Still no sap. Still patient.

Well, the temperatures the past few days have been perfect for the trees to run, but apparently they're still hibernating.  We were in the woods this morning, and it still feels like Winter.  Lots of snow, and very little melting or running water.  We have no choice but to be patient.

Patience

No sap yet.  We had a 'real' Minnesota winter....so the trees are being slow to wake.  It looks like our first cook may be Saturday.

When are we Cooking?

Well, as of this afternoon, we haven't collected any sap yet.  It looks as if Fri/Sat will be our first big days. 

Last Minute Preparations.  Mounting tanks.......

To the 4-Wheeler.  85-gallon capacity.



To the Gator.  150-gallon capacity.



To the pickup.  425-gallon capacity.

Not so last minute Prepartions.......

Technical wiring/planning.  Our devoted neighbor, Jeff.

Cutting wood to feed the stove.  Our weekend pastime.

Stay tuned.  It'll be very soon.  Hopefully cooking by Saturday night.....Easter Eve!







Our Long-Awaited Forecast!

Here's the forecast we've been waiting for!  The trees will probably start running Fri/Sat of this week!  And it looks as if we have a good 2-week window ahead of us!  We're not super-worried about not quite freezing at night, because there's so much snow in the woods that it'll bring the temp down at night.

We're Tapping!

Yesterday we went out and got about half the trees tapped.  We'll go back out today and hopefully finish the rest.....if we have enough batteries to last until the job's done.  Thanks for the batteries, Barney!



Tapping Power

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drill the hole

Pound the tap

This tree's ready

Just how strange was last Spring?

Last year we got almost NO syrup due the very unusal weather.  Just how strange was it?  The hi's last year for this weekend were 81, 81, and 79, and it didn't freez at night for almost the entire month of March, which means the trees just didn't run.  This year looks much more promising!

Weather Geeks

We become complete weather geeks this time of year.  We're waiting for the perfect combination of 40+ degree days with freezing nights.  Our 10-day forecast is shown below.  Nothing above 40.  We still have NOT tapped our trees.  But we're READY.  The kids have off school the week of 3/25.  It'd be FUN if things got rolling that week.  Stay tuned.

 

Getting Ready for 2013 Syrup Season.....

We're getting ready!
Yesterday we brought the pails out of the attic above the garage and loaded them on the trailer and brought them out to the woods!  In the photo the truck bed is full of pails too, and the back of the blazer is full to the top with lids for all of the pails.

Once in the woods, there was lots of snow! The day was exhausting....even for Daisy. The boys pulled the trailer (equipped with skis) through the snow with the gator and set the pails beside each tree. We haven't actually tapped the trees yet. We're waiting for the forecast to predict a string of 40+ degree days.

Our hard-working crew:  Michael, Mathew, Vince, Chad, Alex, Kevin.  It was an awesome day!

Stay tuned!