Are we done?

[220 maple]

New Hampshire Traders?
I am shocked that your Sugars appear to be budding, mine in the the mountains of West Virginia show no sign of budding yet, this past Monday night we had 15 degrees. I have been told that if it goes below 17 degrees it kills the buds, my red maples always bud early and always get froze and the buds drop off, they start over but never produce any seeds after they freeze. Only twice in the last 10 years that the reds did not bud early and produced water as long as the sugars produced.

Mark 220 Maple

[Mac_Muz]

The sugar maples not tapped in the yard and in more sun appear to be starting to turn red in buds this morning.. I hope the trees I tap in the swamp stay colder and a bit late, as I want to get in more sap sometime.

Last year I had only 15 taps and buckets out and have gone to 35, and still havent made 12 qts like I did last year for lack of sap.

I did my 2nd boil last Thursday and have not bottled it but will this morning.

My first batch made 1 gallon, and I think this 2nd boil will be 5 quarts, maybe 6 if I get lucky.

I could use another cold snap.

[PerryW]

No sign of budding here in the Littleton NH area. Still about 40% of the sugarbush is snow covered and the ice is still solid on all the ponds.

Today the temp hit 65 deg in Littleton, but I dont think my sugarbush got that hot. The weather does NOT looks good for a couple days, but I believe there is still a lot of season left in my area. My grade is still at the FANCY-MEDIUM border even despite the warm weather. Still only 3 weeks since I bored the holes.

I have 70 gallons of syrup so far this season and hoping for 100.

[Mac_Muz]

Perry. I didn't drill a hole till March 2nd, and then only 15 taps were set.

Then in times i got more buckets here and there, so many holes are newer than 3 weeks.

Last Thrusday I boiled off for my 2nd time and got another gallon of a medium dark amber, just slightly darker than my first batch.

So I am still hoping for some sap and getting a dark grade b like syrup which I like best.

I find it odd some trees right next to other like trees just don't seem to run much if at all. Did I somehow miss, when I drilled? The wood I got out was light near white tan maple, and i am dead on sure these are all sugar maple.

Not a phone pole in the lot either!

[michelle32]

40 minutes south of you, maybe just starting to show signs of budding. But with the weather forcast for the week all these red maples will be popping for sure. Honey bees arn't after them yet so still good for now. If the weather turns cold and a good april snow storm. Could bring them back to running again.

[PerryW]

I find it odd some trees right next to other like trees just don't seem to run much if at all. Did I somehow miss, when I drilled? The wood I got out was light near white tan maple, and i am dead on sure these are all sugar maple.

In addition to my tubing, I hang about 50 buckets. Some trees just run good and some don't. There are a few of those trees that out-perform the others by 2-3 times. There are also other trees that (year after year) under-perform. Also, in the same tree (with multiple buckets), the flow will vary widely between buckets.

Darned if I know why?

[PerryW]

Well it ain't over yet hear despite the sounds of peepers just getting ready to peep.

Just broke the century mark (100 gallons, our expected crop) and looks like there may be a few more runs. The grade dropped slightly into B yesterday but the last batches to come off tonight were almost medium again.

[Mac_Muz]

My taps seemed to be dry and so I yanked my buckets. I tapped a pipe stick in each hole but no so tight no leaks would occur, and no one is leaking or bleeding.. I am all done for this year.

Buckets ready for a rain wash.. The sap in the buckets was yellow, and had no flavor I could tell.

I am going to call it a bad season for me, since I made all of 9 quarts with 35 taps. next year is coming.. I found new goo dtrees and new poor ones, and some nore new ones I haven't tried, but look promising down in a clearing by the brook.

Over summer I hope to build a small sap house, for almost no money