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Erin, Wisconsin

I am going to be starting my second year of trying to grow pumpkins, but am in my first year of tapping maple trees to make syrup. Anyone else here tap trees as well? If experiences, I could use some advice. I live in wisconsin. Tapped 10 trees today as we are expecting a nice warm up this week. I got about 3/4 of a gallon of sap today - in about 5 hours, but mostly from 2 off the 10 trees. I assume stuff just isn't moving fully yet as it is early, but curious if anyone else in the north tapped already.

If I had 4 trees that did not produce anything today, is it just because they were not ready yet?

I won't ask too many questions until I see if others here do this too.

Thanks in advance.

Chris

3/8/2015 7:44:50 PM

Honesdale Pa USA

Hard to tell yet, put 68 taps in on saturday with not a drop all day. These are trees that produced the last 3 years. In NE PA.

3/8/2015 8:00:40 PM

Wixom MI.

I heard last week because of the extreme cold that the sap is starting late.

3/8/2015 8:15:13 PM

west central IN/East central IL

Started running yesterday afternoon and really well today with temps close to 50.

3/8/2015 9:14:35 PM

Erin, Wisconsin

Do most people just hang on to the sap and boil it down all at once or do people boil every few days/once a week? We tried to prep in saving milk jugs for the past 6 months, but I am not certain that we have enough if we were to save it for the next 3 weeks. Does the sap even keep that long or does it have lifeline where it would go bad after "x" days?

3/8/2015 10:09:56 PM

Middleton, WI

Hanging onto sap for more than a few days can be risky. I used to burry 20 gallon totes in the snow to keep the sap chilled. I understand that you need to treat it like milk in terms of spoilage. It can go cloudy quickly if you don't keep it properly chilled. Backyard sugaring is great fun, especially with middle aged kids. Have Fun!

3/9/2015 5:12:39 PM

Cameron

A great spring tradition. Nothing like fresh Maple syrup that you have made yourself. I'm hoping that my friend & I can get 50 taps in today & have enough sap to be boiling by Thursday. Our goal is 5 gallons of syrup so we can share it with our families & friends. Good luck to all those who enjoy this hobby.
Jane & Phil

3/10/2015 8:18:34 AM

Bethlehem CT

A few thoughts from my experiences with sugaring.
It is all about hitting the right window for temperatures. Most years people around here start in February. When the temps go above freezing in the day and dip below freezing at night. Not this year, it was much too cold. This past week the temperatures just got perfect for it here. The sap won't flow really well with out sun either. You will see production cut off on cloudy days. Trees that receive heavy sunlight will produce earlier in the season, those that are shaded seem to be later. It also makes a difference if you tap the north or south side of the tree. Trees will all very on what you get from them, the placement of the spigot is important. Look for a nice healthy root flare and tap above that, stay away from the valleys, also keep several inches away from last years holes. Another neat thing is that each tree's sap will be slightly different in the % sugar. When I used to tap with my kids we would sample sap from each tree and every year we knew which tree had the sweetest. It was always the same one. As a plantsmen I have always thought it would be fun to select for a high sugar cultivar. I know the Russians developed a Silver Maple (Acer sacharinum) with a very high sugar content. Trees can be purchased from the St. Lawrence Nursery in New York state.
Lastly ,I am not sure if I will do it this year. The snow is awfully deep to be walking through it right now.

3/10/2015 10:20:26 AM

Western NY

Tapped a few trees here yesterday. Some of the holes started dripping right away, some didn't seem to be ready. The kids are having fun with it, anyway. This is our first time giving it a shot, gotta feed the kid's pancake addiction and I refuse to buy the fake stuff.

3/10/2015 11:24:34 AM

Erin, Wisconsin

We tapped 14 trees this weekend. Got about 3 gallons of sap yesterday. Not certain if that is good or not as its our first year. Dug a big snow mound and buried a 5 gallon bucket in it to keep the sap cold. Gonna shoot for a Saturday boil. My wife and kids are having fun, so in the end, that's all that matters.

3/10/2015 2:27:48 PM

Central NY

There's nothing like a shot of warm fresh maple syrup...mmmm... Cures the soul

3/10/2015 7:53:59 PM

Cameron

We started doing this 3 years ago & really enjoyed being outdoors after a long cold winter. We managed to get 45 taps in yesterday afternoon, so we're off to a good start. Hopefully it will be sunny here today. Yesterdays cloudy weather, along with a cool wind didn't allow the sap to get really going that well. Hopefully the warmer sun will shine bright for us today.
Cheers,
Jane & Phil

3/11/2015 8:03:24 AM

Bethlehem CT

I will never be able to put that fakes syrup on my pancakes again, the real thing is so much better.

3/11/2015 8:18:00 AM

Erin, Wisconsin

Weather warmed up quickly in Wisconsin. Highs near 70 tomorrow. Sap was running really good for a couple of days and almost shut off today. I assume this is because it has already warmed up too much? In a couple of days when we get to more "normal" weather, will the sap turn back on?

3/12/2015 9:07:12 PM

Honesdale Pa USA

should pick up again, depends on the weather.

3/13/2015 3:52:47 PM

Erin, Wisconsin

boiled 10 gallons of sap today for a total of 1.5 snapple jars. The sap has completed shut off with this warm weather. Not a drop for 2 days.

3/14/2015 9:45:37 PM