Wednesday March 16, 2022

Another beutiful day today, warmest of the year thus far! The trees appear to have ran slowly all night. They seem to be a little relentless. The sap was looking amazingly great for day 16 but is starting to appear a little cloudy here and there. The woods is coming alive with more birds to be heard each night. The ants....the ants are alive and well....always a sign the end is near. 

Tonight's list of tired helpers were Bryan, Adam, Brad, Nancy, Kelsey, Evan, Gerri, and Melissa. Dale drove again tonight, almost perfect attendance this year!!  Bob stayed at the camp, he started a fire early today as they had some sap once again from yesterday to boil in.....

Bob did a little multitasking tonight by grilling hamburgers on the campire out back and warmed up broccoli on the blackstone so supper was hot by the time we finished. Most buckets had about 2-3 inches in them. We had Walle full and had to dump 100 gallons to return to the mid section to get the last little bit...about 50 gallons on the middle path.

The syrup is dark and tastey now. This syrup is not Grade A Amber that is the most sought after, but clearly the our family favorite as it has a little more color and flavor. 

Every season is a bit unique. This one seems very condensed. We used to look for the lid that goes on the tank about twice during the season. The lid is helpful when the tank is nearly full as the ride on Walle can be a bit rough...and there is really no point in spilling what you worked so hard to collect. We have needed the lid almost nightly. Gerri dumped buckets tonight and there was a rumor the nasty youngins were betting on how wet she would get before remembering to put the lid on....jokes on them...she remembered! We also have gone to bed a lot of nights with sap sitting in the camp...waiting for people with renewed pep to boil it the next day. This is a bit unusual...and not our favorite option...but this has been fast and furious and we are older and wiser....some days enough is enough. 

Again we will attempt to put a few more pictures in place when we catch a breather. 

Bob, Brad and Gerri took a unanimous vote at 10 pm that the sap that was left could wait until tomorrow. Bob trapsed out to the woods to check trees and reports that they were still dripping a bit at 10 pm. However, it is 53 degrees tonight and that sap will likely not last through the night without bacterial growth. 

So we again said today was it.....but maybe tomorrow. 

Total Sap Today: 380 gallons

Total Sap To Date: 5,550 gallons

Total Syrup Off Today: 10 gallons

Total Syrup Off To Date: 120 gallons