2019 Season
April 30, Tuesday
Some final thoughts on our season. This was one of our best seasons ever for several reasons. We made just over 97 gallons of syrup, our second best season ever. We made lots of syrup, had lots of help, and had lots of fun! It was a season of low sugar content and dark syrup. It was also the first time we remember snow still being on the ground when we finished the season. We had the most fun we have ever had making syrup thanks to our very entertaining helpers.
We pulled the pails on April 17. The trees hadn’t budded out yet and we probably could have left them out for a few more days. But, we were low on firewood, the sap in the pails was cloudy, and warm weather was coming. Good time to stop. I cleaned the evaporator today so our season is officially over. We would be very happy if next year’s season is exactly like this one. A huge thank you to all of our helpers! See you next year.
April 26, Friday
We picked up more glass and were able to finish bottling today. We finished off the last batch and bottled 4.5 gallons of syrup. I cleaned the pails yesterday and plan to clean the evaporator some time next week. The ice went off of our lake (Lake Winter) on Wednesday, the 24th, but we still have snow on the ground.
April 22, Monday
We are here to finish bottling but we don’t think we are going to have enough glass. It has been raining since Easter morning with heavy storms overnight and power outages at the house and the sugarbush. We got all of the spiles washed in the dishwasher over the week end. We think we are missing four of them so will send out a search party once we finish bottling. We finished off three batches today but didn’t have enough bottles to finish all of the last batch. I am going to pick up more bottles tomorrow and we will probably wait until Friday to finish bottling. But, we got 16½ gallons bottled today and the end is in sight!
Our crew of sap haulers. From left: Jimmy, Dan, me, Bob, and Bill. Otis is fleeing the scene.
April 20, Saturday
We bottled 17¼ gallons today in two batches. It takes us about 5 hours to bottle two batches, from the time we start finishing the syrup until I finish with clean up. The last batch we bottled is the lightest syrup so far but it is still dark. We plan to take Easter Sunday off and finish bottling on Monday.
April 19, Friday
We ended up pulling the pails on Wednesday. The little bit of sap that was in the pails was cloudy and the sap wasn’t running. The trees are about to bud out so our season has come to an end. This is the first time we remember ending the season with snow still on the ground. We always hate to see the season end, but especially this year. We have had so much fun with our group of sap haulers. Thanks, guys!
We bottled two batches today, totaling 16½ gallons. The syrup is still dark. It is unusual for us to not get some light syrup but I don’t think we will this year. We plan to bottle another two batches tomorrow and finish bottling on Monday.
Snow is still on the ground as we end our season.
Linda removing the last pail.
April 16, Tuesday
I was at the sugarbush at 7AM to run the rinse cycle on the R.O. We were advised by Pete Roth to let the wash solution sit in the R.O. overnight. That has worked out well for us since we don’t have to hang around and wait for the wash cycle to complete.
Everyone was here by a little after 8AM and we were out collecting. Linda stayed back after the first load to run the R.O. I helped finish collecting since there wasn’t enough sap to start boiling. We brought the third load in at 9:45AM and I was boiling by 10AM. We collected 305 gallons of 3.4% sap, 7.0% after R.O. It was a slow boil again today and I didn’t finish boiling until 2PM.
We are almost out of firewood so Linda went out and collected a couple of loads of wood that I had ready to go in the woods. We want to have enough wood for another boil if we are fortunate enough to collect again. The high today was 64° and warm temperatures are forecast for the rest of the week.
Our final collection of the season. From left, me, Dan, and Bill driving.
April 15, Monday
I got home a little after 10pm last night and was at the sugarbush running the sap though the R.O. at 4:45AM. I was boiling yesterday’s sap by 6:30am. Everyone except Linda was here to help collect today, so I didn’t have to stop boiling. The R.O. ran continuously until 2:15PM. Between yesterday and today, we had 428 gallons of 3.6% sap. I boiled for 10 hours, finishing up at 4:30PM. It was a long day but we are all caught up! Linda got home this afternoon so we will have a full complement of sap haulers tomorrow.
April 14, Sunday
Happy birthday, Marshall! It’s hard to believe that he is 5 already. I was hoping we would have a lull in the season to make it easier for me to get down to Milwaukee but that hasn’t happened. So I am going to make a quick one day trip down there so I can be back to collect and boil tomorrow.
Dan came over this morning and I had intended to help him collect and then head south. It got down to 20° last night and we had nothing but problems with frozen pumps. I called it quits at 8AM and hit the road. Dan spent most of the day collecting sap in 5 gallons pails since our collection tank was frozen. It was a massive amount of work and we are so grateful for his help.
