
Originally Posted by
Galena
Aww cute setup Paul! Glad that you finally got a boil done. Expect the big trees to just be starting to wake up, my biggies are taking their sweet time...still! Frustrating esp when you know what they can produce. But can't do anythign about it. Surprise 3.0 is the superstar so far, chugging it out really well for a li'l one-spiler :-)
I have about 22l in holding, if weather good tomorrow and Tuesday I may have enough - 45l is my self-imposed minimum - to warrant firing up Shack Whacky on Wednesday. But now there is more white stuff drifting down! W.T.F.....haven't we had enough this year?!
I know right? I'm not one to complain about the snow as I'm a sledder, but nothing will re-open the trails now, and I'm getting anxious for some major boiling time!
The trees were dripping today (except the big ones still).. weather forecast has changed a lot now.. we will see some (slightly) below freezing nights every night this week (as opposed to the previous forecast of low of 5+ for Thurs/Friday). Maybe it will be a good week after all!
I think I need to put a wall on the RHS of the gazebo.. that seems to be where the wind predominantly blows from, so it blows the steam into my face all the time.
So this year instead of 4 roasting dishes, I splurged and got 2 of those new Double size steam table pans..and I made a siphon to regulate between the two pans.. Other than having difficulty sealing the pans on the top of the evap (already have a fix in mind) this setup worked great! Barely any ladling required! Now all I need is a float box! :-)
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2023 -30 trees -24 vacuum, 6 buckets. ~1,845 L sap; Syrup count: 49.25L
2022 -30 trees -24 vacuum, 6 buckets. ~1,530 L sap; Syrup count: 48.65L
2021 -29 trees -23 vacuum, 6 buckets. ~1240 L sap; 34.5L of syrup
2020 -30 trees 32 taps. ~900 L sap; 27.1L Syrup.
2019 -27 trees 31 taps. ~725 L sap; 22.2L Syrup.
2018 -19 Trees 20 taps. ~750 L sap; 18 L Syrup
2017 -4 trees 4 taps. ~60 L sap; 1.5 L Syrup