Maple Sugaring??

PhilNH5 · Feb 16, 2002

Folks,
I am relatively new to this board but have already received a wealth of info. I have another question.
I know there are a bunch of TBNers in southern NH. Do any off you make maple syrup? We are going to try a few trees this year. At the Farm expo in Manchester, NH a few weeks back I picked up some taps. Last fall I finally remebered to mark the sugar maples. So we are finally ready to make maple syrup.

My question is WHEN do I tap. I have lots of book and net info so I know that 40F days with below freezing nights causes the sap to run. But we have had 2 or 3 mini-thaws. I don't know of anyone else loacally who does this so I can't follow some one else's lead.

Any advise would be much appreciated.
Phil

StoneHeartFarm · Feb 16, 2002

On our local news the other night they said this would be a lousy year for sugaring here in Michigan. The days have been above 40 (almost 50) as early as January and the nights haven't necessarily always dropped below freezing. A couple of years ago we had a similar problem and it resulted in a low yield.

I don't know much about sugaring, when I was a kid we'd play with a coffee can hung on a tree to collect sap, but that don't help you much. I'd guess that you should pick one tree, tap it, hang a bucket and see if anything is coming out. When the sap starts flowing good, you'll know. When it flows it really flows.

SHF

Blackberry1 · Feb 16, 2002

Phil,
My in-laws are into maple here in SW Michigan. They just tapped this week. Generally, they look for a moderating trend in the weather pattern approximately this time of the year. If only one or two warm days followed by sustained cold is predicted they don't bother. If an extended cold spell occurs the tap holes become dry and drip poorly or not at all when favorable weather occurs, then you must decide if it is worth the effort to retap. They make 300-400 gallons of syrup per year. This year we have had so much warm weather that sap season might be short lived. When the trees bud out the syrup made from that sap becomes dark and unpalatable.
Blackberry

StoneHeartFarm · Feb 17, 2002

Blackberry

I expect our trees to bud early this year. I was talking to the grounds keeper for one of the ski resorts and he told me their extended forecast for Feburary was for 60 degree days. Haven't seen those yet, but it's gotten close a couple of times. Too much more and the trees will start. How's it looking down your way?

SHF

alan40 · Feb 17, 2002

Well Phil, it's a gamble. Here in Vt. last year alot of people missed the first run due to the weather and alot of snow. I'm boiling for the first time this year and plan to have my buckets up around March 5th unless we have a big warm spell earlier. Alot of old timers around here cordinate hanging buckets/lines with town meeting day.(5 March) Most of the time they're right.
My son who is 5 wanted to make maple syrup this year so we're going to hang about ten buckets this year, boil over a stone fire pit and finish over the stove. Sounds like alot of fun/work but if it gets my kids outside and learning about nature it's worth it. Besides the price of maple syrup never go's down!!!!!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I have enough maples for about a 125 taps if I wanted to go that big and if I did it would become a business.

Blackberry1 · Feb 17, 2002

The weather here has turned more favorable for sap. The forecast is for for the upper 30's for the days and freezing nights with one day that might not thaw. Those 60 degree days will put you out of the maple business quicker than you can say sugar.

Boondox · Feb 17, 2002

Folks around here use test taps pretty extensively what with the various elevations resulting in micro-climates. My poor wife tried boiling down some sap one year and managed to steam off all the wallpaper in the kitchen!

Pete

StoneHeartFarm · Feb 17, 2002

My brother used to make his own syrup. His method was to filter the sap and place it in clean buckets and then throw it in the freezer. After awhile he'd peel off the ice that formed on top and then boil down the rest. Said it shortened the boiling time but didn't hurt the taste.

Anybody else tried that?

SHF

TWINKLE_TOES · Feb 17, 2002

David,

<font color=blue>My in-laws are into maple ....They make 300-400 gallons of syrup per year</font color=blue>

Whoa, into it may be an understatement. That's somewhere in the order of 16,000 gallons of sap. I wouldn't want to pay their fuel bill. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
Al

Blackberry1 · Feb 17, 2002

That's right. They have about 1000 taps. Some is collected in 5 gallon buckets and where it is possible, tubing is used leading to various containers holding between 60 and 200 gallons of sap. They have a commercially made evaporator that is fired with 48inch pieces of firewood. In a busy season they use 1 1/2 decent woodsheds of wood. Because we built on my fathers in law property, we often find ourselves in the bucket brigade.

Thomas · Feb 18, 2002

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

sugarmaker · Feb 18, 2002

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 · Feb 18, 2002

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

Pete

PhilNH5 · Feb 18, 2002

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 · Feb 18, 2002

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 · Feb 19, 2002

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 · Feb 19, 2002

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 · Feb 19, 2002

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 · Feb 19, 2002

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 · Feb 19, 2002

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