Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[spud]

Sunday night I thought the sap was going to stop due too freezing up. It never froze hard and the sap ran a bit all Sunday night. I wound up getting 9000 gallon from 6:00am Sunday to 6:00am Monday. Then the sap kept running yesterday and I got another 5750 gallons. Today the sap is still running at 375 GPH but the sugar and sap quality are going down. Sugar is 1.7-1.8% but it is going to freeze hard tonight. By the time it freezes tonight I should another 5-6000 gallons in the tank. Hurt my back yesterday checking lines. Did find some leaks and vacuum is back up. I still think we have two more weeks in my area. I don"t believe the 10 day forecast and still think there will be some good cold nights to come. The CV2 spouts are working great. My sap runs are bigger now then ever before and I think the CV2 spouts have something to do with it. Even with sugar dropping yesterday I think I have about 1400+ gallons of syrup to date. I'm not stopping till the birds start building nest in the trees.

Spud

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

I hope your right Spud. The season started here in Duxbury only 10 days ago, so I'm hoping for another 2 weeks also. We still have lots of snow and the peepers are a ways a way from peeping I think.

Ben

[Randy Brutkoski]

Made 3 more barrels yesterday. Could of made another one but didnt feel like building another press. Darkened right up but good flavor and it is still going through the press. I have a feeling the syrup is going to go to rope soon. Vacuum levels are dropping due to holes drying up.

[Randy Brutkoski]

The helium injection isnt working like i thought it would. I dont think it hurt me but i will try it again next year. Where it was going in near my whips at my branch lines, it was causing some icing on the 35 degree days.

[wsugar]

Randy it's got to be much different in where you are sap is running good and vacuum is holding well. The syrup is almost fancy there is snow in the wood. If we make it to next week I think we have a chance to make more syrup.

[GeneralStark]

Boiled yesterday and made another 10-12 gal. Up to about 125 for the season so far. Been hoping to make at least 150 and I think I will get there.

Started making the darkest syrup of the season so far. Amber rich, right in the middle of the scale. Crop has been mostly fancy so far so time to make some dark syrup.

Snow is mostly gone here, but it seems like there is still frost in the ground. With a solid freeze tonight should have at least one more good run through the weekend.

Pulled in another approx. 300 gal. since 4pm yesterday, but sugar is down to about 1.4

[maplwrks]

Trees are still chugging along--1 GPT everyday since Saturday. Made 40 gallons of Grade B last night. Trees still looking like they want to play, so play we will. I hope we freeze tonight to give them a recharge.

[spud]

Sap ran all night a bit and I woke up to 3500 gallons in the tank. Trees froze at 9:00am this morning and then one hour later we have blue skies and full sun. Sap is now running at 600 GPH. Sugar this morning was 1.6%. Two more weeks for sure.

Spud

[Brokermike]

Spring Peepers Down here, a sure sign things are on the tail end

[PerryW]

Spring Peepers Down here, a sure sign things are on the tail end

wow. are you sure they are peepers? Now I know Shaftsbury is in the banana belt of Vermont but people are still boiling on southern NH. Here in northern NH, we can still drive on the ice.