Thanks, Flipper!

With you, Beav? I'm sure he will!

Thank you Ohio Wolverine! We do a small batch, boil it down on a propane burner and then bottle it in fancy bottles just to ensure we've spent the most money we possibly can on it!

Thank you so much, Leftlane. It wouldn't be the same without people like you either!

We have a high ground and a low ground sugar bush and they never start flowing at the same time really. The low bush(river bottom) has always produced first and most.

Over the years we have noticed that our lower trees or those out of the wind run better too. It does not take much wind when it is in the low forties to cool the upper twigs and branches of the trees to slow the sap flow.
we also try to tap on the south or west sides of our trees it seems we get more sap from those taps too.
We have not had any sap made from the 3500 gallons we have taken to the firm that makes the syrup for us. With our average sugar content we have it will make 111 gallons of syrup which 40% or about 44 gallons will be ours. We want to get about 60-70 gallons of syrup if we can.
We have taken 1190 gallons to another processor who pays us by the gallon based on sugar content.
I don't have any idea how things will work out after this storm. We may not be able to run any of our 3 4-wheelers in the woods with the drifting. Also We may not be able to park in places with our trucks to collect and put in our trucks and trailers. There is no doubt that the sap will run again but we may not be able collect much. We have 450-500 white buckets in 7 woods and with all this snow, finding them will be intersting as well.

Bryce

Bryce, I was looking forward to hearing from you since I know we usually make about the same amount of syrup as you.

Good to hear from you. Good luck with the rest of your run!

Most cookers in our area will quit when the buds start to open up as the sap goes real sour then. This cold snap will delay that a bit. We actually like the dark syrup flavor and taste the best so many times we like the stuff that we collect and boil near the end of the season. I have some customers that won't even take any unless it is dark. I know the amber is what the commercial market really wants.
The ground will stay cooler now for quite a while with all this snow on top and then even when it melts the the water will be cool.

Bryce

That's right, Bryce. I forgot you collect sap but sell it for processing. You sure work hard enough!

Knowing how you cook Patrice I am sure that is some mighty fine eating there.

Thank you, Bob! We poured some over vanilla ice cream last night and that was really nice!

Looks great! How do you guys filter your finished product. It looks so clean. Here's our season.

We use synthetic pre-filters followed by another pre-filter inside an Orlon final filter. (all from Sugar Bush Supplies)

You have a lot more syrup than we do! Keep in mind that the bigger the container, the less light passes through and the darker your syrup appears.

It's all good!
Patrice

Nice to have some Maples on the property....or close by anyways.

Used to sit in a friends Sugar Shack in Henniker NH...1/2 hour up the road

When he was boiling.

Helped him a few times ...emptying the Buckets into a large container...that was on a wagon.

And that wagon was pulled by his Oxen Team !! What a hoot that was.

Nothing like shooting the breeze ....in the. Sugar Shack...putting wood into evaporator and

Smelling all that goodness.

Good for you and Zim for keeping the dream alive ..it's good

For the soul

Hey Nessy! We actually have hundreds of maples on our property, but we do this at a really small scale just for fun. We don't sell anything.

It sure is good for the soul though every time we can enjoy something from our land...or Zim's garden... or the girls!

We have a number of folks in the area who collect sap and take it to Amish guys who boil it down. The Amish then return half of the syrup to the person who dropped off the sap. That's not a bad deal but not as fun for us.

All good!

Awesome Patrice....that's one thing we lack here in NH ...is some

Amish folks. ...not any around that I know of.

We plan on tapping tomorrow. We still have alot of snow probably close to 30 inches. Below zero this morning but supposed to warm up later this week. Can't really rush it just try to be ready.

Zim put taps in when we had a weird stretch of warm days in February - not at all typical. He collected some of our sap until it got cold again and the sap stopped running. He left the taps in, changed bags and then picked up again to collect some more at a later time. All worked out fine.

You do just have to be ready when the trees are. Good luck!

Patrice That would be a great item for a auction item. That looks so goooood!!!!

Thank you!