Primal Woods

Another quick update, then out to the Sugar House. Of course the Mar 01 forecast was not perfect; we are seeing more days in today's forecast where we don't reach 40F (so less sap flow than expected), and the end of the Run will come a bit earlier since we don't get below freezing after Saturday morning. I expect sap to continue to flow through the 8th, but there will be less of it with the cooler daytime highs. So, the plan for the remainder of this week is to collect Thursday (today) and Saturday, and then Monday of next week; that will likely be the end of Sap Run #2.

(L-R) Geri, John, Gary and Katie taste-testing the fruits of our Evaporating and Filtering labors Sunday Mar 1st.

We collected 1,270 gallons of sap from Sap Run #1, all of which has been evaporated, and the last of that will be filtered and bottled today. Sugar concentration in the sap has been running at about 2%, which is okay, but I had hoped for a bit higher in the early season. Also, so far we have seen Dark syrup, light transmission in the 25-49% range; last year at this point in the season we had produced Amber, light transmission in the 50-74% range.
The taste of the syrup however is awesome; I've had several unsolicited comments regarding the "buttery" flavor, which in my experience is a result of having just had a relatively harder winter with more snow and cold than in the previous five years or so.

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Our dear friends Gary and Katie came for a visit last week. We had great fun all the while, and we got a lot done. Making Pure Maple Syrup has always been, and still is, a community project.

All the best, with warm regards,
John