Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[spud]

Sap is running 500 gph at 10:00am. Looks like it will be a good day. Testing 1.6%

Spud

[DrTimPerkins]

Started running at 10:20am in main bush, 10:45am in the other. Coming in really hard now.

[spud]

Although the sap really started strong yesterday morning, it slowed down as the day went on. Sap ran all night and there is 1650 in the tank this morning. I got about 1 gpt since yesterday. Right now sap is only running 125 gph. It now looks like Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have freezing nights and thats it. If that turns out to be the case then next weekend could be it for the season. My fingers are crossed that the weather person is wrong.

Spud

[Shirefisher]

The sap has slowed down here this weekend. I've had a few trees shut off completely. We made our biggest single draw off of 1 3/4 gallons of dark amber but super tasty syrup which was a surprise after only 3.5 hours of boiling. Today will be my last maple boil. I tapped 20 birch trees yesterday as they started to drip. I'll be cleaning pans and switching to batch boils on birch Wednesday...

[DrTimPerkins]

Although the sap really started strong yesterday morning, it slowed down as the day went on.

We got about 1.5+ gpt from yesterday afternoon to this morning in Underhill. Same thing...started very strong, but slowed as day/evening went on it slowed down some. Probably the wind. Sap sugar in the main bush at 1.7 Brix. Don't have final volumes or sap sugar for both sites yet, but with what is in the drums, the bulk tank and the sap tanks we're probably right about 0.55 gal/tap if everything was converted to syrup. Probably the crew will boil again Tuesday. Looks like a chance for a freeze Tues and Wed night, but surely getting nearer the end (but not there yet). Birds chirping everywhere.

[GeneralStark]

A little over 1 gpt in 24 hours here so I think the big runs may be a thing of the past here. I boiled yesterday and made over 20 gal of good flavored DR so I'll give it a go again this week. If flow continues at the current rate I'll probably hold off until Tuesday. Not supposed to be very warm so shouldn't be a problem storing the sap for a bit.

Possible freezes tuesday and wednesday nights but looks marginal...

[Mead Maple]

Well sap is running strong right now but the wind is absolutely pounding. Hoping the woods can handle it with the soft ground


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[spud]

The wind has slowed down a bunch this morning. I woke up to 33 degrees at the house. It’s possible parts of the woods froze last night. I have not checked the tank this morning yet. Last night at 7 the sap slowed down to 90 gph. The next three night are going to freeze. I’m noticing that my temps at the house are 3-4 cooler then downtown at the weather station. If this continues to be that way then I may see several more freezing nights in the next few weeks. Time will tell.

Spud

[WestfordSugarworks]

I'm hoping for two more weeks, Spud. I have found that there have been several times in the last few weeks where a week or 5 days out the forecast shows warm temps at night, but as we get closer to the date the forecast drops considerably. We are only at .38 gpt in our Westford bush and not sure about our yield in Jericho where we sell sap. I heard from a friend that higher elevation bushes have had much sweeter sap this season. not sure if it's true.

Was walking lines last night and noticed that a 2 year old mainline (2 year old drops) that we used CDL Signature spouts on has appeared to completely stop producing. None of the spouts were putting out any sap and many of the spouts had white or off white gunk in them. Just across the woods road is our original tubing where we run CV2s and those are still pushing out sap and looking very clean, though like others have said the sap slowed way down. I'm confident the spouts and tap holes are still clean. These two areas where both tapped in somewhere around January 10, within 2 or 3 days of each other. It's the first time i've seen obvious differences between a non CV and a CV spout, so figured I would share. Good luck to all.

[DrTimPerkins]

Just across the woods road is our original tubing where we run CV2s and those are still pushing out sap and looking very clean, though like others have said the sap slowed way down. I'm confident the spouts and tap holes are still clean. These two areas where both tapped in somewhere around January 10, within 2 or 3 days of each other. It's the first time i've seen obvious differences between a non CV and a CV spout, so figured I would share.

How old is the tubing and especially the drops in these woods?