No Sap running around here this morning.... -30C deg this morning... (that's -22 F)![]()
Bit of a shock after this mild winter.
No Sap running around here this morning.... -30C deg this morning... (that's -22 F)![]()
Bit of a shock after this mild winter.
With 5-6 degrees and lot of sun , we got all are 250 ish taps in place and all the lines tighten up . By mid afternoon the trees were running well and did a good job of flushing out all the sap lines. Probably a short lived start of the season but it’s finally starting to look more like syrup season every day . Good luck to everyone this spring!!!
2014 100 taps 65 l of syurp
2015 50 taps 20 l of syurp
2016 150 taps, 160 l of syurp made
2017 plan is 150 taps , and will see what happens
2018 200 tap , 25 on my first 3/16 gravity system, 250 of syrup
2019 250 taps , all on 3/16 with 12 volt diagram pump ( 300 l of syrup)
2020 same 250 taps , time to make a small ro unit
Yup I also got my 60 taps in Saturday afternoon and boiled down over 60 gallons last night just enough to sweeten my pans. Hopefully it runs well today and I'll get syrup off.
2017 45 taps 43L
2018 55 taps 50L
2019 60 taps ~75L avg sugar 3.3%
2020 60 taps 70L
2021 60 taps cant remember
2022 60 taps 95L
2023 60 taps 75L New baby came day off boiling started, gave away 1200L of 3% didn't have time.
We went through a 3-4 day stint of favourable temperatures here... Sap was running for those that have their taps in... I'm not one of them.. and I haven't seen much activity from the local guys, yet... I didn't see any smoke in the Elmira area yesterday either... Turning cold again for a few days, now... I will get tapping this weekend... Not sure how many... Thinking about 150ish to start.
I did, however, start a little experiment that I've been thinking about for some time, now.. I tapped 8 large old maples on my road.. They sit at the top of a decent hill with maybe 20-30 ft of fall...
I set up a 3/16" gravity line from 25 taps, to a barrel at the bottom of the hill... I'm really excited to see how the combination of full-sun roadside trees and gravity work out.
The trees along my road are typically tapped with buckets by other neighbourhood folk... (first come, first served).... I finally beat them to it this year... I only took 8 trees though.... Lots more to go around, if they tap this year.
Well I have collected 180 gallons from 60 taps. Boiled enough to sweeten my pans but still have another 110 gallons to boil down. So far sugar is at 2%. That's a 1.5% drop from last year![]()
2017 45 taps 43L
2018 55 taps 50L
2019 60 taps ~75L avg sugar 3.3%
2020 60 taps 70L
2021 60 taps cant remember
2022 60 taps 95L
2023 60 taps 75L New baby came day off boiling started, gave away 1200L of 3% didn't have time.
Bit of a late winter storm going on here... Blew snow last night and had to do it again this morning. A couple more cold days to come, but looks like things are going to start to swing on Sunday...
It doesn't look like ideal conditions by any means, but the forecast is calling for 9 days out of the next 14 that will have positive daytime temps, after freezing nights... I guess I better get tapping.
forecast 2-27.JPG
You will have a hard going back to Pails after you see just how well 3/16 line going into drum works. Sure doesn’t look like syrup season this morning with all this snow blowing around.
2014 100 taps 65 l of syurp
2015 50 taps 20 l of syurp
2016 150 taps, 160 l of syurp made
2017 plan is 150 taps , and will see what happens
2018 200 tap , 25 on my first 3/16 gravity system, 250 of syrup
2019 250 taps , all on 3/16 with 12 volt diagram pump ( 300 l of syrup)
2020 same 250 taps , time to make a small ro unit
FYI, if that's Crown land be careful, I had tapped trees on the side of a road before and a conservation officer came along and said I need an L.U.P.(Land Use Permit) to tap trees on Crown land.
What a tax grab that is. Had to pull my taps right then. 10 taps
this is Northern Ontario though![]()
2019 - Barrel evaporator 2 steam pans 44 taps 13 Liters syrup
2020 - Barrel evaporator 2 steam pans 51 taps 21 Liters syrup
2021- New homemade 2x3 evaporator and flat pan 80 drop lines to buckets
2022- (•,•)1350L naturally ROd sap 44L syrup
2023- "\_(°•°)_/" 1100L sap 30L syrup not accurate due to natural RO
2024 { ';' }1862L sap 52L syrup 52 drop lines to buckets
Hmm??... That sucks... I never really gave that much thought as the trees down my road have been tapped by someone or other for years... They are on what I would consider the Road Allowance... between the ditch and the farmers fence.. I've never heard of problems arising, but you never know? We dont really have "crown" land around here, but these particular 8 trees that I tapped happen to be adjacent to Grand River Conservation land and not a farm. I put my name and phone number on the barrel... I guess we'll see what happens... fingers crossed.
Thanks for the heads up..
It's comin.... As usual, I'm not quite ready for it... but the forecast is looking like syrup...
Forecast 3-2.JPG
Took Friday off work to tap trees, but spent most of the day blowing snow, instead.... Same on Saturday... Bad timing for a blizzard... Managed to get out Sunday and get taps in.. Very deep fresh snow in the bush.. My old joints and muscles are not happy... The younger trees were bleeding sap pretty good, while I was tapping at +1degC. Still a few odds and ends to finish it up... Sap will be running today. It's +4 this morning.
I will try to remember this next year, and get things done earlier, when weather permits.
Last edited by wmick; 03-02-2020 at 07:09 AM.