Backyard Syrup Enthusiasts 2022

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Sap ran decent yesterday. Have 17" of vac on one Shurflo but a pump malfunctioning on the other line. Replaced the diaphragm but still not pulling more than a couple inches and it doesn't sound right. Walked the lines twice and they look good. New pump will be here tomorrow. Got a small freeze last night and 2" of fresh snow. Should run good for a couple days with no freeze. Looks like it is going to get cool again early next week. Boiling again tomorrow afternoon!

[maineboiler]

I was a little surprised there was not a bigger run yesterday. However, I still managed to collect 120 gallons with a Brix of 3%. Not bad, and we are still ahead of how it was last year. I only hope it doesn’t warm up too fast. Had a 4.5 hour boil last night and so far I’ve produced 6 gallons of near syrup.
Sorry, I cannot offer any advice on your Shurflow, lines and a vacuum system are only a day dream in my operation.

[West Sumner Sugar]

While I wasn't expecting it, this week has been a fairly good one. Big run yesterday collecting 150 gallons on 113 taps in Lewiston. Shurflo pulled 27" all day. Another small run today puts me at about 250 gallons for the week so far. Gonna truck it up to the sugarhouse in Sumner tomorrow. Ill go check the tanks while I am there. Maintaining 2 sugarbushes almost an hour apart can be challenging but it does give us an extended season. We put 10 gallons in the bottle last weekend and should do at least that this weekend. Long range forecast it looking good too.

Typically if the pump isnt pulling good vacuum and gurgles or sounds weird there is a leak somewhere. Its doesn't take much.

[Mvhomesteader]

Today's run (yesterday noon to this afternoon) was 95 gallons, so I'm pleased as punch. I had several 3.5 gallon buckets overflowing. Collecting while boiling is a challenge. I stoke the fire and add new sap every 15 minutes, so that's my window to run around the yard and collect. It's nice to hear folks are getting good runs!

Today's boil was the biggest I've done to date at 81.5 gallons. I love this double arch system. For me it's a game changer. The sugar was slightly less at near 2.4. Looks like Friday wil be the hat trick for the week as I've got 80 gallons in the snowbank and Saturday/Sunday are rainy.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

We have around 375 gallons now and still running so we’ll be busy the next couple days. This weekend I am going to have spend more time looking for a leak that has eluded us. Isolating laterals one by one is the next step I guess.

[CanterburyMaple]

I am simultaneously saddened/worried about the warm temps for the next week, but also relieved to not have to worry about sap for a while, haha! I've collected just over 400 gallons of ~2% brix on 70 taps, and made just shy of 10 gallons of syrup. Last year I did 400 gallons at 1.6% brix and made only 8, with April 5th my last day. Crazy the differences year to year, and I know 2021 was "terrible" for everyone. I'm hoping to rest for a week and get a boil on Maple Sunday and invite the neighbors over

Running out of bottles, will need to plan better next year! Great to hear everyone's doing pretty well, all things considered.

[Mvhomesteader]

I am simultaneously saddened/worried about the warm temps for the next week, but also relieved to not have to worry about sap for a while, haha! I've collected just over 400 gallons of ~2% brix on 70 taps, and made just shy of 10 gallons of syrup. Last year I did 400 gallons at 1.6% brix and made only 8, with April 5th my last day. Crazy the differences year to year, and I know 2021 was "terrible" for everyone. I'm hoping to rest for a week and get a boil on Maple Sunday and invite the neighbors over

Running out of bottles, will need to plan better next year! Great to hear everyone's doing pretty well, all things considered.

If the trees don't go wonky now till Monday there appears to be a freezing pattern governing most of the week😁 . Our work is, hopefully, not done yet.

I stashed another 45 gallons today so I've got 125 in the snowbank. If I added right I'm at 468 gallons to date with the 125 yet to boil. Sounds like we have very similar operations and tap numbers.

I think I'll break that into two boils, Friday and Monday. That should get me cleaned out and ready for a new run (fingers crossed).

[Mvhomesteader]

Wil it keep going? I'm optimistic. Though the flow has pretty much stopped, I've collected another 35 gallons yesterday and today for a total of 105 gallons in the snowbank. Even with the warm weather the flow just kept on giving, just like the jelly of the month club. Conditions look favorable for a couple of freezes this week, so I'm looking forward to more sap.

My smaller boil of 60 gallons yesterday netted almost 1.5 gallons of syrup at 2.4%, so that puts me just under 10 for the season. If the 105 in the snowbank is at 2.25 % that will put me at 12 gallons. All of a sudden the 15 gallon goal appears attainable, as long as the week's weather goes as expected. That will require 150 gallons of sap at 2%, which should be doable.

I think my arms have lengthened an inch from hauling duty.😊

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Boiling off 100 gallons we have gotten through this warmup on the vac lines right now. Found and fixed vac leak today, so that Shurflo is back online which is good seeing how it is our best producing bush. Looks like a decent week for sap after tomorrow. Good luck everyone, hopefully have some sap for Maple Sunday for the first time in years!

[West Sumner Sugar]

Hopefully we get a good freeze tonight to get things back moving. Its nice to have a day to catch up on cleaning and whatnot but no sap flowing makes you worry. We had a good weekend despite the weather. Can we get a nice weekend for once? We polished off just about 1000 gallons of sap and bottled up another 22 gallons. We are sitting just over half of a good years production right now. If we can get a few more weeks like we have been having this will be a great year for us and hopefully everyone else.