As I write this entry, the temperature is a couple of degrees below zero--hardly the weather that makes people think about sap flowing! However, we have planned on putting our taps in on February 15th. It is impossible to predict if this season will be better than last year, but it is hard to imagine how it could be worse. Traditionally the best seasons have followed winters where we have a lot of snow. This seems to prolong the spring thaw and give us more days to collect sap and make syrup. So far we have not had much snow, but there is still time before the season starts to add to the few inches that are on the forest floor.
We have added about 300 taps to the pipeline network this year, all of them on the opposite side of the driveway from the rest of the taps. To collect sap in the same tank, we have used a sap lifter that helps the sap rise vertically 14 feet and cross the driveway. Hopefully everything will work like it should. We can't really troubleshoot until it warms up and the sap is flowing.
Let's hope for snow and lots of sap this season!