Fingers crossed...

Looking forward to another year making syrup. Coworkers are into it also. Anywhere from seven to over a hundred taps. That's a little too ambitious for me - I'll stick with the 20-30 I usually do and try to clear another tree or two to improve the sunlight on the maples. Last year (2012) was a tough year for sugaring. The year before that was one of the best anyone can remember.

I wonder what this year will bring?

An early ending to the 2012 sugaring season...

Yesterday (Sunday), I boiled off the last of the sap and made 3 quarts of syrup. I think the sugar content was down in the sap, but that's not a big deal. In the end, it was the darkest syrup I have ever made. It tastes different than the lighter syrup, but equally as good (in my opinion).

All in all, we made just shy of 2 gallons this year. That's less than half of last year, which was a very good year. An article in the paper (link to article) sums up the season around here - mild winter, very warm February and March. This is Maple Weekend in New Hampshire, but I think most places are already done boiling. Better luck next year!

Thanks for reading.

Not a lot of sap...but another quart of syrup

They weather has been tough. The temperature has been almost high enough to really let the sap run, but unfortunately it never got there. Mid-upper thirties with some sun. After collecting the buckets this morning and boiling, another quart of syrup is complete. Some of the sap was starting to taste buddy. One tree was really bad, so I dumped that one. Early signs of the end, I think. A couple decent days are coming up, but the forecast for Wednesday is 61 degrees ?!

All done for the day!

One half gallon, exactly, all finished. For the first time ever, when I brought the boiling sap (now syrup) inside to finish on the stove, it was already done. I only boiled for 2-3 minutes inside. This is in contrast to a couple hours inside, which creates a nice, sticky mess on the cupboards.

First boil

Finally set up the burners today and started boiling. I have about 20 gallons of sap or so and hope to get around a half gallon of syrup. I keep watching the trees to see if the buds are starting. We'll see how the syrup tastes before coming to any conclusions.

Glad to be back

Welcome back! After putting four taps in Wednesday, we finished putting in the rest of the hanging-bucket taps yesterday. 19 so far. It seems really early to be doing it, yet I see it was the same weekend last year. A lot of people put them in a full week earlier as the weather was changing.

This had been a 'dud' of a winter. After a decent snowstorm before the holidays, there hasn't been more than a few inches of snow...total. The yard is covered with an icy/snow mix of about 2-3 inches thick. Tromping through the woods to tap usually involves snowshoes. Not this year. Word has it that the sugaring season will be shortened by no snow because the trees will bud earlier. We'll see....

In walked bud

Yesterday, I went around to collect the sap, only to find all of the trees had buds coming out. Some of the sap tasted OK, some was flavorless, and some was just plain bad (buddy). I kept the sweet stuff and may boil it or not. Those trees had buds starting and the syrup could be considered grade B, or cooking syrup.

I boiled down about 30 gallons today, yielding 3 quarts and 6 oz. (just shy of a half-pint) of syrup. The sap was from several days ago, before the buds started coming out. It needed to be segregated from the other sap. The syrup was pretty dark, but tasted good. Dark amber.

Five more quarts.

Five more quarts - getting darker. The trees are starting to bud and the sap is losing its sweetness.

Awash in sap

After only collecting sap off and on during the week, several buckets ended up overflowing today. The buckets are around 2.5 gallons each. After making the rounds tonight, we collected 45 gallons of sap, giving us around 55 gallons total. That's a lot of propane. And the replacement fan came for the range hood. Now I don't have to worry about the steam as much.

Three more quarts!

I'm trying something new this year. Finishing the syrup always takes so long. So, after boiling sap down for many hours, I just stick it in the fridge or the garage. Then, I finish it another night. Last night I boiled 30 gallons of sap down to four gallons. Tonight, it finished to three quarts and a half-pint.

I also filter a little less. Getting the tree parts out of the sap seems like a good idea. Then, after boiling for hours, I filter the "almost done" sap into a cleaner boiling pan. That keeps the burnt pieces down. The rest just settles out in the jar over time and doesn't cause any problems.

I need something else to write about. But for now, at least I can keep track of how much I've made throughout the season and hopefully someone out there is learning from my mistakes. I would like to convert to wood in the future or get a better boiling pan to reduce boiling time. But, it's just more money.

