Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[MJPJ Sugars]

2 gallons per tap the last 48 hours. Still crystal clear and clean. I'm just short of 22 gallons of sap per tap since March 6th -- almost 160% of last year. Small sample size, sure... but like my best Italian friend would say, "thatsa lotta buckets!"

[steve J]

I am officially done I collected around 40% more sap while tapping 15 less trees. So I am happy! 80% of my trees are red maple and most of those have shut off the sugars are still running clear. The last batch of syrup was pretty dark!

[spud]

Pretty decent run yesterday with almost 1.25 gpt between when it thawed and then froze last night. Coming up on 25k gal. sap for the season. Boiled about 1800 gal. sap yesterday and made about 30 gal DR just over the line from AR. I miss the old dark amber option...

I'm now 20 gal. over last year's production and 5 gal. away from .5gpt. Have certainly begun the slide to the finish, but how long will it be before the trees bud? I think I may have another week.

Looks like you are having an outstanding season General. Glad to hear you did so well. Even with all your popped out spouts you stayed on top of things. Job well done.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

Thanks Spud. Every season has its challenges but the stars have aligned here. Now I need to figure out where I am going to put any more syrup....

Sap ran ok yesterday but the pattern this season of no sun, no big run is continuing....

I do have almost 1800 gal. from the last couple days to boil later. Starting to see slime build up on some south facing spouts that were tapped in mid January, but they are still giving sap.

[tcross]

ended up getting 1.75 gallons per tap yesterday. still 18"-20" of snow on the ground and buds look tight... even on my reds. I think we could go for a bit longer, but my wood pile is diminishing quickly. another 8-10 gallons of syrup and we'll have more than we can sell. it's been a good year so far.

[smokeyamber]

Boiled last night and almost out of wood so this season is almost done. Didn't check buckets, but suspect only a few are still running. May collect after the rain is done and see what the sap looks like. Also will likely drain the pan before I try to boil the last collections just to be safe. Last 3 gallons were getting very dark, and I suspect my sugar content is way down given the length between draws.

[steve J]

smokey my sugar was done to 1% yesterday and like you long time between draws. I have not process the last couple gallons yet but I think it is much darker than the rest. Most of my reds have stopped running which I believe is what you have . But my sugars where still running very clear. I am going back up tomorrow to bottle and also boil off what is in the pan.

[DrTimPerkins]

Froze here last night around 9pm. Made another 230 gal AR today from sap collected between Monday night and today at noon, putting us at 2,310 for the season, or 0.47 gal/tap. Sap sugar content holding at 1.8 Brix. Didn't run much today. With the cold we won't be getting any sap until Monday.

[WestfordSugarworks]

General, if you're looking for barrels I have 3 gently used 40 gallon Barinox drums i'm looking to sell. Been filled twice over the last three seasons.

[spud]

Just for giggles and grins I re-tapped 5 East Facing trees on a lateral line two days ago. I did not ream the existing tap hole but drilled a new hole. These trees stopped running about a week ago. Now for the last two days they are running like crazy. Im wondering if PMRC or anyone has ever charted the additional gallons a tree would give after being tapped a second time? I know re-tapping is not a good idea and I would not advise it. Im just interested to see if these five trees will run all next week and to the end of the season. I have reamed tap holes before and had little success. I have Fall tapped and then Spring tapped the same trees before with some success. I have never pulled dried up taps in early April and re-tapped trees though. If It was possible to get another 10 GPT then that would be something.

Spud