Quote Originally Posted by Willen View Post
Swingpure, I have enjoyed reading your posts as you get ready for the first season. All I can say is that I know you will really enjoy it, and it will be different than what you were expecting. Or not. So much depends on Mother Nature. There is a ton of good info on here. This week looks good. Right now you are waiting, hoping, willing that sap to flow. In the not to distant future you will be wishing it would stop, and then, just as suddenly, you will wish it wasn’t over. She is a fickle beast.

The good news is there is always something to improve on next season, better gear, more buckets, cutting trails, splitting your wood smaller, better gear, more buckets, reading, research, better gear, more buckets.......

Good luck and enjoy it all.

Full buckets!
Thanks for the good wishes and advice.

I am very excited for the season to really start, excited for the first boil, first finish and the first bottle of grade A syrup. I do have a little ominous feeling of too much sap all at once, but I do have storage for 350 gallons.

There are still the unanswered questions of how much concentrate my RO will produce an hour and how many gallons an hour my evaporator will actually boil, but I will adjust my plan for whatever they are. And there is the little thing about the art of finishing the sap into syrup.

I do plan on enjoying the journey, I had a giant smile on my face when the first drops of sap flowed down the lines.

I have prepared myself the best I could, now experience and failure and success will help me learn more.

My big improvement for next year will be a modest, but functional, permanent sugar shack. We will see if I desire a bigger pan. I think there are some advantages to the steam pans, but that will be a lesson I learn.