Well it is a forest product :D sirop if in parts of Canada :D Was wondering if anyone on here was doing it and wanted to due a post on it.
There is a pretty good thread going on right now in the general board.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,73175.0.html
Haven't put a picture on in awhile,hope it works.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10257/2014_spring_tapping_003.jpg)
Tapped a week ago but it's not running yet :( .
No. But I feel like I should. Have cut a few maples over the last couple of weeks and some just poured the sap. Dripped down on the ground puddled and then started running a small trickle down the hill. Just had to taste to see if just a hint of maple or sugar could be tasted. Nope and the sawdust wasn't any good either. :D
Ed,should run today,or at least start. I should get into the high 30's.
Still waiting for the trees to thaw here in central Maine. We should have about 200 taps this year.
Running good today! Leaving the mud/woods now then collecting and boiling. Good Saturday night!
90 taps out, still waiting for the weather to cooperate. 3ft of snow pack isn't helping.
300 tap out and finially got 1 1/2 gals of syrup.This is the lastest i've ever seen the season start. Been sugarin for 53 yrs cept 7 yrs i lived in Tx.
Ed,that is some interesting and is some scary. I guess it will all balance out come June. :) I hope!!
Jocco,
You may have to tap some of those spruces since your maples will never thaw out. It will be as good as that fir siroop u had 2 years ago. 8)
I have about 450 tapped and hope to get up to 500 this year. Had a small run last week but nothing since.
Nick
A little over 200 taps in, just a small run yesterday and now almost a foot of snow 28 degrees, maybe it will run today?
rockwall,where in Maine are you? Are you doing the Maple Sunday event on Sunday?
I'm in Cornville and no thank goodness, we haven't made a drop of syrup this year.
45* this afternoon and the sap is barely running :(.This is the weirdest yr ever.
Wind from the West sap runs the best, Wind from the East sap runs the least. And remember " old sugar makers never die, they just evaporate". Not much happening in Petersham.
David l
I still haven't tapped out 14" of snow last night close to 2 1/2 feet in the woods !!!! i may not even do it this year :'( :'(
We tapped about 500 today and will finish tomorrow. Still not running very much. Only got up to about 38 degrees today.
Had our first real boil last night and getting geared up for maple weekend. We had over 1000 people last year. We scaled back this year a lot so not much to sell. I do enjoy explaining the process to people though and they seem to enjoy the education! Here is a link to our sugarhouse for some pictures https://www.facebook.com/Greenleafmaplecoop
Loggah-I am down south and this is the latest we have tapped and the trees will be budding out soon. I hope you are able to get out and tap soon.
Loggah, I'm with you. May not tap this year. There is still 2 to 3 feet of snow in the woods. Got more last night and I hear more is on the way yet. It is either cold or snowing or both. I haven't even broke my roads open yet. Why burn diesel fuel when it is too cold for the sap to run? I would have to open roads this year with my old 450 John Deere crawler/loader. That thing will really push snow. I guess we will see what next week brings. Last year there was a banner crop of syrup. This year you will probably see all the surplus used up. I just don't know what to do this time of year. It could turn warm and stay there or it could be cold till May. You just never know what Mother Nature has up her sleeve. lol
I,ve pretty much decided not to tap this year!! looks like the weather will be screwed up until the middle of next week.That means maybe a 2 week season as i see it, because we all know by the beginning of May the snow will be all gone.My orchard is mostly all buckets and it is in the Pemigewasset river flood plain !!!! and the river is still frozen over, the scenario is a warm few days and a rain resulting in a ice out flood, sometime during this short sugaring season. With the snowcover we have its almost a shore thing !!! If i was on high ground i probably would still tap out but it just isn't worth it in the flood plain. :'(
Operations down here on buckets,aren't happy either.If you don't get them dumped it's split time.Sap ran just a little yesterday an over night.I boiled in 210 gals.Only thing I can say good about this yr is it seems sweet.
finally collected some sap, This time last year had 14 gallons made, Have not even fired evaporator yet,Will do that today as its gonna get real cold again, Only good thing about this weather is we are still working timber and they are letting us truck mornings, Its been so cold that we had to put off a spring snow goose hunt up Chazy New York way because the birds are weeks behind, Good luck to all maple making.
We have an Urban Forestry forum, how about an Urban Maple Syrup forum :D. 2 taps out with 5 gal joint compound buckets, 100yds south of the Boston city line. I boil it up on the kitchen stove as it comes in. Hoping to get a bit more that a quart of syrup from 2 small trees in the back lot. I lost my 4' dbh sugar maple last year to progressive decline. I used to put 3 buckets on it and get about a gallon of syrup in a good year. Still some of the best syrup ever. Is there a grade lighter than Light Amber. If so I had it.
I can sometimes start tapping in early Feb. This year, not until the first week of March. With the loss of our big tree last year, I had to buy syrup for the first time in 20 years. Hopefully the new youngsters will carry me in the future. My 20 year old son at college in VT is so used to it that he wants to tap a tree on the college property and boil it up in the dorm kitchen. I say, go for it.
tell him to tap it way high! high enough that only sap can get in the pail. college kids are known for pranks and general disrespect.
It is zero here this morning. I have talked to some bigger producers 2,000 to 6,000 taps and they haven't done much. One who has 3,000 taps says he only gathered about 600 gallons of sap so far. I have a feeling being a late easter this year the season will be late also. I am going to see if my old crawler/loader will fire up and go forward and backward and steer left and right. If so I will open my roads. The season may not be lost yet.
have made a little over a gallon so far! looking forward to this warm weather for a big run!!!
Spring is here and sugaring is over here in ma. wasn't the greatest yr,I'm at 50% of a regular yr. The sugar content was good tho so I made some light syrup and have a 1/2 a wood shed to fill back up.
Now it time to get going on some TSI work till mud season is over.