Monthly Archives: March 2017

Stalled and On Call

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A bit of a broken record, I know, we wait for the weather to become conducive to sugaring.

However this past week we boiled, on Tuesday.

Mostly Medium Amber with a strong “Mapley” flavor. Sugar content of the sap was 2.4%. The one unusual part of the day’s boil was the temperature for drawing off finished syrup at the proper gravity and brix. 218 degrees! The barometric pressure 30.22, and humidity at 49%. Would elevation be a factor too? I’m sure.

Anyhow, a couple hundred gallons later and we are back in a holding pattern. This coming week’s weather looks more promising.

Here’s the Roth Sugarbush sap report from Wisconsin, March 23rd!

If you are a maple syrup producer here on the North Shore from Duluth to Grand Portage, shoot me an update via our contact page. We’d enjoy reporting notes about what’s going on in your sugarbush whether you have a bag or bucket on a tree, or a few thousand taps. Just remember to include your sugarbush name, the number of taps you manage and what you’re cookin’! Other fun observations welcome too, like humming bird migration, moose visits, repairs from wind, ice or squirrel …

Here’s a repost of our sugarbush video, and may the sun and the weather be ever in your favor …

 

Waiting for the Sap to Hit the Pan

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To make today’s update when there is really not much to update, seems silly. However this is farming, and there’s always something that needs doin’, and that’s not silly.

The weather, in full winter glory with excellent temps (teens) and sunny days for enjoying late-late winter, has not been cooperating much in the way of sugaring. It’s been 14 days since we last boiled. We have passed through DST, St Patrick’s Day, and tomorrow Monday the 19th, is the Vernal Equinox – We welcome Spring with open arms and uplifted faces. Looking at our past journals, I see that last season we began our first boil on March 8th. This season, we started February 19th!

So we make meals, clean the sugarhouse, brush the dog and walk the lines. These doings are done in a preseason ritual and because of the hard-hard freeze we just endured, it’s like hitting a reset button (in my opinion) on the sugarbush. And then there were high winds and most recently a six-inch snowfall up here in the elevations.

Double bummer! A very large diameter Aspen, tall and aged, took a blast of wind from the northwest yanking over a healthy maple and it’s roots – Buggering a mainline and pulling out several lateral lines with their accompanying drop-lines.

High winds makes most of us cringe, but to a maple syrup farmer it is down right concerning. Invariably branches tumble on to sapping lines, but worse is to find a large and giving maple pulled up by her roots. Very sad! And then a game of strategy as to what to cut first (see photos below) like a giant Jenga game, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of a tree when releasing the strain.

 

The weather trend however, and at least for the next couple days will be climbing. If the sun comes out, the intensity will trigger a flow … and then there will be more to report as the sap hits the pan.

Here’s the latest Roth Sugarbush report for Saturday March 18th

Click to zoom

Overkill on the photos, but it was an event …

Function restored. That other tree will have to wait …

Raw Report …

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“Baby it’s cold outside!”

Though the cold snap is somewhat of a nice hiatus from our sugaring duties, we’d much rather be collecting and boiling away.

But, you may be interested in hearing the sap report from Wisconsin (about a minute of your time). It’s always fun to hear how our brothers and sisters in sap are fairing.

Get it here by following this link to Roth Sugarbush Sap Report

Enjoy!

High Winds and Single Digit Temps

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High winds and single digit temperatures put a stop to our production today.  And the colder weather trend may hold for more than a week.

Greg and Marianne spending a steamy day at the pan.

We had a good boil yesterday (Tuesday) that brought our running total to 995 gallons of finished syrup. The sugar content of the sap was at 2.2, a solid 40:1 ratio. We made mostly dark amber and a little bit of medium. The steam in the sugarhouse was ridiculous at times. It just wouldn’t abate and most likely was related to the high winds and down-drafts tumbling about the rafters.

After lunch I poured off a quarter mug of dark amber in to my coffee mug; really excellent taste and a good pancreatic surge for the afternoon.  I also observed very little niter in the draw off buckets which says we haven’t hit the main part of the season yet. And more importantly very little scale if any in the main pan.

 

Radar image of Monday night thunderstorms.

Monday we had weird weather (again) – Rain in the day and thunderstorms in the night – the sap flow was moderate through out, and we collected enough to make five drums worth on Tuesday.

The question of the week by the way, came from Colleen of St. Paul asking if our syrup is Vegan?  Absolutely!  We are certified organic, and that means we use no animal products in our processes like defoamers during the boil. We use safflower oil.

Also Tuesday, we had a nice visit from folks on vacation who just wanted to catch the action at the pan. Thanks for stopping in Peter and Nabeda.

All for now and enjoy this video short of the winds battering the steam a way from the evaporator stack. What an interesting day!

-Greg