April 13, Saturday
Most of my helpers were unavailable today so Dan and Kerry Olson and I did all of the collecting. It took us a little less than 3 hours to collect 314 gallons. It took 5 hours to run the sap through the R.O. and 5 hours to boil it down. I didn’t finish until 3pm. Sap was 3.0% and 6.1% after R.O. The sap is running good and I expect there to be a lot to collect tomorrow.
April 12, Friday
Much to our surprise, the sap ran really well and we collected 391 gallons, the most so far this season. Sugar content was 3.1% and 6.2% after R.O. I never got a good boil going today and it took 5½ hours to boil it down. Linda left today to go down to the Milwaukee area for our oldest grandson’s 5th birthday celebration. I will join them on Sunday.
April 11, Thursday
Everyone was ready to go at 8AM and we followed our usual routine for collecting. There was a lot of sap so it took three loads to get it all. We ended up with 380 gallons of sap which I boiled off in a little over three hours after running it through the R.O. Sugar content was 3.9% with the first load, 3.6% for the second load and 3.2% for the last load. If I had the ambition, I’d keep track of production by tree but it doesn’t really seem worth the effort. This is just a hobby after all. Sap was 7.0% after running it all through the R.O.
A couple of days ago, we were predicted to get up to 17″ of snow. We had a full on blizzard this afternoon but only ended up with 5″ of snow. The high today was only 31°. We don’t expect to collect tomorrow due to the storm and the temperature.
April 9, Tuesday
We decided to dump the sap that is in the pails. We haven’t collected since last Friday and with the warm weather that we’ve been having, the sap is getting cloudy and discolored in most of the pails. We will have a fresh start and hopefully be able to collect later in the week. We are under a blizzard warning for Thursday and could get up to a foot of snow. The sap usually runs good after a storm so we’ll hope for the best. Mother Nature is still in charge!
April 8, Monday
Nothing to collect today so we finished bottling about 9½ gallons of syrup. It feels great to be caught up on bottling. All but one of our sap haulers stopped in today to see if there was any action. We are all anxious to get back out in the woods. If we collected today, we might get 100-125 gallons of sap but that isn’t enough to make fighting the mud worthwhile. It didn’t get below freezing last night so we don’t expect the sap to run today.
April 7, Sunday
As we expected, there is nothing to collect, so we bottled two more batches today, almost 18 gallons. I was finishing by a little after 7AM and we were through bottling by 11AM. Both batches were closer to syrup so it didn’t take long to boil it down.
It is alternating between rain and partly sunny skies. It is supposed to rain again tomorrow so we are planning to finish bottling. The high today was 55° and we have a sea of mud as the frost comes out of the ground.
April 6, Saturday
It only got up to 39° yesterday and there isn’t enough sap to collect. So we did two batches of bottling today, totaling 15 gallons. This was the first sap that we collected and the syrup is very dark. Usually the first sap of the year produces a lighter syrup but not this year. I started finishing off a little after 7AM and we were finished bottling by noon. It feels good to have some syrup in bottles.
It is raining today and very foggy again. We could get thunderstorms tonight and rain is predicted for tomorrow too. We don’t plan to collect tomorrow so we will continue bottling. The high today was 43° with a low of 32° last night.
At last we have syrup in bottles!
April 5, Friday
We followed our usual routine again today with Bill driving and the rest of the crew collecting. We got about an inch of wet, heavy snow overnight which made it easy to see which pails had been collected. But, by the time we finished collecting, the snow was melting and the footing was tricky. We started collecting at 8:15AM and were finished by 9:45AM. It’s great to have lots of good help! We had another big collection, 371 gallons of 3% sugar sap. It was 6.6% sugar after running it through the R.O. so it only took 3 hours to boil it down. We had a great boil today, the best of the season. This syrup might be a little lighter but it is still very dark.
It is supposed to get into the 50s today but I don’t think it will. We were under a fog advisory this morning and we still have heavy cloud cover this afternoon. The sap is running but there is less than a cup in most pails. We have about 45 gallons of syrup to bottle so we will start doing that tomorrow if we can’t collect.
April 4, Thursday
This was our best day yet for sap, 337 gallons with 3.7% sugar content. We followed our usual routine today. Bill drove and Bob, Jimmy, Dan, Linda, and I started collecting at 8:15AM. We were boiling by 9:45AM and collection finished at 10:00AM. We had nice draw offs all morning and finished boiling at 12:45PM. It was a beautiful day in the woods with temperatures getting into the 40s. This has been such a fun season with all of the help that we have gotten.
