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.

32 Gallons of Grade B

Harvey boiled this afternoon and the sap is still running.

This is the 3rd day in a row of 75 degree weather and no freezes at night. Extended forecast looks like Friday night might be the soonest that we get a freeze and then warm up during the day Saturday. The following days then look like more seasonable temperatures, if we can only hang on.

Harvey caught a frog in a mousetrap this morning...not a good sign to see frogs in the sugar house in March and something we have never seen!

108 Gallons yesterday!

Harvey boiled 2 times yesterday and made 108 gallons of Grade B.

Sap is still running. 3/4 of tank this morning=500 gallons.

Picture of Harvey checking his sap storage tanks.

Ozzy found a soccer ball that had been buried in the snow last night. Ozzy holds the soccer ball for me, so the ball won't roll down the hill. He is such a smart dog!

64 Gallons of Grade B

Harvey made 64 gallons of Grade B this morning.

Color was beginning to get lighter but then he ran out of sap.

Sap is running really good. He may have to boil again this afternoon.

3 Tanks Full!

We have 3 full tanks of sap this morning = 4,500 gallons of sap.

Harvey is going to start boiling around 7:00 a.m.

We are suppose to have another very warm day in the 70's.

Visitors to the Sugar House

70 degrees today, sap is running better than it has all year.

Harvey made 62 gallons of Grade B.

My parents came to visit today and brought their neighbor and good friend Pete Rivers with them.

46 Gallons of Grade B

Harvey boiled yesterday afternoon.

The flavor was A-Dark but the color was Grade B. When grading syrup, you need to check flavor and color, color prevails.

Sap ran really good yesterday and all night. Harvey has 3,500 gallons of sap this morning and is getting ready to boil this morning.

Freeze Last Night!

We had our first freeze in a week, Harvey is doing cart wheels! It went down to 31 last night and things are covered with frost this morning.

Harvey has 3,000 gallons of sap this morning, the sun is shining and blue sky, could be a good run today.

Harvey made 48 gallons of Grade B yesterday. We are up to 10 barrels, about 1/3 of a crop.

This freeze could make our grade lighter today.

45 Gallons of Grade B

Harvey boiled this afternoon and made 45 gallons of Grade B. Flavor is excellent, but the color is very dark.

Sap is still running, there is 1,500 gallons of sap in the storage tank. Harvey will boil again tomorrow.

60 Gallons of A-Dark

Harvey made 60 gallons yesterday.

Sap is still running, 2,000 gallons of sap this morning.

Temperature was 31 this morning, no freeze last night. Very foggy this morning.

What a Run!

Still running this morning, but beginning to slow down. We have not had a freeze since Saturday night.

Harvey collected another 500 gallons of sap through the night...2,000 gallons of sap to boil in today.

34 degrees this morning and cloudy, possible rain this afternoon.

60 Gallons of A-Medium

Harvey boiled today and made 60 gallons of A-Medium.

We are now up to 6 barrels = 240 gallons.

Sap is still running. Harvey has another 2,000 gallons of sap and he will boil again tomorrow.

The forecast looks like it is going to stay warm at night, that is not good for sugaring.

50 Gallons of A-Dark

Harvey boiled yesterday and made 50 gallons of A-Dark.

The sap is still running and has been running since Sunday afternoon.

We have 2 tanks full of sap this morning 2,500 gallons.

Harvey headed to the sugar house at 6:00 a.m. this morning to start the RO.

40 degrees this morning and raining.

40 Gallons of A-Dark

Harvey boiled last night and made 40 gallons.

Sap ran all night and we have 2,000 gallons of sap this morning. Looks like another great boil day!

Beautiful Day!

25 degrees this morning and this afternoon my outside thermometer, facing the sun says 82, can this be right?

Well probably more like 60 degrees, but it sure is beautiful!

The streams are opening up and I couldn't resist taking pictures of the beautiful ice formations in the little streams. Click on any picture to enlarge.

We usually see some type of critter when the snow starts to melt and today I found a snow spider. I have never seen one, but he sure could run fast across the snow!

Harvey has been in the woods all day walking the pipeline checking for leaks and pulling lines out of the snow.

I went to the woods this afternoon and cut brush along the main lines.

Harvey will be boiling tonight!

40 Gallons of Syrup

Harvey made 40 gallons yesterday...A-Dark.

We are very cold again, no sap running today.

Syrup!

Harvey made 30 gallons of syrup yesterday, not sure what grade.

Sap ran in the night (1,500 gallons) and he will boil again today.

It went from 45 and pouring rain last night to 25 and snowing this morning.

Water is over the road between the Boston Post Road on 105 and Route 118 in East Berkshire and the road is closed.

Sap is Running

Sap started running yesterday, temp 57 degrees. We have a tank and a half of sap, 1500 gallons of sap.

Sap ran all night and still running this morning with a temp of 52 degrees.

Harvey has headed to the woods this morning to walk the sap lines and then he will boil this afternoon sometime.

No Syrup Yet

Harvey sweeten the pan some more yesterday, no syrup.

Very cold here this morning, high today is suppose to be 15, no sap run here today.

Full Tank of Sap This Morning

Sap ran all night, we have a full tank of sap and Harvey is going to boil this morning. We should make our first syrup today!

High winds and snowed all night, 32 degrees and still snowing here this morning.

Buried Sap Lines

It has been a week since we received the big snow and now we have buried sap lines.

We pulled out lines today, but there are a lot of lines left to unbury. Hopefully it will warm up and melt the snow off the lines. The lines aren't buried too deep.

The middle of this upcoming week looks like we might be making syrup.