Denouement: the resolution of a doubtful series of occurrences.

This defines the most disappointing season of the 19 we have experienced at Somerskogen.

Profound drought, followed by unprecedented heat for March, resulted in a meager collection of sap.  While the quality of syrup we produced was excellent, it had only the characteriestics of a dark amber syrup, .  . . deep robust maple flavor.  This year we didn't produce any light or medium amber syrup.

We spent hundreds of hours in preparation for this season, but only 20 hours producing our entire crop for 2012!  It is sad when more time is spent cleaning the equipment than making syrup.

Our production sold out quickly and we are disappointed that we've been unable to fill all the requests that have come in. We are taking the optimistic approach of preparing for next year by developing expansion plans to add over 250 taps! We hope to get to 1000 taps in 2013 so our production meets the demand.

Our experience has been duplicated throughout Minnesota, Wisconisin and many of the eastern states.  Mother Nature always prevails!

Check our website frequently as we document our expansion progress. 

We thank many of you who watched the Finding Minnesota/Somerskogen Sugarbush episode by Angela Davis/Bob Cowan of WCCO-TV and ordered syrup. We have been inundated with orders ( a good problem!) and we are doing our best to get them shipped as quickly as possible.  The USPS website shut down this afternoon, due to high volume of traffic on their new upgraded site. We hope their website is "up and running" soon, as it is an efficient way to ship orders. Thank you for your patience in receiving your order of maple syrup.

We will be bottling glass quarts on Wednesday, March 21 and ship those orders promptly. 

Sunday, March 18th, was our last day of sap collection for 2012.  The rate of flow and quality of the sap has changed. Maple trees respond to various conditions of environmental stress with physiologic changes.  The extremely warm temperatures affect tree cell metabolism, which then changes the  biochemistry of the sap. Studies show that the warm conditions change the amino acids of the sap, creating a natural "off" flavor called "metabolism".  The only option for sugarmakers is to stop processing.  If an extreme cold period in the 20's arrives, this can change sap conditions again.  There does not appear to be any chance of cold temperatures on the horizion, so I believe we are done. Mother Nature always wins!

Check out this link to the WCCO TV segment about Somerskogen Sugarbush - http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/03/18/finding-minnesota-somerskogen-sugarbush/