Finally, We're Back Makeing Maple Syrup

It's been a week since the temp warmed up enough to collect maple sap and fire the evaporators to make syrup. There was still a lot of ice in the buckets that we dumped on the ground, but that is a good thing, as the sugar doesn't freeze at 32F where water does.The ice we dumped was mostly water so the remaining liquid is much sweeter, so it boils down and turns to syrup faster. We had another brass shutoff valve split on a storage tank line, and had to fix the leak with good old electric tape. We didn't fill the storage tanks this afternoon, but when the cousin and uncle shut down the evaporators tonight, about now (10:00pm), as I am posting There should be about 50gal of nice medium amber syrup bottled for sale. Not a bad day. It is below freezing now, and we will start gathering sap about 1:00pm tomarrow and finish gathering the remaining buckets that we didn't get today. The weather is coming around slowly, and looks like maybe by the middle of next week we will be in full swing.
The third from last pic is chunks of ice we have dumped from buckets. Second from last is a pic of the screen of my backup camera, that I installed in my cab so I can see what is happening directly behind me without kinking my neck, and the last is a pic of the sap flowing from the gathering trailer into the storage tank.
Loren, the Acg.

I was wondering how you guys were doing! Thanks for the pics and update.

great pictures!!!!

Our 4H club visited a local sugar house Saturday afternoon. The kids enjoyed it and the owners of the house want them back next year. A good old fashioned Northern NY tradition. Nothing wrong with that.

Thanks for the update and pictures. It's fun to compare how you're doing with how my cousins' sugarbush is doing. They tap 400-425 trees in my Dad's woods just west of me, so I usually help out. My kids brought a bug home from scool, so between them being sick, and being sick myself, I haven't been out there to help much this spring. I guess it's been a good, steady run so far for us, here.

Holy Crap! How far north do you live? Are there roads? Can you drive there from here? It has been in the 80s here. The leaves are coming out. I've forgot all about winter. I thought sugaring was for March. maybe this is an old post?

Glad you are back at it.

Man, you do have a lot of snow yet!! We got about ten inches here last week - but it's melted away now.

Awesome setup. I pulled my taps yesterday, sap here has not run very well at all, but I have done enough to get me thru until next year. Keep up the good work!

Loren lives in the general neighborhood of 80-100 miles south of me. We gathered last Friday and everything has been pretty much froze up since. Looks like it will warm up enough today and the next couple of days to gather again. From the looks of the 7 day forecast, next week should be decent sugar making weather.

Oh, by the way. I could load up a of coal trains worth of snow and send it to you, if you want any. (chuckle)

We"re in the middle of calving here and the weather has generally been mild. You folks have a lot of snow on the ground and I understand that winter still hasn"t relaxed its grip on you. It"s great to see you still carrying on the tradition of gathering maple sap and making syrup. Thanks for the pictures.

AS long as it freezes to hold the sap down/keep the buds from popping and warm enough to pull it up and out... its sapping/sugaring season. I remember a few years we were still collecting when the wood violets first blossomed(late April into May). Other times the first week of march it was over(over before it began in other words). This year is looking like a good one here in WI.

Just gathered sap here for the first time today, ten miles north of the St.Lawrence river, and the buckets were near full.... of ice. Like you say though, the sap I got won't take as much boiling.... Hopefully the trees will let loose with the warm weather that's supposed to precede the snow this weekend...... Ah well, that's farming in the frozen north.....