Tonight's production - more than expected

Five quarts tonight! It's still fairly light-medium in flavor. The sugar content must be very high right now, as I'm almost positive I didn't boil much more than 40 gallons. So far, we've managed just shy of seven quarts. That's nearly as much as I made all of last year, which wasn't a great year. There are about 50 more gallons of sap to be boiled, as well.

As you can see by the clock in the photo, it was late (not lunch time). The good news is that I boiled outside longer than ever before. Using the larger pan, it boils faster. Only 30 minutes was needed inside to finish it off, compared to the 1-2 hours I usually take. The larger volume of this batch helped keep the boiling sap deep enough in the large pan. This was especially welcome since I finally broke the exhaust fan in the oven hood last week. A replacement is on the way.

I don't even know how much...

We weren't around long enough this weekend to boil , so I'm a little behind. There was so much sap, I lost count. And I know many of the buckets are filling up again as I type this. But, we're boiling now to take care of any sap from early last week. With the snow and cold night time temps, I haven't had any issues keeping the sap very cold (with ice on top). We got another six inches of snow yesterday - the sap is all buried in the snow on the north side of the house. Hopefully, I'll have some good reports of actual syrup soon!

45 gallons!

It's been a busy few days...about 15 gallons each day (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday). Lots of sap is nice, but it's hard when it comes all at once! Of course, with the additional taps, this is somewhat expected. Will have to boil soon!

Boiling day

Today, we boiled. 14 gallons of sap boiled down to fill one quart-sized mason jar, a 3/4 pint jar, and a few tablespoons. That's about a 40:1 ratio of sap to syrup. The color is medium-light amber, and the taste is a little more robust than the last batch, but pretty light. Not bad at all.

Finally got some sap

The last few days produced about 14 gallons of sap. Earlier this week, there was a really bad ice storm that took out power to the area (and many trees and branches). Warm temperatures and rain returned yesterday, but it wasn't very cold last night. The taps were all dripping slowly mid-morning as we emptied the buckets. There is still around 2 feet of snow in the woods, so snowshoes are essential.

It's time to set up the boiling station. For me, this involves cinder blocks and outdoor propane burners (high-BTU burners often used for frying turkeys or boiling crawfish). If the price of gas is any indication, I'm afraid the price of propane is going to make it an expensive year. On the bright side, it's very easy to start and control boiling with this method. Still hoping to use wood one of these years.

1/2 pint

Made another 1/2 pint of syrup. This is good, seeing as we finished off the 1/4 pint I made a week ago. Usually, I don't bother with such trace amounts, but there is something wrong with buying maple syrup when you make your own!

The weather just isn't cooperating. It rained all day today and it's been warm. Better luck next week - the forecast is mediocre. Best of luck to those of you sugaring.

Good weather coming

Each year, it seems I get a few gallons of sap and then it's cold out for a while. Eager to make syrup, I'll usually boil it down in the kitchen. Last week, that effort amounted to a quarter-pint of light syrup - just enough for a trucker's breakfast at Dysart's.

If you do this inside, I suggest a good externally-vented hood. I actually hang aluminum foil down from the hood, over the pots. It looks strange, but keeps the sticky steam off the cupboards.

Following the miniature sap run, we got snow. About a foot. Then, about 4 inches more. Looks like things will warm up a little this week and some more this weekend. If you're sugaring, good luck.

Taps are in...

I put all the taps and buckets up yesterday and today - 20 in all. It was in the mid-40s today, but the trees weren't dripping too much. The sun was warm but I guess not quite enough. At least I won't miss any good early sap runs like many did last year. I also put some plastic taps in that need to have tubing run. Some buckets will serve as the basin for those taps (two-three taps to a bucket). Will finish that up tomorrow - it's kind of an experiment.

2011: Getting Ready...

It's time! Scoping out the trees yesterday, I found some more trees to tap. I did a lot of clearing last summer that opened things up. Planning to clean the buckets and spiles today.

The weather forecast is weird. Highs in the low 40s and lows of 34? Will have to watch this...maybe put some taps in tonight or tomorrow.

Show's Over

I finished off the last of the sap last night - half a gallon and a half-pint produced. The trees have been mostly stagnant for a few days now and the weather is very warm. Any sap that did come out was dumped (many of the trees are budding). So, about half of the taps have been pulled and the rest will be taken care of this weekend.

I'll post later showing overall production. It's a "down year". Just shy of two gallons (three last year).