Category Archives: Progress Reports

Daily to weekly updates on what’s new in the sugarbush.

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 …

 

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