Great start for bucket producers

[Bryan Ex]

Being on buckets means your season typically varies much more than those on high vac tubing. We don't have the luxury of tapping after opening our Christmas presents and just waiting it out and the smallest weather fluctuations can make or break a season. I have to say, at least in Eastern Ontario, I am really surprised with how well I am doing with sap collection so far. Even on days with temps just 1 or 2 degrees above freezing I am finding over flowing buckets on the larger trees and half full + on the smaller ones. Long range forecast also seems to be cooperating with no really warm spikes forecast so far. I was supposed to be done with buckets at this point but season is looking good so far for one last "kick at the can (bucket?)". Only concern I have in the back of my mind is if everyone is having this good of a season what will happen with the Quebec reserves and major packers which are already over stocked.

[EnnisMaple]

Bryan,

Glad to hear you are doing well so far this season. For us, it's early and anything we make before March 20th is a bonus. We normally make 75%+ of our crop between the last 10 days of March and the first 10 days of April.

Most of the largest producers in QC are in regions that would not have been tapped when we got the warm spell at the end of February? Some regions make syrup into May when we're already sitting on a dock in shorts.

You must be getting different weather than us because we only got 1/3 GPT (total) from Monday to Wednesday - and that's at 25" Hg for 2/3 of our taps! We last boiled on Sunday and plan to boil again this coming Sunday to clean up what sap we have and boil the evaporator through.

Marty

[Bryan Ex]

All I can say is holy crap. I can't keep up this year. Opposite end of the spectrum over last year. Last year had a lot of sap but it kept freezing solid with the next sap run on the way. I turned out more solid blocks of sap ice than what I collected. Sugar sand seems to be different than usual too. Normally I can get two full day boils before having a baked on layer in the syrup pan. This year I boiled three full days and only had to drain and rise for a clean pan. no soaking, scrubbing, or chemicals needed. 2018 shaping up to be my favourite maple harvest so far. Our typical taste has a hint of spice but seems to be a little more vanilla this year as well.

[Bryan Ex]

All frozen up this weekend even on buckets. Time for cleaning the pans & tanks, bottling, and splitting more wood down to hobby size. Afternoon nap sounds more enjoyable but at least the sun is out for the first time in ages.