Crawford County 2022

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, Feb. 26th...All 50 taps are now in on our north facing ridge. Only one tree dripping slowly. Only a few with wet wood. Crusty snow that is easy to walk on going tree to tree.

Sunday, Feb. 27th...Another sunny day after a freezing night. Buckets were checked late afternoon, they now have sap on the bottom, some more than others but no need to collect Monday morning. Monday's chore becomes getting everything ready up on top as we wait for the woods to really kick in. Next two weeks look good temperature wise. Here we go with the 2022 season.

[Twisted Minds]

Saturday, March 26th...All 50 taps are now in on our north facing ridge. Only one tree dripping slowly. Only a few with wet wood. Crusty snow that is easy to walk on going tree to tree.

Sunday, March 27th...Another sunny day after a freezing night. Buckets were checked late afternoon, they now have sap on the bottom, some more than others but no need to collect Monday morning. Monday's chore becomes getting everything ready up on top as we wait for the woods to really kick in. Next two weeks look good temperature wise. Here we go with the 2022 season.

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I'm hoping that was just a typo you stating (March) 26th and 27th, and you meant (February).

[Twisted Minds]

If so, I hear ya. Over here in LaCrosse County, tapped about 50 today on lines, maybe 4 or 5 were even moist. The rest were drier than a popcorn fart. That should change quickly though with forecasted temps. Going to try and tap another 50 or so tomorrow.

[Irish Ridge]

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I'm hoping that was just a typo you stating (March) 26th and 27th, and you meant (February).

Thanks, for catching that. What was I thinking. I went back and fixed it. Moving on, I just got back in the house from my morning walk in the woods and there is still no need to collect sap this morning (Tuesday) even with lots of sun and the temp close to 50 yesterday. Lost a lot of snow yesterday and gained soft muddy trails heading from the house to the woods. There is always a week where I have to get in and out of the woods early before the temp thaws the trail too much from the overnight freeze. Sad part is that it didn't freeze at all last night by us.

Used to follow reports from a a guy on this board from down in Grant County. I was always about 5 to 7 days behind him in what the trees were doing. He hasn't written for a few years so now I follow the Iowa board a bit. Sometimes I get reports on the conditions from Milleville which is due south of me but on the other side of the river.

[Irish Ridge]

Early morning check on the taps revealed that today will be another non-collection day. Actually got down to 27 last night. First time in a couple nights that we went below 32. At some point the trees have to warm up and let loose. I have run out of projects to do around camp. Only snow left is in ditches and strong shade areas.

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, March 5th...Periodic rain last night but a break in the rain this morning allowed for a muddy walk to the trees. Only two trees have produced a couple of gallons for the week. The rest are wet and dripping sporadically. Kind of glad about the low production because there is no way in and out of the woods and back to the shack with a motorized vehicle. The trails are complete mud and even walking is a chore.
The pond which hasn't been full for over a year is now releasing water. More thunder and more rain began at noon, currently enjoying a short break mid afternoon. It appears more rain is on the way later this afternoon. With no boiling being done and time to play, was able to catch some nice late season crappies through the ice yesterday.

[Irish Ridge]

Sunday, March 6th...1.75 inches of rain yesterday. More mud, great. First sap collection of the year and brought in 40 gallons of sap which averaged just under 2 per cent sugar content. What looked like a great week quickly turned into something less than even average. Looking at the long range forecast my prediction is another week of below average sap production. Snow is forecast for tonight. Not much of a report. Not much of week. Keep sappin.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

thanks for the up date,our trees are not producing only 80 gal out of 250 trees.

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, March 12th....The Crawford County reports isn't much different that the others in the area. I was able to collect just over 40 gallons from my 50 taps earlier this week. On the plus side, the mud is all froze up. On the negative side, so are the taps. The vineyard coulee boys haven't even finished setting up. The brother in-law on Bouska Road has a total of a half gallon of syrup for the season. Since I am caught up at the sugar shack I might just as well get the jump on springing my clocks forward this morning. Next report to follow next weekend or whenever the trees wake up.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, March 14th.....Sap is running. I could leave it that but won't. Collecting this morning some pails were still fairly solid chunks of ice. 50 taps and 85 gallons of sap; I'll take it. No breeze - smoke and steam rising straight up as I write. I'll take it for as long as this little run lasts. Snow is gone again except for the shade. Out for now.