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Is it a Pause…. Or the End of the sesson

by Don 3/15/2024 6:18:00 AM

We have continued to experience several more record warm days in the last weeks. February was the warmest in recorded  Minnesota weather history. As the temperature remained above 40 continuously for more than 48 hrs., we saw the sap flow screech to a halt.! We are now waiting to see if the predicted colder temperatures arrive this weekend before too much bud development occurs thereby changing the chemistry of the sap and making “ buddy” syrup. The sap can taste normal, but when boiled down can impart a “ tootsie roll “ off flavor which makes the syrup unpalatable. We have not seen the buds swell or elongate yet (buddy sap often occurs  at this time ) but we are concerned that it is coming soon.

 We have made 376 gal of syrup thus far and have been operating as if the season is over by preparing the RO and evaporator for end of year maintenance. We’ve turned off the vacuum and drained the collection tank , but will reverse those measures if the sap flows again. We have enjoyed hearing Sandhill Cranes and Canadian geese while outside as the Wood Ducks dart through the woods.

Although there is alot of work to this hobby, I hope the season has not ended.

Record Tempratures and Record early production

by Don 3/3/2024 1:53:00 PM

The month of February was the warmest on record since official records began for the Twin Cities. We have had occasional nights of near freezing temperatures so the trees are stimulated to produce sap that day. We notice, however, that the volumes diminish after a couple nights of this. We have made over 15 barrels of syrup in a time period that we typically don‘t even collect sap!

Today’s temperature is nearly 70 degrees so we are processing it as fast as our equipment will allow so that the sap will not degrade in quality.At these temperatures you should process the same day as collected unless you have a way to cool down the sap like we do with refrigerated bulk tanks.

We hope that the meteorologist is correct that we will have a string of sub freezing nights so that the trees can recharge and produce more sap. We shall see!

 

 

Early Sap Runs Continue

by Don 2/22/2024 2:58:00 PM

We continue to experience record warmth for February and meteorologists predict the warmest February since the start of record keeping. The days have included considerable sunshine and warmups in the 40s occur before noon! We find the sap flowing beginning about 10 am and continuing until after sunset.

 We try to get our vacuum system reaching 25 inches but have thus far been unsuccessful. We have gotten it to 20 , however we know that every 5 inches of vacuum pressure,increases yield by 25% over gravity systems. Therefore, we achieve a 100% increase at 20 inches vacuum but still are giving up another  25%. We occasionally find a leaking line due to squirrel bites or a loose spile. Every repair helps but they seem to continue!

 We have fired up the evaporator 4 times so far , and nearly 100 gallons of delectable syrup has been made. And this is still before we historically even see the sap run!

We have collected 1500 gallons of sap in the last 24 hrs and are concentrating it through our RO. Our sap is running 2.2 % sugar ( rather typical for our sugarbush). The RO is concentrating this to 10-11% which means we only need about 8.5 gallons of this concentrated sap to make a gallon of finished syrup. If we didn’t use the RO, it would take about 40 gallons of sap! A great savings of time and energy consumption!

Check back in a few days to see how we did!