hell of a run for us yesterday and overnight. All boiled and bottled up. Not going to be a record year but looking better. Sap still very clear and still snow in the woods.

[Road's End]

Made over 10 gallons of syrup today from the last 2 days of sap. Sugarbush is still buried so it's not quitting time anytime soon.

[abbott]

Sure has been a week. Over the last 5 days, right about 5 gallons sap/tap, still testing at 2.3% or better. Tuesday and Friday were great runs. Syrup total is over 300 gallons, so call that 80% production, and going up fast. Looks like the weather is going to be colder than normal for a few days... exactly what we need to get one last good push and turn this into a good season after all. After that, I'm hoping for 60's during the day and 40's at night. Time to thaw the ground and move on to planting the gardens!

[maineboiler]

Friday was our best run yet. 175 gallons at 3.2%. Still clear sap boiling down to a light Amber Rich. Things are looking up. We won’t have the yield of 2018 but good quality syrup.

[Mvhomesteader]

Completed my eighth boil today and got 1.5 gallons from 55, so a 2.7% sugar. Syrup was darker- I'm sure a few of my buckets of sap were a little old, but the syrup tastes great nonetheless. I've got one more to go, 65 gallons for Thursday after the weather clears. After that it's pull taps, clean up, wash up, and move on to some other projects.

[Revi]

We're thinking about getting some vacuum for next season. It's not needed if it's a season like last year, but it would come in handy with a season like this one!

We are thinking maybe about a half horse with no releaser. Anyone know about them? We have electricity in the sugarhouse, and the mainline runs there.

Not much today, but maybe later in the week? Maybe one last boil on Thursday!

[abbott]

Sap ran hard this afternoon, could be a pretty good day depending on how long into the night it goes. Looks like a couple more big sap days, then see how long we can hold on using the power of vacuum...

[West Sumner Sugar]

Small run here in Lewiston, still holding out for another one this week. I think with vacuum we'd be doing much better. Even the 3/16's in Sumner haven't produced this season. Looking at building a test Shurflo system for next season. I think with a few deep cycles we could run almost a whole week without a charge, especially if we add a solar charger.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Emptied totes and boiled what we had tonight so we are ready for fresh sap tomorrow and Friday. Should be some good runs. Going to end up below average for us overall in all likelihood but we will stay plugged in to the end.