Eastern Ontario 2020

[Coatesy]

Think I'm done also. Only got about 1/4 of a gallon per tree the last few days and it's cloudy sap. Buckets full of what looks like baby black flies also, been a good first year for us. Lots of learning and will be better set up next season from what I learned here. Thanks all and stay safe.

[Galena]

I think I'll be done by the end of this week but my trees have made liars of me before! Meantime they're still producing lovely clear sap. Giving away more sap later today, then keeping what's left unless there is a sap tsunami so I can a 6th batch. Just finished batch #5, will be about 5l. Getting dark now, had maybe 1 batch that was even anywhere close to golden and it reads at 52. Stoopid batch #4!

[paulslund]

Yep, I think my trees are done as well. Got maybe 2L from the few Sugars I have, but the Silvers seem to have mostly shut down..even with the freezing Tuesday night and a bit last night I thought might get another 3-4L per tree, but nope. Not enough to fire the evap, although I boiled 50L on the kitchen stove the other night..man that took forever!). Will likely boil on the stove again.. collect this evening and then retire the buckets. Might really look into a basic vacuum system using a water pump like some has posted. Even if I get 30-40% more sap (compared to a high vacuum system) it will be an improvement.

Martin: I scorched a pan last weekend,but salvaged the syrup..it's very dark..you could try that if you need dark bulk? (just kidding). Just curious..have you ever run the RO and concentrated sap to the point of being syrup without boiling.. you know..just to see how it turns out?

Record year for me this year.. still haven't counted all the syrup as last weekends is still settling in the fridge, but 880L of sap (plus the bit still on the trees). Clean up this weekend, and then start focusing on self-isolation in the turkey woods! :-)

[Big_Eddy]

Spent a pleasant 2 hours this afternoon pulling taps and collecting buckets and lids. Most buckets had sap in them but not anything I would boil. We last collected Saturday so what was there was pretty cloudy. Need a good day for washing up. I left the evaporator sweet on the weekend so need to drain and add my vinegar then let it soak. About 160l from 160 buckets so no complaints. Next task - refilling the woodshed. My goal is to get it full before the first grass cutting.


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[Robert K]

I was scoping out a few trees that got some serious damage over the winter today. I kept thinking how much of the lean-to would be filled for next seasons runs with each tree, doc I think I got a maple problem, I think it’s bad

[ennismaple]

We had another decent boil yesterday - about 1 GPT of sap coming in but much lower than 2% sap so not as much syrup as we'd like but not much you can do. The first 15 gallons was a great Very Dark, quickly rising to 45 LT and the last 10 gallons were back into a low Amber Rich.

There was 1000 gallons of decent looking sap in the tanks when we left the woods last night so we should have enough to get in one last boil tomorrow. With no freezing for the near future and double digit highs I fully expect to see tanks full of otter snot by Sunday.

[paulslund]

I was scoping out a few trees that got some serious damage over the winter today. I kept thinking how much of the lean-to would be filled for next seasons runs with each tree, doc I think I got a maple problem, I think it’s bad

You're asking the wrong crew for advice on that one.. Our answer to your problem is: Embrace the madness!

I learned how much wood I burn to boil sap the hard way this season. Thought I had enough set aside, and was through it all in just over 2 boils! Spent a lot of the evenings cutting pallets I would get from work to replenish. Time to build a dedicated "syrup wood" wood shed beside the sugar shack!

[Galena]

You're asking the wrong crew for advice on that one.. Our answer to your problem is: Embrace the madness!

I learned how much wood I burn to boil sap the hard way this season. Thought I had enough set aside, and was through it all in just over 2 boils! Spent a lot of the evenings cutting pallets I would get from work to replenish. Time to build a dedicated "syrup wood" wood shed beside the sugar shack!

Eek be carefulif you're burning pallets you just got esp if they're pine...they're often very green. I ruined smokepipe in SW the first year I bucked up pallets with sickening amounts of creosote as I was using fresh-cut up pallets. Now, the planks and knuckles from the same pallets are now well over 2 yrs old and burn cleanly.

[paulslund]

Eek be carefulif you're burning pallets you just got esp if they're pine...they're often very green. I ruined smokepipe in SW the first year I bucked up pallets with sickening amounts of creosote as I was using fresh-cut up pallets. Now, the planks and knuckles from the same pallets are now well over 2 yrs old and burn cleanly.

Yeah they certainly didn't burn as cleanly as last year's stuff.. but I try to keep on the fire a lot so it's as hot as possible.. When I do it properly I only have some smoke when I add some wood.. the rest is a pretty hot and cleanly burned. We learn every year eh?

[Galena]

Well time I called it a year...only one tree, #9, is still producing good clear sap, maybe 3l at a guess. The Surprises produced only drops, and all the big trees produced less than half a litre each, and a spile or two looked a little dubious but still tasted good. We'll find out when I throw it in a saucepan and boil it! Not adding it to the incipient batch #6 if it's gonna ruin it!. Still don't have final figures yet but think about 850+l collected.