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Season 93: 42 Days of Maple March 2 to April 12 |
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Sunday, 01 May 2011 08:45 |
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A good season. Weather cooperated. We could have actually waited to start tapping until after the March 9th snowstorm. But the cold weather kept the taps fresh so we were not penalized for the early start. The clutch problem on the tractor was expensive. The week of cold weather gave us another two part season, although the cold was better then last year's warm weather. March 29 to April 2 was our big run. We had more long work days this season than in recent past seasons. About three 15 hour days. Quite a few 10-12 hour days. But that's all part of the season and getting the crop when nature says its ready. Nothing we were not prepared to do.
73 gallons and 1 pint is a good season for us. Yet we feel a tinge of let down because we collected 3340 gallons of sap and were expecting 77 to 78 gallons of syrup. Since we only got 73 1/8 gallons our sap this year was less sweet. It took 45.7 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup (45.7:1) which is getting high. Normal is 42:1.
Doing the math using the Rule of 86 , we can determine our sap was 1.88% sugar this year. Last year we were at 2.01% sugar
3340 gallons of sap from 401 taps yields 8.3 gallons of sap per tap.
73.125 gallons of syrup
293.5 quarts of syrup
587 pints of syrup
587 pints of syrup from 401 taps yields 1.46 pints per tap.
Next up is filling the wood shed for next season. We do want to be more disciplined about cutting wood to about 3 foot lengths. Cutting down the wood this season seemed to reduce the amount used and still give us good boils. Shorter wood keeps the heat in the firebox and not up the smoke stake.
We go to MI this year in October for annual North American Maple Syrup Council meeting.
We plan to be back here the end of February or early March 2012 for season 94.
Tapping
Date Taps
2-6 2
3-3 50
3-4 25
3-4 50
3-4 49
3-6 50
3-8 50
3-11 12
3-12 13
3-13 75
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401
Collecting
Date Gals.
3-8 100
3-11 300
3-12 200
3-15 500
3-16 325
3-19 235
3-29 230
3-31 430
4-2 580
4-6 330
4-8 110
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3340
3-16 60 from neighbor
Bottling
Date Qts Pts 500 250
3-13 24 3 0 1
3-15 17 1 0 0
3-16 11 6 14 12
3-17 21 10 1 0
3-19 16 0 16 12
3-22 6 8 0 17
3-31 12 11 16 6
4-2 25 11 0 0
4-3 10 20 0 0
4-5 8 11 9 12
4-8 17 20 8 0
4-11 8 40 1 2
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175 141 65 62 |
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In Memoriam Ned T. Zander 1929-2011 |
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Saturday, 06 August 2011 14:34 |
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Ned T. Zander died Wednesday, June 1, 2011 in the home where he was born, lived, and passed. He was surrounded and comforted by his loving family.
Ned was a Maple Syrup producer. His parents introduced him to Maple Syrup making. He made Maple Syrup all his life. First with his parents, then with brother, Paul Zander, and later with help from family and friends. He was a member of the Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producers Association. In recent years he enjoyed attending the annual meeting of the North American Maple Syrup Council in various US states and Canadian provinces where he could talk about maple syrup 24 hours a day. In October 2006 during the North American Maple Syrup Council annual meeting the participants toured his humble sugarbush. Ned was thrilled to show his small operation to large producers from Vermont, Maine, New York and Quebec.
Ned was also an avid woodsman. Over the course of his life he cut and split approximately 700 cords of firewood for heating his home, cooking maple syrup or selling. He also made logs from his woods that he sold to Algoma Lumber Company.
We plan to continue making Maple Syrup not only to honor Ned, but also because we like doing it.
Old Maple Syrup makers never die, they just evaporate. |
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Maple Syrup: Nature's Spring Tonic |
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Saturday, 01 November 2008 10:23 |
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Maple Syrup has been produced at MapleAcres in Two Rivers, WI since 1918. 2008 marked the 90th year Maple Syrup was made at MapleAcres. Maple Syrup is made in the spring of the year. The season starts around the end of February or early March and lasts to early April depending on weather. Maple trees need the alternating warm sunny days and freezing nights that happen as winter gives way to spring.
The 2011 Maple Syrup Season over. You can read about the daily activities of a working sugarbush by clicking on the section "In the Sugarbush."
The Sugar Master at MapleAcres
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