Crawford County 2022

[Irish Ridge]

Wednesday, March 16th....Another good couple of days of sap production. A couple of flies and one moth in a few pails. Hasn't gone below freezing in two nights. Mud is the worst it has been in the woods. A gobbler and couple of jakes were courting about 20 hens on a nearby field so spring has to be close.

Friday, March 18th....Constant rain overnight and during the day kept me out of the woods and finishing product inside on the gas stove. 7.5 gallons from this quite different year so far. No light syrup this year; all a nice dark color. Maple branches are beginning to turn red, no buds yet.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Here also the mud seems better up top but in the valley its at its worst, last to lose the snow. lots of deer tracks in the tire tracks, havent seen them but their there.our syrup is darker also but has a great maple taste.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, March 21.....Collected sap early this morning after getting a fire going. Good sugar content in the sap. Well over 2.5% A couple of the trees had to be solid 3%. Finished on the kitchen gas stove on Tuesday and was able to push our syrup total to our second lowest year. One more good run will get us into our average years. The boys on Bouska Road decided to pull taps based on the weather forecast. I am going for one more small run if nothing else.
Friday, March 25.....Checked buckets and nothing. Left them all in place still hoping for a last run. No buds on trees yet but seeing the change. Big wind forecast for later today. Another two inches of rain in the rain gauge a couple of days ago. At least this rain went into the soil. No peepers yet in the pond and I have water running out of there for the first time in close to 2 years. This crazy season keeps it interesting.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Boy crazy season is right, our syrup season is way off only 19 gal of syrup, Last year our last cook day was March 27th with a year total of 52 gal syrup. did beat our worst season of 12 gal syrup. still hoping fore some more though.

[Irish Ridge]

Tuesday, March 29th....First time collecting since the 21st. In that time span the trees gave me 1.5 gallons per tree over my 50 trees. Sap was running nice when I collected late this afternoon. Still nice and clear. Even with all of the wind over the last few days there was still plenty of mud to keep it interesting. There were a few sprinkles around 5 pm with a whole lot more forecast over the next 48 hours. Even had some ants inside one bucket today. It's looking like buckets get pulled Sunday or Monday at the latest.

[Irish Ridge]

Thursday, March 31st....Another late afternoon sap collection and I am glad I did. I had some 5 gallon pails overflowing. Sap is still good but doesn't look like spring water anymore. This all coming in the last 48 hours, and the sap is still dripping real nicely. The wind is still blowing pretty good. The rain is gone, the snow has half melted. Looking at below freezing after midnight. Firing up the stove at first light. The last couple of days have finally assured me of a better than average year.

[spike in wi]

Glad to hear your having a good season Dave. We pulled our taps last night only because we ran out of bottles. The trees ran like I've never seen the last couple of days. We had tapped on the 27th of February and most of our season was the last three days. Was looking for you at the SREC audit yesterday but I saw someone else in your place. Mike

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, April 2nd....Good to hear from you Mike. Glad to hear you got into this late run as well. I may have that same bottle issue in a few days. Yesterday I had a college room mate and his grandson come over and give me a hand. I am glad they did because the craziness continued. I am walking like the hunchback of Notre Dame today after all the walking on the side of the hill. We pulled several taps that had slowed down to nothing only because I had the extra help carrying out buckets. Other taps are still going like gangbusters. At only 5 gallons an hour of evaporation, I am committed to several days and all through the nights of boiling. A brother-in-law over on Bouska Road pulled his taps last Sunday and I just shook my head. This week it is his head shaking in disbelief. After the snow ends at noon, we will start up again. I forgot what a relaxed morning with a coffee felt like.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, April 4th....Actually started boiling at 9 a.m. in the snow. Went late into the evening and kept the fire going. Got up a couple times in the night to feed wood. Sunday at daylight got the stove going at full strength again. Just after noon finished a batch on the stove outside and started all over with another boil. Later in the day began collecting sap. The wild run had continued and sap was collected until the rain came. We continued to keep the fire going through the night. This morning we stoked the fire to full strength and got back to work. All remaining taps and buckets were pulled. Sap still looked fine but the forecast says we are done. Working through the night and hoping to finish before the rain Tuesday afternoon. Peepers are back in force. Gobblers and hens were heard all afternoon. This last run really made the season. Year end totals to be shared in the next and final post.

[Irish Ridge]

Tuesday, April 5th,...Worked through the night and through the next morning trying to beat the rain. Was able to get the nearly finished syrup off the stove around 12:30 p.m. Rain followed a short time later. Everything went right.
Thursday, April 7th.....Doing it in 4 batches, was able to finish the 10 gallons down to 9.25 gallons of a nice dark color syrup on the gas stove in the kitchen. What looked to be a less than average season a week ago turned into our second best of all time. That was one crazy week. Perhaps the best week ever for us. Not looking forward to the clean up but I am constantly reminded that this whole hobby is self-induced. Nice to read the Vernon County entries and southeast Wisconsin entries. Pretty much the same weather and things going on at the same time. See you all next spring.