It's Sugar Time

We had a very mild winter so far with the temperatures in the 20's at night and mid 30's to mid 40's during the day that makes the Maples think it's time to push the sap back up. Today it got past 40 so I tapped a tree to see what is going on and when I pulled the drill bit out and reached for a spike the sap was already flowing strong. I tapped three and put some buckets on and I will see what is in them in the morning. The sap is very sweet but I will just do three trees this year because I had a good year last year and still have a lot of syrup and sugar left from last season.
Kurt

We have had a mild winter here, too, and I noticed one of our maples already starting to bud. I have been told it is a soft maple. We have 3 other large maples that I plan to tap this year.

This brings back memories of the 80's. I lived in Montreal, and had a weekend place just across the border in New York with 100s of large sugar maples. The barn was full of sap buckets. So we taped a bunch of the trees and made syrup in a large open pan over a wood fed rock fire pit.

Well it's a good start for this early in the year. I got 5 gallons from three trees, one of those is still sleeping :) and only gave me a quart. I might tapped 5 or 6 more later because I need at least 60 gallons for the sugar I want to make this year. I still have a bunch of quart jars of syrup left from last year so I won't make any this spring.
Making carmel corm with maple sugar is just plain the best :)

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Hard to beat REAL syrup

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Turned Cold again so the flow stopped again, but the first run sure is sweet and a very good flavor. Had some on Ice cream and waffles already :)

Finally it warmed up and the sap is starting. It's about a month later than last year but it's starting. Since last night I collected 8 five gallon buckets full from 9 trees. The three early taps I made I ran the drill bit back in and pulled ice out but that started the sap running. The trees I tapped yesterday started running as soon as I cleaned the hole and set the spile.
We are in the third day with daytime temp that got up to 42 today and last night it was in the high 20's.....Perfect!!
Things will smell good with the steam blowing around here :)

I was just talking to the missus about this today.

It finally got up to 36 today for the first time in a long time. Supposed to be in the upper 30's to lower 40's for 2 days & then drop back down below freezing for highs again.

I am going to try to remember to tap just 3-4 trees this year. Forgot to do it the last few years. Just for a little bit of sap/syrup since that is all we would use.

Some buddies of mine tap & make syrup every year, but they always forget to give some to me... I am thinking that they are under the impression that too much of those sorts of sweets might interfere with my somewhat vinegary disposition I have on occasion, & who would want that?
LOL
;)

G'Luck! t those who do the work to get the treasures!
:)

Good year in Virginia so far. Went to Highland Co. Maple Festival last weekend and had buckwheat cakes with ham or sausage and real maple syrup. Man that is good eating.

NOTHING better than pure maple syrup. Although I would like to try some birch syrup.
Thank God we dont have maple trees here because I DO NOT need another winter hobby

Anyone want to sell a couple pints? I don't use a lot of it but it beats the heck out of stuff in the stores that might not be real maple syrup... I love intense flavors so darker lower grade is fine by me!

Ohio is getting started now

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Sugaring time out here on the Olympic Peninsula starts on New Years and can last until leaf out in late March. Weird weather in mid January caused our big leaf maples to put out so much sap that we got overwhelmed. We just make syrup for ourselves so we pulled our spiles by the end of January. For us that, is really something. We hope you all do well too.

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Originally Posted by quilbilly

Sugaring time out here on the Olympic Peninsula starts on New Years and can last until leaf out in late March. Weird weather in mid January caused our big leaf maples to put out so much sap that we got overwhelmed. We just make syrup for ourselves so we pulled our spiles by the end of January. For us that, is really something. We hope you all do well too.

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What the yeild on our big leafs? I’ve wondered if they can be tapped for sugar. Big trees? Young trees? Got about 84,000 acres in the back yard so I have a variety to choose from.

Got almost 4 gallons of sap in one day, from one of the two maples I tapped. I was hoping the temp would drop below 32 deg overnight, but the thermometer shows 50 deg at 8:30 am

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Well I got in a hurry and cooked down 11 five gallon buckets of sap and finished with 8 pints of really sweet syrup plus I made one pint of Molasses for cookies :) This syrup I pulled off the fire when it reached 225 degrees because the sugar count is so high this year that 228 degrees at my altitude of 1000 feet it starts to make sugar.
I have two turkey fryers cooking 30 Quart pots I just keep adding sap and let it cook down. I'm not in it in a big way just enough for the family. I tapped to many trees this year, a couple of the very large trees have 3 and 4 taps and they are overflowing a 5 gallon bucket over night. The early January taps I pulled and drove a oak dowel plug in the hole to seal it so the bugs don't get in when they come out and the sap is getting pushed through the plug and dripping . The pressure those trees push the sap is really something.
Man this harvest sure taste good over ice cream :)

Kurt

Prime temps here for the sap to be running, 20's at night, 40's during the day.
But I'm going to side with reloader28

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Originally Posted by reloader28

NOTHING better than pure maple syrup. Although I would like to try some birch syrup.
Thank God we dont have maple trees here because I DO NOT need another winter hobby

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Did anyone ever wonder who the first person was that figured out you could make syrup out of tree sap? And why he decided maples? And what was he looking for when they found it?

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Originally Posted by shaner

Did anyone ever wonder who the first person was that figured out you could make syrup out of tree sap? And why he decided maples? And what was he looking for when they found it?

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The Indians did it long before the Pilgrims came :)

Box elder and Black walnut is over looked and not mentioned much but it's not like maple.
You can make syrup from potatoes also that has a taste of Maple.

I finished my project today. I couldn't keep up cooking the sap down so I pulled the spiles two days ago and plugged the holes so the bugs don't get in but the tree pushed the sap through the oak plugs I made as soon as I pushed them in. I made 4 1/2 gallons this year and the trees have not jet budded out. The large 4' plus diameter trees I had 3 taps in this year and the flow started running hard that a 5 gallon bucket was over flowing by morning.
Just had some on ice cream and man the effort making it is sure worth it.

Sounds great!

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