Anyone considering tapping this weekend in the Ottawa valley?

[Eric in Kinburn]

Made 20.25L of syrup this year out of 72 taps. Very disappointing...oh well can't complain too much as I did enjoy last week's weather.

[can'twaitforabigrun]

The trees have yet to bud up around the Pembroke area. Taps are still in and we're hoping that this week will be the best week of the year. Hopefully it actually gets warm enough, as highs are forecast for 0 tomorrow and 4 above on Tuesday and Wednesday. Whoever though that we'd be wishing for warmer weather after last week's heat wave.

[cowboy729]

I was looking at my tree's up in Douglas and there are no signs of buds at all on my north slopes. The weather is looking really good for this week and I'm kicking myself in the butt for pulling all my pails. The only thing I have left in is my 50 on gravity so I'm hoping it produces some nice sap this week. It's been way to short of a season not to get a little blessing at the end of the season.

[ennismaple]

I'm still baffled at our bush's low sap output. How did you guys run this year?

Drew - We averaged 6.6 USG of sap per tap. Sugar content was poor too - averaged 2.0% for the season.

[Bruce L]

Marty,would you say 50% of a crop?That's about what we squeezed out,not much of a test run for the new rig!!!!!!

[ennismaple]

Bruce - Just over 50% crop for us. We could have made a bit more if we'd spent more time chasing leaks but otherwise we didn't miss much. Guys I know that were fully tapped in February spent a lot of time dealing with ice and didn't get much until about March 7/8 anyways. It sucks you didn't get the new rig as long a workout as you wanted but at least it was enough to work out some of the kinks. Marty

[can'twaitforabigrun]

Yesterday we gathered 55 gallons, and today we gathered 120 gallons (approx. 1 gallon/tap). I'm hoping this cold weather will keep the trees from budding out for a bit longer, as some forecasts are now calling for lows below 0 up until Easter weekend.

[can'twaitforabigrun]

We are still gathering close to 1gpt everyday. Some producers have thrown in the towel, but others that I've spoken to, particularly in the higher elevations around Griffith and Dacre are still going strong with clear sap and good tasting syrup. Saturday was one of the best days of the season, but it slowed down a bit on Sunday. The forecast indicates that we should be making syrup at least until this weekend.

[ennismaple]

That's great news for you guys! I couldn't help but think on the weekend that I'd rather be boiling on April 1st than washing lines. All the producers I know in Lanark County are washing up and trying to figure out how we'll keep our customers happy this year with a limited supply of syrup.