We Have Finished Sugaring!

Yesterday, Harvey and Hayley boiled for the last time.

They made 20 gallons of Grade C.

Harvey is cleaning the sugar house and arch and I started pulling taps today. This is a picture of the long handled tool that we use to pull taps.

Beautiful day, 60's and sunshine.

Wednesday, Jim Greene, wholesale buyer of our syrup will be coming to pick up the barrels.

Freeze Last Night

Sap slowed up for a day, but is still running.

We had a freeze last night and 1,500 gallons of sap in the tanks this morning.

Harvey is going to boil this afternoon.

Suppose to be 60 today.

23 Gallons of Grade C

The syrup is getting darker and the flavor is improving.

Rain, snow, hail, wind and sun today.

19 Gallons of Grade C

Rain, snow and cold, but the sap is still running.

Harvey made 19 gallons of Grade C yesterday.

We are working on 21 barrels.

Last year we made 30 barrels.

Happy Easter!

Harvey is boiling every day and making Grade C.

We are now up to 20 barrels.

Snowing here this morning.

15 Gallons of Grade C

Harvey boiled yesterday and made Grade C.

Froze last night, looks like we could get another run today.

Back to Making Syrup

Harvey boiled this afternoon. He had to "sweeten the pan" again, because everything had been drained and cleaned. He made 13 gallons of Grade C.

The maple sample on the right is what Harvey made on his last boil (3/23/12) which was Grade C.

The maple sample on the left is what he made today. Color is fancy, but the taste is Grade C.

What a Maple Season!

Harvey has the arch all cleaned and put back together.

He is getting ready to boil in 3,500 gallons of sap.

Marty's men gathered and hauled sap all day Monday and Tuesday from our sugar house to Marty's sugar house.

There are quite a few sugar makers in the Franklin County area that are still sugaring.

Jim Greene, the man who buys syrup from the sugar makers, told everyone to boil everything you can, they will buy it!

More Sap Today

Sap is running very good today.

Marty Lumbra's men have been hauling sap all day = 3,000 gallons.

1 Barrel of Grade C

Marty produced a barrel of Grade C with Harvey's sap.

Freeze last night, 27 degrees this morning. Suppose to warm up to 45 today. We might get another sap run.

Signs of Spring

I traveled over Hazen's Notch today, probably the earliest ever and I am not fooling on this April Fool's Day. The road is very good, I was really surprised.

With all of the signs of spring...robins, red winged black birds, pussy willows, peepers, Notch Road open (but not officially!)... Marty's guys transported 3,000 gallons of sap from our sugar house to his sugar house all day long. What a crazy season!

Sap is still running, Marty is boiling tonight and Harvey has gone to visit Marty's sugar house.

Sap Update

After cleaning the pans last night and this morning, Harvey has decided not to boil in the new sap, but has decided to sell the sap to another sugar maker down the road from us, Marty Lumbra.

It froze last night and the sap is running really good this morning.

There is too much cleaning to be done on our equipment to boil in the new sap in a timely manner.

Selling our sap is the next best choice.

Got Sap!

Sap is running, we have 1,500 gallons of sap and it looks beautiful!

Harvey is cleaning the pans tonight and getting ready to boil tomorrow.

Sugar content has gone from 1 1/2 % to 2%. Average sugar content is between 2 & 2 1/2 %.

This will be amazing if we have a come back after all the "hot" weather that we had. This week has been freezing all week, only reaching the 30's during the day and snow.

This is a year like we or anyone else has ever had!

Stay tuned.....

Snow & Cold

27 degrees this morning and snow on the ground.

High of 33 today. Last Monday was 70 degrees.

Back to seasonal weather.

Pond Pictures

1st Picture - March 19, 2009
2nd Picture - March 28, 2010
3rd Picture - April 4, 2011
4th Picture - Today, March 23, 2012

Sugaring Has Ended

Harvey said we are done. He is cleaning up and taking the arch apart to clean.

The trees budded here yesterday, which means the chemistry of the sap has changed and the syrup is no longer good.

We have a total of 18 barrels, we made 60% of our usual crop. Most of the sugar makers that we have been talking to, have made 50-60% of a crop.

The weather has begun to change back to seasonal temperatures, but unfortunately it is too late for the sugar makers.

41 Gallons Grade C

Harvey made Grade C yesterday which is commercial grade. It is the small percent of maple syrup that is added to syrups such as Aunt Jemima.

Yesterday, the sap was very yucky, smelly & thick and very hard to process. Jay came to help again yesterday. An extra hand is sure helpful this time of year, thanks Jay!

We might be done, we will have to wait and see. At this point, we have a half a crop compared to last year.

Sap Ran All Night

We have 2,000 gallons of sap this morning.

Looks like we will be boiling again today.

Temperature in the 80's today.

17 Barrels

Harvey boiled this afternoon, color and flavor was Grade B. We are now up to 17 barrels. We made 30 barrels during last year's season.

Temperature 78/79 again today.

Harvey called my brother, Jay, to help out today. When the sap gets darker the filter press needs to be changed more often and Harvey can't do it when the syrup is coming so fast off from the arch.

This is Jay in the picture cleaning one of our tanks.

Harvey caught another frog in a mouse trap this morning.

Our tally so far...17 barrels and 2 frogs.

1,500 Gallons of Sap

Harvey has one full tank of sap this morning.

He will boil sometime today.