It is supposed to be warm this week end but rainy. We are hoping that we won’t have to collect for a couple of days so we can get some syrup bottled. We have about 35 gallons to bottle and are running out of containers to put it in. The sap is running about like it was yesterday so we are expecting another good collection tomorrow.
Heading out for the day. Bill driving, Brad and Jimmy following, Otis keeping a watchful eye.
High wire act to get to some pails now that the snow is melting.
Dan collecting, Bill driving, Jimmy and me dumping our pails.
April 3, Wednesday
Bill was back today and drove. Jimmy, Dan, Mike, Bob, and I started collecting at 8:30AM in a mild snowstorm. Linda had to take Otis to the vet today for some shots so it was just the guys again. It was a pretty snow and we ended up getting a good inch of wet, heavy snow. By afternoon the sun was shining and we had a high of 40°. As I have been doing, I stayed behind and let the guys finish collecting. They got everything in two loads and were through collecting by 9:30AM. Like I’ve said, Dan and Mike move quickly. We all have given up trying to keep up with them. We collected the most sap of the season so far, 291 gallons. Sugar content was 4% again.
Tony Martin stopped by to see our operation. He is tapping 250 trees by himself and has a set up almost identical to ours. We enjoyed comparing notes.
Mike has to go to work tonight so we have probably lost him for the season. He has been a great help and we have enjoyed his company. Sap is running and we plan to collect tomorrow again.
Beautiful snow today and it covered up the ugly bare spots.
Dan and Mike dumping sap, Jimmy driving, and Bob heading to the next group of pails.
April 2, Tuesday
We had a fairly decent collection today but the sap still is running great. Linda was helping at the spring election so it was just the guys today. Jimmy drove and Mike, Bob, Dan, and I started collecting at 8:30AM. I stayed behind after we dropped off the first load of sap to start the R.O. and begin boiling. The guys collected three loads total, 181 gallons, and were finished by 9:40AM. Sugar content was 4% and 8% after running it through the R.O.
Larry and Marie Falk as well as Kevin Wiley stopped by while we were boiling. Larry and Marie had never seen the operation before and I always enjoy explaining how we do things.
It was an odd day weather wise. We had snow flurries in the morning and off and on throughout the day even though the high was 40°. Later in the afternoon we had thunder snow and an outright blizzard. It didn’t last long and then the sun came out again. The sap was running today so we expect to collect tomorrow.
April 1, Monday
Brad checked pails yesterday afternoon and there was almost nothing in them. But this morning there was enough sap to collect even though a lot of it was frozen. In fact, we have never seen so much ice in the pails. The low last night was 20° which doesn’t seem that cold. Anyway, out we went to collect. We were out in the woods by 8:45AM with Bill driving and Mike, Dan, Linda, and me collecting. We tried breaking the ice with sticks and hammers but for some pails even that didn’t work. I stayed behind after we dumped the first load to start boiling. Because of all the ice, the sugar content was 5%. Because of that and the fact that we weren’t going to get that much sap, I decided to not run the sap through the R.O. We got all the sap in two loads and were finished collecting at 10:15AM. We had nice draw offs all morning and got almost 5 gallons of dark syrup even though we only boiled off 78 gallons of sap. We shut the evaporator down at 11:45AM and were done for the day. We will see what tomorrow brings!
Mike trying to beat the ice out of the pails. Quite the work out!
Brad, Mike, and Dan overseeing the evaporator.
Disappearing snow pack.
March 30, Saturday
Finally we have some action! The day started out cloudy with snow flurries. By late morning the sun was out with 20mph winds. Dan, Bill, Bob, Linda and I collected 236 gallons of sap in about 2 hours. Sugar content was 3.8% and 6.4% after R.O. I started boiling at 9:45 after helping collect the first load of sap. Boiling was complete at 1:15PM.
Jim and Randy both showed up just as we finished collecting. We accused them of trying to avoid the hard work (definitely not the case). We had great conversation while eating some yummy snacks. The sap isn’t running. This time we think it’s because it didn’t get warm enough. The high today was 28°. It seems like it’s always something. Weather next week looks good for sap to run and we are hoping for the best. We love doing this!
Bob, Otis, and Dan collecting.
Dan and Pap solving world problems.
Randy and Bob supervising the boiling.
