We have seen over the last decade, the need to tap our trees earlier to be able to capture the early sap flows. The weather was very pleasant this last weekend so we took the opportunity to tap our trees. We completed tapping and got our collection system of releaser and moisture traps installed.

The next week looks to include potential high temperatures up to 50! No significant sap has been observed yet but it certainly is on the way! So if you plan on tapping your trees this year, now would be a good time to start.

This season has been one of contradictory events. We have had extended periods of warmth without freezing nights but we’ve had some of the deepest frost levels we’ve ever had in the woods. The moisture we’ve received has not been able to soak in due to this frost. Our sap flows have been no better than modest at best. A surprise has been the sugar content of the sap has been 3% which is much greater than our typical 1.8 to 2.2% sugar content. 
 The syrup grade has been all Amber Rich or Dark Robust. A bit of a surprise yesterday was getting our lightest syrup( still Amber Rich) of the season. Typically the syrup gets darker as the weather gets warmer and the season progresses. This lighter batch may signal the season is coming to a close. We have gotten to a period of cold nights for this week so it will declare itself soon. We often note end of season signs of dropping sugar content of sap, slight discoloration of sap( cloudy or milky). Other signs can be difficulties controlling foaming of the sap in the evaporator or even ropy consistency of the boiling syrup. These signs are in addition to the obvious budding of the maples which causes a chemical change in the sap and makes off flavor or “ buddy “ syrup. Stay tuned…..

We had our second opportunity to boil sap on the 11th. The warm days are excellent, however the mild nights in the low 30s is not cold enough to recharge the trees. There is still a few feet of frost in the ground which delays some of the better flow rates. Our sap is measuring 3% which is higher than our typical 2%. This good fortune means it only takes 29 gal of sap to make a gal of syrup instead of the typical 40. Quite a savings of time and energy!!

Our 23 gal made on the 11th was Dark Robust which is very rich and flavorful. We have now seen the sap glows reduce to a trickle!