Another season of sugaring is in the books, and it was a wild one. With the mild winter, there was much discussion among the maple syrup community about when to start tapping. Many large producers were tapping in early February, with a handful starting in late January. I waited until mid-February, tapping 2 weeks earlier than usual. Since we still have syrup from last season, my plan had been to tap only 12 trees this season, but while in the woods I found one of my 5-gallon pails had a crack in the bottom. It seemed silly to go back for only one pail, and I did not want to tap an unlucky 13 trees, so ended up getting three more pails and tapping 14 trees. In 2023, I tapped 15 trees but lost track of where one of the trees was, so basically collected from 14 trees over 4 weeks.
The first week, I had overflowing buckets and collected nearly 70 gallons of sap. The second and third weeks produced lower yields, in the 30 to 50 gallon range. Those later weeks also saw temperatures above 60 degrees, with one day above 70 degrees. My reverse-osmosis equipment continued to work well, greatly reducing the time to boil. Most of my boil days were done by 5PM, although one day went into the evening. In general, the days were mild and it was relaxing to sit by the stove and enjoy the quiet.
Because of the swings in temperature, I was constantly worried that the sap would spoil in the woods. I pulled the taps after 3 weeks because it seemed to be getting too warm for good production and the concern over spoilage. I was also starting to run low on firewood, so will have to re-stock for next year. We ended up with a little over 2.6 gallons of syrup, which is less than last year, but plenty to use and share. The first batch did not filter well, but the later batches filtered quickly and were nice and clear. It is always amazing how the color of the syrup changes from week to week.
The taps are pulled, the equipment washed and put away. I made a few repairs to the stove to be ready next season. We have a big garden fencing project to get done by the end of May, so an early end to the season just means an early start on the next project. It is snowing today, so we have a little lull to enjoy for a day.
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