March 27, Wednesday
It only got down to 34° last night and we had a high in the upper 50s. It was a beautiful, warm spring day. We had a lot of help and a lot of fun today. Jim, Dan, Bill, Mike Dennis and I were out collecting by 9:30AM. After we dropped off the first load of sap, I stayed behind to start boiling. The guys collected 223 gallons of sap with a sugar content of 3.4% (6% after R.O).
I finished boiling a little before 12:30PM and appreciated the help with wood from Mike. Kevin Wiley, Randy Petit, and Mike Gehrke also stopped in so we had a full house today. The sap isn’t running, we think because it didn’t get below freezing last night. We don’t plan to collect tomorrow.
Lots of snow has melted, but we still have plenty!
March 26, Tuesday
It got down to 10° last night so there was lots of ice in the pails. Some of the ice needed to melt before we could collect so we replaced the pump in our collection tank. We have a smaller tank with a big open top so we can pour sap into it more easily from our collection buckets. The sap is then pumped into the larger storage tank that we also tow. The pump in the smaller tank broke and needed to be replaced.
Once we completed that task we were out in the woods collecting by 9:30AM. Bill drove and Bob, Dan, and Linda collected while I started boiling what we had collected on Sunday. It only took 90 minutes to collect all the sap. Dan practically runs through the woods! With all the ice in the pails we were surprised that the sugar content was only 5%. We still ran the 91 gallons that we collected through the R.O. and ended with 8% sugar. I was boiling by 9:45AM and finished at 1:30PM.
Linda and Rick Olson also stopped by today. Linda is doing an article on maple syrup for the local newspaper, the Sawyer County Gazette. The Olson family has been making syrup in this area for 100 years and it was fun comparing notes. You can always learn something new!
Bill with our sap collection rig.
Bill and Brad heading in to unload. You can see the two collection tanks that we use.
Bill and Bob out collecting.
Dan, Bill, and Mike Dennis chatting while Otis looks for a hand out.
First draw off of the 2019 season!
March 24, Sunday
The sap was running yesterday but not enough to collect. Dan, Jimmy, Linda, and I were able to collect 344 gallons of sap today in about 2 hours. Sugar content was 3% and 6% after running through the R.O. There wasn’t enough sap to start up the evaporator which was disappointing. The sap is barely running today so I don’t think there will be enough to collect tomorrow. It got down to 20° last night and is cloudy. The expected high is in the upper 30s. Everyone including Otis is raring to go and we hope things pick up soon.
March 22, Friday
Dan and his wife, Kerry, Linda, Otis, and I put out the remaining 32 taps this morning. We have 397 taps out. Linda took 4 of our pails down to our son who lives outside of Milwaukee. He wanted to tap a huge maple they have in their front yard. The sap is running great down there and he, his wife and two sons have enjoyed making a few pints of syrup. He thinks that the trees may bud out this week end down there so his season will be over. We hope ours will get started soon. There is a cup to a quart of sap in most of the pails. Not sure if we will have enough to collect tomorrow. We’ll see what happens. It got down to 25° last night and isn’t supposed to get out of the 30s today.
All 397 taps are finally out!
March 21, Thursday
We were back at it today with the same group of guys. Otis came with us yesterday but I left him at home today. He was pooped. He will be 11 this year so he deserves to rest. It got down to 29° last night. After a cloudy start, it reached a sunny high of 48° this afternoon. We put out 190 taps today. I wanted to save a few taps so Linda could help put those out tomorrow. Dickerson stopped this afternoon and we spent the afternoon laughing over a few beers.
March 20, Wednesday
Finally, we are able to start putting out taps. This is our latest start in the 20+ years that we have been tapping. We have had a long, hard winter with a lot of snow. Last week there was still over 2′ of snow in the woods. But it finally warmed up enough to melt some of the white stuff. With 18′ of snow still on the ground, I needed to wear snowshoes to get the job done. I came over to the sugarbush last Saturday and used the bulldozer to open some trails. That combined with the warmer allowed has allowed us to get started. Maybe it’s appropriate that we started tapping on the first day of spring!
I had help today from Jim (Pap) and Dan. Dan is newly retired and had never helped before. He really enjoyed it and we certainly enjoyed his help and his company. As Dan said, “What else are you going to do this time of year? Plus, it’s great to be outside.” That is exactly why we started tapping in the first place. As usual, Pap kept us entertained as we put out 175 taps. It was a snowy, cloudy day with a lot of 30° and a high of 37°. The sap is running but not well.