Maple Sugaring??

[Thomas]

Do they boil w/wood or propane?
I bet they have some long nights boiling also a couple good size holding tanks.

 

[sugarmaker]

Well, this thread finally got me to register.

The easy answer is, set your taps when you see your neighbors' buckets going up; should be pretty soon. We may be a bit behind you here in northern Vermont, so expect another 2 weeks will pass here before I see many folks tapped.

I highly recommend the book "Backyard Sugarin'" by your fellow NH'er Rink Mann. He's got lots of nice ideas for small-scale sugaring on the cheap.

Dave

 

[Boondox]

Welcome, Dave! Wow, another northern Vermonter AND an L3010 owner to boot!

Pete

 

[PhilNH5]

Thanks for all the input. Turns out the highschool has a horticulture program and they sugar. Today as I drove by I saw the buckets hanging from the trees. Of course that was just now as we came home so it is to dark.
I did mark the trees last fall and even had the foresight to draw a crude map so I may be able to find the trees in the dark. I will try tomorrow evening. If I am unsuccessful I will have to wait until Saturday.

Phil

 

[poorboy]

Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll try to get my mother in law to purchase it. I have a couple of little boys who would love to get into it in a couple of years. I wonder if it's possible to experiment with it as far south as Ky. I have 50 or so acres of woods with a hundred or so large specimens of sugar maples.

Patrick

 

[PhilNH5]

Patrick,
I have never done it before so all I have is what I read in books plus a 1/2 hour I spent talking with the guy who sold me my taps.

That said I don't think this will work in KY. The books all point to below freezing nights and above 40F days. In a process that no one quite understands this sets up a pressure differential that causes the sap to flow or "run".

Folks in NE states make it seem like NH and VT are the best places to sugar. But one book I had listed production output by state w/o listing quantity. Anyway, in order highest to lowest, Michigan,VT, NY and PA. If memory serves me that is the order. Michigan was definitely first. Anyway, you can see they are all far north states.

Phil

 

[MossRoad]

According to some family members that I have in Kentucky, it can be done. As long as it freezes at night and gets in the forties during the day, it will work. It has to be done before the trees bud.

 

[sugarmaker]

Poorboy,

I don't know exactly where you are in KY, but I know there is a commercial maple operation in Putney (Eastern KY). Weather.com shows good maple sap temperature swings for that area in the last 10 days. Go for it!

Pick a sunny day in the 40s and drill a 7/16 hole about 2 inches into the trunk of a big sugar maple. See what happens!

Dave

 

[sugarmaker]

Phil,

Actually the top 3 US states are usually VT, ME, and NY year after year. MI usually pulls up in 6th or 7th place. Check out <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.nass.usda.gov/ny/06jun/mpl0601.htm>http://www.nass.usda.gov/ny/06jun/mpl0601.htm</A> for details.

Of course, the contest is quickly over when one considers Quebec who outproduced VT 15 to 1 last year.

Dave

 

[Youare]

That is the question, when do you tap. Usually you wait for the weather to get just about right, freezing at night above freezing durning the day. I live in the southern part of New Hampshire, but in the far west part of the state.

We tapped lasted weekend, that Saturday when it reached almost 50 degrees. Then wouldn't you know it turned cold. The trouble with tapping to early is the trees start to heal not long after you tap, so if you tap early and the sap run is late you loose. If you wait until the guy next door taps, he was waiting to see you tap, you may loose the first early run which is often the best quality.

This year it will be hard to tell, but we have the buckets out already. This past summer was dry and the fall was dry also, I am not looking for a good sugar season this year for those reasons. The weather needs to be right also, cold at night warm durning the day with no cold wind.

The sap flows up from the roots with the warm temps and the cold causes it to flow back down at night. The warmer the weather the quicker the buds form on the trees which makes the sap cloudly and starchy, not sweet. That is why the first runs are best.

Sap ran a little this last week, expect it to have run today some too. Sap will only keep so long when the weather gets warm so make sure you process it as soon as you can. I have had my own small sugar house for 20+ years, before that I helped a friend sugar for about 8 years.

Randy