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Largest Sap Flow in 25 Years!

by Peter 3/6/2017 6:40:00 AM

From 10:00 Sunday morning until 6:00 Monday morning, we collected between 2200 and 2500 gallons of sap from our nearly 1000 taps.  Typically we consider getting one gallon of sap per tap to be a pretty good run.  To get an average of almost two and a half gallons is something we've never seen in the 25 years we've been making syrup.  At the peak of the run we were collecting 180 gallons of sap per hour!

We continue to be amazed by the quantity of sap that we are gathering so early in the season.  As previously posted, we've never made syrup in February.  By March 1st we were up to 105 gallons!  Yesterday we made 40 gallons of Grade A Dark Robust syrup, bringing our total 145 gallons.  

The forecast for this upcoming week predicts temperatures will return to more seasonally normal levels with highs in the 30's.  The 15 day forecast looks good for continued syrup production.  Below is Paul Douglas' temperature predictions.  We look for days that straddle the freezing point. You can see looking at the chart below that a shift of 5-10 degrees can make a big difference in potential sap flows.  From Wednesday to Wednesday we might have perfect weather if it is slightly warmer than predicted or things might freeze up and we won't get any sap if it is cooler than predicted.  Time will tell!

The Storm After the Calm

by Peter 3/7/2016 7:35:00 AM

Last week we spent a lot of time waiting for warmer weather to arrive.  There wasn't much work that we needed to do or even could do with prolonged cold weather.  Usually during the syrup making season, daily tasks include maintaining the sap collection lines and looking for leaks.  But this can only be done when the lines are thawed and sap is flowing, because we have to be able to see where air is getting into the lines.  We had only boiled a couple of times, so we didn't need to cut, split or stack any wood yet.  The sugar house was clean.  The tanks were clean.  There really wasn't much maple work to do.  We were optimistic that things were going to be good as soon as the temperatures got above freezing.  Yesterday we witnessed the fastest flows that we have ever seen in the sugarbush.  I don't think that we collected a record amount of total sap, but the rate that it was flowing into our lower tank in the middle of the afternoon was amazing.  Our vacuum releaser was emptying 4 gallons of sap every 1:30 to 1:45.  That means that we were collecting about 2.5 gallons of sap per minute!  Between 1:30 yesterday afternoon and 4:00 this morning, 1300 gallons of sap was collected.

The  10 day forecast looks a little bit too warm for great sap flows.  Our hope is that the meteorologists are just too optimistic and trying to boost ratings and readership with warm forecasts.  We need the freeze/thaw cycle to get really good sap flows.  Our forest is next to Whaletail Lake, so it does stay a little cooler than other areas until the ice melts off of the lake.  We are hoping that we can get a few more hard freezes in the next 10 days to keep the sap flowing.

  • MON 03/07partly-cloudy62°/56°Partly sunnyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 8.1 SE
  • TUE 03/08pc-rain64°/38°ShowersPrecip chance: 60%Wind: 16.1 SW
  • WED 03/09partly-cloudy51°/35°Partly sunnyPrecip chance: 5%Wind: 6.9 NW
  • THU 03/10clear50°/36°SunnyPrecip chance: 9%Wind: 4.6 NE
  • FRI 03/11clear57°/40°SunnyPrecip chance: 6%Wind: 5.8 SW
  • SAT 03/12partly-cloudy53°/42°Partly sunnyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 8.1 SSE
  • SUN 03/13mostly-cloudy54°/38°Mostly cloudyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 8.1 WSW
  • MON 03/14partly-cloudy54°/42°Partly sunnyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 4.6 NW
  • TUE 03/15mostly-cloudy57°/46°Mostly cloudyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 8.1 ESE
  • WED 03/16mostly-cloudy62°/30°Mostly cloudyPrecip chance: 35%Wind: 5.8 NW
  • THU 03/17mostly-cloudy43°/29°Mostly cloudyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 13.8 WNW
  • FRI 03/18mostly-cloudy42°/21°Mostly cloudyPrecip chance: 35%Wind: 3.5 S
  • SAT 03/19cloudy44°/24°CloudyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 9.2 NE
  • SUN 03/20partly-cloudy43°/22°Partly sunnyPrecip chance: 30%Wind: 3.5 NW
  • MON 03/21partly-cloudy42°/28°Intermittent cloudsPrecip chance: 14%Wind: 6.9 WSW
>
  • MON 03/07partly-cloudy62°/56°Partly sunnyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 8.1 SE
  • TUE 03/08pc-rain64°/38°ShowersPrecip chance: 60%Wind: 16.1 SW
  • WED 03/09partly-cloudy51°/35°Partly sunnyPrecip chance: 5%Wind: 6.9 NW
  • THU 03/10clear50°/36°SunnyPrecip chance: 9%Wind: 4.6 NE
  • FRI 03/11clear57°/40°SunnyPrecip chance: 6%Wind: 5.8 SW
  • SAT 03/12partly-cloudy53°/42°Partly sunnyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 8.1 SSE
  • SUN 03/13mostly-cloudy54°/38°Mostly cloudyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 8.1 WSW
  • MON 03/14partly-cloudy54°/42°Partly sunnyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 4.6 NW
  • TUE 03/15mostly-cloudy57°/46°Mostly cloudyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 8.1 ESE
  • WED 03/16mostly-cloudy62°/30°Mostly cloudyPrecip chance: 35%Wind: 5.8 NW
  • THU 03/17mostly-cloudy43°/29°Mostly cloudyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 13.8 WNW
  • FRI 03/18mostly-cloudy42°/21°Mostly cloudyPrecip chance: 35%Wind: 3.5 S
  • SAT 03/19cloudy44°/24°CloudyPrecip chance: 25%Wind: 9.2 NE
  • SUN 03/20partly-cloudy43°/22°Partly sunnyPrecip chance: 30%Wind: 3.5 NW
  • MON 03/21partly-cloudy42°/28°Intermittent cloudsPrecip chance: 14%Wind: 6.9 WSW
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Sap flow on the horizon

by Peter 2/15/2016 7:24:00 AM

We took advantage of the warm weekend of February 6-7 and got all of our approximately 900 taps in.  For each tap, we drilled a 5/16" hole about 2 inches into the tree.  Most trees have one tap, but some of the larger trees have two.  It is important to drill a circular hole, not allowing the drill bit to wander and enlarge the opening to an oval.  After the hole is checked for wood shavings and cleaned with a stick if necessary, a new plastic attachment, called a check-valve spile adapter, is inserted into the hole.  Then we attach the "drop line", which is the piece of tubing that connects the spile adapter to the 5/16" plastic tubing that flows downhill to the tank.  In the picture above, you can see Greta holding a drop line.  On occasion we have to replace a drop line because a squirrel damages it.  The drop line and check valve are then pounded into the tree. creating a tight seal.  This goes back to the importance of the circular hole.  It is important that the check valve seals the hole completely because all of the tubing is connected to a vacuum pump that helps pull the sap out of the tree.  If the seal isn't good, our vacuum pressure at the trees is lower and we get less sap.

The extended forecast looks like sap could start flowing towards the end of the week.  It is always hard to predict early season runs, but since this winter has been warmer than average, we are optimistic that sap will flow pretty well at the beginning of the season.  We did see some sap dripping out of the holes we were drilling on the south sides of the trees on the 7th.  This week and weekend, we will finish connecting all of the other parts needed to collect the sap: the vacuum releaser, sap lifters and moisture traps.  We will clean the tanks and hopefully start collecting sap. Once the vacuum is on, the next step will be to search the woods for leaks in the lines that we were unable to detect when we were putting taps in.