Schenectady-Albany-Saratoga Counties

[MRFNY]

It's killing me to be at work today watching the low-40s and sunny day outside...I flipped my solar vacuum pump online for the first time this morning, and immediately, I could see a difference in the little stream of sap coming from my 3/16th lines. I'm just imagining that it's gushing right now.

My buckets were still very, very slow but it was still in the low-30s and not very bright when I checked.

I just got a mid-day farm report from the wife. She estimates about 50 gallons of sap in the buckets. Some were still dripping, some weren't.

ADK_XJ - looking at your auto-signature, that's impressive growth to your operation over the years!

[Aslowrie]

I tapped my trees earlier today. I was out of town on vacation, so hopefully I didn't miss too much. My big producers were gushing, even with just a couple hours of tapping. A lot were dry though.

Hopefully this is a good season!

[MRFNY]

Got about 60 gallons tonight and going to boil it tomorrow afternoon. Not enough to run through the RO but not a big deal!

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

Collected 50 gallons of sap from my 47 gravity taps yesterday and got the evaporator all setup and boiled it down. I have a 2x5 setup so it takes 10 gallons to get my 1.5" depth, took me 2.5 hours to get through the 40 gallons or about 16GPH, that included firing up the rig. I am trying some pine saw mill scraps this year for fuel and it seems to be working out well. I am able to get trailer loads of full length pieces for free i just have to buck them to 24" length but pretty much no splitting is required which is a huge time saver. Some pieces are a little big so i just split them with an axe real quick while im boiling, i just lay them flat on a thick board on the ground and whack them into pieces as needed.

It got below freezing last night for a while so should get some more sap flowing here shortly.

[ADK_XJ]

Collected 50 gallons of sap from my 47 gravity taps yesterday and got the evaporator all setup and boiled it down. I have a 2x5 setup so it takes 10 gallons to get my 1.5" depth, took me 2.5 hours to get through the 40 gallons or about 16GPH, that included firing up the rig. I am trying some pine saw mill scraps this year for fuel and it seems to be working out well. I am able to get trailer loads of full length pieces for free i just have to buck them to 24" length but pretty much no splitting is required which is a huge time saver. Some pieces are a little big so i just split them with an axe real quick while im boiling, i just lay them flat on a thick board on the ground and whack them into pieces as needed.

It got below freezing last night for a while so should get some more sap flowing here shortly.

Nice, I like your fuel plan with the saw log cast offs...I use to do the same when we lived around the corner from a family run sawmill north of Saratoga, they had mountains of the stuff. Now, I use a combination of hemlock and left over hard wood from the home firewood pile for ours.

Yep, dipped into the high 20s here and hoping the tubing will run again although it looks overcast all day. Only two of my three lines have woken up so far, but those two have produced about 100 gallons of sap over the last few days. Interestingly, I tapped in the third line after the first two so I wonder if that may anything to do with them being slower to come around...

[ADK_XJ]

Tubing ran well yesterday and a few buckets were almost full by last night...just went out to check the runs before work and it looks like the 3/16 ran all night to some degree. Should have an almost full IBC totes waiting for me tonight!

[MRFNY]

Going to finish tapping this morning to get my final tap count to ~125 taps. Typically do 100 but I bought 25 buckets this summer to increase production a little bit. Then I plan to collect what's in the buckets and boil that. Pan should be sweetened after today's boil. Then I gotta flush the RO and get that ready for the big runs that are right around the corner!

[ADK_XJ]

It was a very cold day boiling outdoors but we got through an IBC tote of sap yesterday before finally shutting down around sunset. I did leave my brand new power washer outside with Star San in the soap tank overnight so Im imagining some damage to that!

[MRFNY]

It was a very cold day boiling outdoors but we got through an IBC tote of sap yesterday before finally shutting down around sunset. I did leave my brand new power washer outside with Star San in the soap tank overnight so Im imagining some damage to that!

The day started out pretty nice then I was out putting in some additional taps the clouds, snow and wind rolled in! I'm very thankful to be able to boil under cover and out of the cold and wind. Boiled 60 gallons at the end of the day yesterday and the pan is now sugared. Went out this morning and put a lantern in the arch to keep the sweet from freezing up during this two day cold spell.

[ADK_XJ]

The day started out pretty nice then I was out putting in some additional taps the clouds, snow and wind rolled in! I'm very thankful to be able to boil under cover and out of the cold and wind. Boiled 60 gallons at the end of the day yesterday and the pan is now sugared. Went out this morning and put a lantern in the arch to keep the sweet from freezing up during this two day cold spell.

Interesting - is there a reason not to let it freeze? I sort of figure it helps preserve it...