Sap is running today. We have a tank and a half of sap and it is running very good. Harvey and Ryan started boiling at 3:00 p.m.

My parents (+2 dogs) and Harvey's sister & brother-in-law (+2 dogs) came to visit the sugarhouse this afternoon. And, I was there with our 4 dogs, for a total of 8 dogs in the sugarhouse!! Everyone got along well...all different sizes, shapes & colors.

Finished boiling at 4:30 p.m. ... 30 Gallons of Grade A Medium. Sap is still running, but starting to get colder.

Harvey & Ryan started boiling at 6:30 p.m. and ended at 8:00 p.m.

They made 20 gallons of Fancy. We are off to a good start!

Harvey had enough sap last night to "sweeten the pan". "Sweeten the pan" means that now the evaporator is full of sap and ready to make syrup, but we didn't have enough sap to keep boiling to make syrup.

The sap continued to run last night for a while and this morning he has a full storage tank (1,200 gallons) of sap. We did get a freeze last night and then it warmed up late morning to about 37 degrees and we are getting a nice run. By noon time, one of our other storage tanks was half full.

Harvey and Ryan walked the lines this morning looking for leaks and, of course, they found some. Now the lines are fixed, the RO is started and Harvey should be boiling in an hour or so.

Ryan took this picture a year ago of a rainbow over our sugarhouse. Click on any picture to enlarge.

All systems are go! Harvey and Ryan started boiling at 5:30 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. the sap is still running.

We checked our records and this is the first time we have ever boiled this early in 21 years.

With the first boil, sometimes we only have enough sap to "sweeten" the pans. I will give you an update in the morning.

Sap is running! We finished tapping just in time. Sap ran all night and is still running. We have one storage tank (1,200 gallons) full and 10" in the other storage tank. 40 Degrees, windy and cloudy. Our driveway is all slushy and icy.

Tapping is finished, but now the sugarhouse isn't ready. The RO needs to be put together and Harvey is waiting for a call from the repair man to help him. I am sure the repair men are running around Vermont today!

Harvey hasn't started the arch yet and it usually starts hard when it has been sitting for a year.

We will be boiling sometime today or this evening, IF everything gets put together and works. Our first time boiling last year was March 7, so we are a little ahead this year.

We finished tapping yesterday. The weather was wind and rain. It helped pack down some of the snow we got the day before. It has been windy for 2 days now. Wind storms are not a friend of sugarmakers. It can knock trees down on the sap lines and can be a disaster.

My giant amaryllis came into full bloom yesterday. What a welcome sight during these long winter months.

Welcome to a new sugaring year! Our 21st year of sugaring and 2nd year of blogging.

Harvey and his tapping crew started tapping on Monday, February 22nd. They tapped all day Monday and Tuesday with great results. They have 1 more day to finish our 4000 taps.

We woke this morning at 5:00 a.m. to 1 foot of new snow and a loud pop sound that followed by losing our power. Our power was restored at noon. My electricity is a wonderful thing!

The snow is still coming down and not suppose to stop until sometime Thursday morning. Harvey has been plowing all day. Ryan got his car stuck and Harvey got my car stuck.

At noon we had a wildlife visitor, an ermine. They are all white with black on the tip of their tail. He was popping his head up out of the snow, diving under the snow and peaking up elsewhere. I got this picture of the internet, sad to say it isn't one that I took. This little guy was fast.

Lot of things happening up here today, but not much sugaring yet.