Tapping in the Ottawa valley

[butler]

I am in Renfrew and the sap finally started to flow today, should be a good run tomorrow and the rest of the week.

[Eric in Kinburn]

Same here...it ran a bit on Tuesday. Today should be a good day!

Eric

[butler]

Finally, saps flowing.. gathered 100 gallons today. Should be an awesome week.

[butler]

Hello..just wondering if anyone around the Ottawa Valley has a 2x6 or 2x8 set up for sale or even just the pans off a 2x6 I could use with my arch. I am looking for raised flues and a syrup pan with dividers...all SS welded. Let me know if anyone is upgrading after the season.

I will also be selling my set up...either all the pans or whole evaporator (2x6)

[Eric in Kinburn]

I will probably be wrapping up this week. One more boil on Thursday maybe and that will be it for me. Is anyone continuing?

I was expecting to make 25 liters this year from 50 taps, but I'm just over 28 liters so far...pretty good year from my point of view I think.

Cheers,
Eric

[cvmaple]

Glad you had a good year Eric. I am going to try for 1 more boil this week and then shut it down. All my help is getting worn out!! Did all your equipment work up to expectation? cvmaple

[Eric in Kinburn]

Hi cvmaple,

Yes things went very well for my first year with the small D&G evaporator. It boiled surprisingly fast (compared to my BBQ ). By the time it's all said and done I will have made over 30 liters of syrup from 50 taps which is more than I was expecting. Also no more finishing on the stove since I have a small propane finisher from Atkinson...the sticky mess stays in the shack an no longer in our kitchen which makes my wife much happier.

How did things end up working for you this year?

Cheers,
Eric

[cvmaple]

We had a great year this time around. We tapped on March 1st because I had my holidays booked for the middle of march. Unlike last year it was a nice gradual spring this year with 2 cold spells which helped us keep caught up with finishing etc. We ran out of wood near the end of march and had to cut up some elm behind the barn and we acquired some cedar which really burned nice and hot. We fine tuned our firing and filtering techniques and we need to build better roads back to our woods. We produced just over 70 litres of beautiful clear syrup from our 68 taps which I was quite pleased with. It is still running a little bit down here in southern Ontario but I have had enough for this year. Time to sell a few litres to pay for some knick knacks for next year. cvmaple

[Eric in Kinburn]

I wrapped things up today by removing my buckets and did my last batch on the propane finisher. I got 48 liters from 50 taps, but I threw a bit of sap out that was left in the tank. I ran out of wood and didn't want to use my home firewood.

The dark syrup I finished today did not filter well at all, but man is it ever tasty.

I will probably spend all week cleaning things up and storing them away until next year.

I'm thinking of doing 60 or 70 trees next year. That's probably all I can handle with the time that I have.

Cheers,
Eric