Northern Ontario 2023
I finished and bottled my first syrup of 2023, at 1:30 am, January 1.
Not having boiled it on a wood fire, it has a different taste. Still great, but different.
There should be three more days of sap flow, before it shuts down. The sap flowing late December and early January is not bad for Northern Ontario.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/032P...MIQMJX2KrlGUAQ
689EC7E6-7789-4EB3-B41C-E27B90093392.jpg
Last edited by Swingpure; 01-01-2023 at 01:16 AM.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
Did you tap all of your trees already in preparation for spring, or did you just do a few with the warm spell we had? I'm in southern ontario and have concerns this wierd weather will screw everything up.
I just did about 30 and still have over 140 left to tap, which I will wait to closer to the sap flowing to tap.
It was fun but was also an experiment. I will see when all of the trees are tapped and the sap is flowing how much tapping way early has affected the flows.
The weather forecast changed after I had made the decision to tap. It had stayed warm as forecasted, but did not drop below freezing so other than the first day, the flows were greatly reduced.
One of the lines I chose to tap, I originally had not planned on tapping, but I have an a line that runs beside it that is pretty identical, so although not 100% scientific, it will act as a good comparison for velocity of the flows and the length of time the sap flows. In 7/8 weeks I will have my first impressions.
I lived in the GTA area for decades and I know the weather. It amazing how different the weather is a 2 hour drive north is. My buddy in Toronto will be golfing and we will have two feet of snow on the ground. I was watching the weather down there and initially I thought if I lived down there I would go all in and tap, but I have since learnt a few more lessons and will hold off feeeling that way up until I see my spring results.
After a late start to winter and a relatively easy winter other than a couple of storms, it looks like winter is returning up here and snow and cold is on the way. There is a warm spell next week, that I was debating to buy a turkey fryer to boil the sap, but that warm spell is getting less desirable.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
The cold snap keeps getting extended. I am now thinking any sap I collect over the next couple of days, I will let just freeze and boil later after the cold snap, unless I get significant flows of sap, which hasn’t happen so far.
Today here it will be +2, tomorrow +5 and the following day +7. It may not below freezing before the +7 day, so that could be a dud day.
I will be working on my evaporator today and tomorrow, making the changes to my evaporator, after yesterday’s test boil with water. Yesterday was a great day for the test boi, but I couldn’t help look at the lake and think it would also be a great day for ice fishing.
78031FEE-F67F-4BC1-B57B-75D676482562.jpg
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
Tapping this Saturday is tempting with 5 consecutive days next week above zero, but that is followed by 6 days of below zero temperatures. Would like to see what is going to happen on Feb23/24. I likely won’t tap unless the 23/24th are above freezing.
My original plan was to tap around March 1 depending on the weather.
5560669B-D8D6-4B8C-BF2E-972C186DD8FD.jpg
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
The forecasted cold weather is starting to extend into March. My decision to tap some trees on Feb 10 seems less sound as the cold temperatures keep getting extended. I knew cold weather was returning, but my hope like the rest of the winter, warm weather would return near the end of February.
I have since learnt that trees simply do not flow as well up here in February, as they do during true spring. In future years, I will wait until true spring.
The one bonus is, I may have 60 gallons of sap ready to go when spring does return.
Today is cold and it is certainly still winter here. Hopefully the polar vortex temperatures will be pushed out and the extended forecast changes.
D641F63E-0E36-4ACB-8F06-E880F07BDEDB.jpg
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0f18...nJpeFU3oPv9FGw
https://share.icloud.com/photos/064V...M7fdkMSKbl8mUQ
https://share.icloud.com/photos/02bp...hWuETd-hJ4g_YA
Last edited by Swingpure; 02-17-2023 at 10:39 AM.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
I decided I will not tap next week. I figure it is more like a January thaw scenario than a true start to the sap flow season. I will watch for the weather to warm up after the next freeze period and hopefully will tap closer to March 1st.
Today the Special Weather Statement in our area was a dud, we received less than a quarter of the rain forecasted and temperatures that were supposed to be +6°, barely reached +1°.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
Sure is tempting hearing all the flow reports in SW Ontario
2010 40 buckets- 4 gals finished
2011 80 buckets- 14 gals finished
2012 105 buckets- 8 gals finished
2013 maxed at 130 buckets- 24 gals finished
2014 new max at 240 buckets- 18 gals finished
2015 newest max 240 buckets-+48 taps on 3/16 gravity- 22.5 gals finished
2016 150 taps on 3/16 gravity- 23 gals finished
2020 250 taps on 3/16 gravity- 22 gals finished
2021 385 taps on 3/16 gravity 25 gals finished
2022 385 taps on 3/16 gravity- 26 gals finished
If I was in SW Ontario , I would already have my taps in. 13 of the next 14 days are flow days. Temperature graph attached is from Guelph.Originally Posted by Maplesapper
144A5DDE-F111-4F7B-A6BD-28344263E1E1.jpg
We are just a little colder here and it makes a difference. To be honest if I still had my steam pans, I would be tapping a few more of my lines as I could deal with smaller volumes, but when I start boiling with my divided pan, I think you need some decent volumes to get started and I would need all of my taps to do that.
I have to admit I am still tempted to tap this Saturday and will be more tempted if the forecast for Feb 24/25 are above freezing.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
Before starting sugaring last year, I always thought as March as a winter month, where you have nicer days to go ice fishing and at the end of the month you hoped for milder days to start to get rid of the snow and the ice on the lake. The ice sometimes came off the second or third week of April, but there were times it came off at the end of April and even into May.
Last year I tapped on March 6 on a +11° C day and had my first boil on March 14. This easy winter had me thinking of boiling much sooner this year.
The long range forecast keeps adding more below freezing days to the calendar, running now to March 14. Who knows when the first boil will be this year. I have to think that most years it would be around mid month. We received over 10 cms (4”) of snow last night and another possible 40 cms (15”) is in the forecast over the next two weeks, but that forecast will change 14 times). There is a lot of snow in the forecast and I will be going over my line trails again after I finish plowing.
What will be, will be. You have to hope that April does not warm up too quickly, which is exactly the opposite of what I would have hoped for prior to last year.
A couple days ago the forecast had a few +2 days in the forecast, but they are disappearing, which is actually good as the days will not count against my early taps six week clock.
C46879AD-A21F-48A1-AE5F-41592E966395.jpg
https://share.icloud.com/photos/00df...SS5prOIEBP7ZKQ
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote