The taps are in.

20 taps in today. We had a huge storm this week that gave us about 20" of snow, high winds, and no power for two days. Today was a nice, sunny day with a little snow. The taps started dripping as soon as they were drilled. I think I missed a little run last week, but nothing major because it was only 37-39 degrees and cloudy. Here's hoping for a season as good as last year (which I found out was the best in about 70 years in terms of production).

Cleaning...

Spent about an hour and a half cleaning the buckets, spiles, and larger storage buckets last night. Today, we got a foot or so of wet snow. I hear the sap is running, but I will tap after a bad wind storm coming this Friday.

Almost time...

Greetings. It's almost that time of year. I've noticed a couple other bloggers to the south are getting their sugaring equipment ready. The temperatures are in the mid-30s (forecast), but we always seem to be a little cooler on the wooded hilltop. I wonder what next week has in store for weather? It's definitely time to get the equipment out for a good washing and make some improvements over last year's setup.