Backyard Syrup Enthusiasts 2022

[Mvhomesteader]

Thanks for the advice on tapping branched trunks. I'll probably skip that tree as I'm not desperate. After the quick warm up last year and a shortened season, I'm adding trees I haven't tapped previously, mainly reds, to get more sap early in the event of a repeat season. The weather, to me, remains wacky.

To answer turnerburner, I'm tapping tomorrow and Thursday. It's a convenient time and in line with past seasons, at least for me. Two cooler days followed by what could be a good first run next week. Maybe some sap Thursday/Friday but we'll see. Canterbuy Maple 's got some flow going on southern Maine, so maybe central Maine can join in.

[Mvhomesteader]

I did not tap today other than one "test" tap to see what, if anything, is happening. Dry hole in a sunny location tree that generally performs well.

I'm see tomorrow if the warmth gets things going. I think the wind worked against me today, but it's supposed to be windier tomorrow. Next week's forecast has a nice sunny day in the low 40's followed by two overcast / snow shower days near 40, then a stretch of too cold till the end of the month. Not banner, so I'll play tapping by ear. It wouldn't hurt me till wait a bit longer.

[Tuckeradams2012]

I tapped my southern Maine trees yesterday and today, and will be tapping Norway on Saturday. Might be a tad early for the buckets up North, but hoping that the weather stays right!

[CanterburyMaple]

I will finish putting in my 60-70 taps today, but I've got 55 degrees and sun down here in Gorham today. Definitely need to do what the weather is telling you to do in your neck of the woods; i'd guess up north it's still early, but I like MV's approach of doing a few test taps and see how trees are thawing out. Cool! And hopefully everyone gets a run next week, but then back to below freezing it looks like for a week or so (if you believe the 2 week forecast...)

On today's run, I've got about a gallon in each bucket so far, so looks like I'm RO-ing first thing tomorrow morning and boiling afterwards! I did something that I hope helps preserve my sap: I dumped a 5 gallon pail of water into my storage barrel 2 nights ago when it was 10 degrees over night to create a block of ice to keep the sap cool while I collect it today. We don't have much snow (2-3 inches of snow/sleet melted into an ice skating rink) so i don't have a snow bank to store it in. North side shade is the only friend I have right now, and my quickly melting ice cube...

[Mvhomesteader]

I woke up to my test tap with a nice sap layer, so I decided to get as many taps on as I could. I ended up putting 47 on and many were flowing pretty strong. I noticed that the smaller diameter trees were flowing much stronger than the bigger trees. I guess they are still froze up. I'll finish the remaining 34 tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what I collect tomorrow afternoon before the freeze. I'll wager 10 to 15 gallons. With another run Monday to Wednesday perhaps enough to boil? That would be early for me.

Interesting how different the conditions are between here and southern Maine. Canterbury Maple has a nice early season flow going-enjoy the boil! I think the higher elevation here, though only an hour north, delays the start somewhat. Smart move to make a big ice cube!

[Mvhomesteader]

I ended up gathering 35 gallons, way more than I anticipated, averaging near a gallon per tap. I guess it ran all night as well as when the sun popped out in the late morning. I want to try boiling 70 gallons with the added arch so I'm half way there. I suspect after this coming Wednesday I'll get in excess of my goal and boil that weekend.

The disappointing thing was the sugar content---low two's. We'll see how the refractometer compares with the boil numbers and if the sugar improves as the season gets going. Too early to make any predictions.

Finishing taps by Sunday for Mondays anticipated run. It's all about volume this season!

[Tuckeradams2012]

All Tapped in! With trees in the greater Portland area and in Oxford County at camp where the boil happens, it is done. I fought tooth and nail to get the sugar shack built. In October I had set the base, walls went up in November, took December off due to the holidays but then finally the roof (no metal yet, just OSB and a tarp over it) came to fruition just a few short weeks ago. Still only tarp walls but honestly better than moving in and out of the garage every. single. time. Waiting for it to cool and scalding hot near syrup sloshing around when we did was not fun.

Yesterday was a whirlwind, tapped all of the Norway land, as well as moved the evaporator filled with fire brick on water skis down to the new shack and put down some cement board underneath it. All told since I tapped southern Maine this week I got over 30 gallons on about half the trees that woke up down there which wasn't too shabby. Should run hard Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Southern Maine this week as well as we will likely see some from Norway with the high temps. 105 taps is what I believe I am up to, I am meticulous with tracking everything, but when the operation got over 100 taps this year (probably the largest it will ever get) it became a new game.

Lots of other additions this year. Hobby RO System (yet to be tested), Shurflo Vaccum system serving 45ish taps, transfer pump from bottom of hill to sugar shack via mainline. Still no preheater, or float valve, but there is always next year.

[Mvhomesteader]

Hope your new system lives up to your expectations, Tucker. It looks like your arrangement has grown considerably since 2020!

I finished all my taps as well, ending up with 78, a few of which I don't expect much. However, I do have high hopes for 71 of the group. I opened up a new area adjacent to a very old, tiny cemetery bordering my property that has a slew of good sized sugar maples. A little bit more walk to carry sap buckets but it should be worth the effort.

Let's see what this week brings.

[West Sumner Sugar]

We are all tapped and ready. Got the 100 or so in Lewiston in on Friday. Today got the 300 or so in Sumner tapped. We also added 700' of new mainline, with about 4000' of laterals and 156 new taps this week. All hooked up to 12V solar Shurflo systems. Sitting right around 500 taps for the year. Lets hope we can keep the RO busy!

[Pdiamond]

Tucker, I think that was a pretty ingenious idea for transporting your evaporator.