Finally Sap Is Starting To Run Here at Clinton Camp Farm

Adirondack case guy · Feb 28, 2013

Well we didn't collect a lot of sap, but we needed to get into the woods and do some maintainance. Yesterdays wind driven snow took down some limbs and blew off a number of bucket lids. We have two of these home made gathering trailers, made from ols manure spreader frames with 275gal oil tanks fabed with the top to dump in, and control sloshing and a 2.5" pivoting drain pipe to unload. We have picked up 6-8" of good old "sap snow" We also got dumped on this afternoon while gathering, and we all went home soaked to the arz.
In total we gathered a bit over 500gal of sap from 1375 12qt buckets, enough so we can load the evaporators tomarrow and make sure we are ready to go. When and if the sap really starts to run the trees will fill the buckets in a 24hr period equaling over 4,000gal of sap, which should yield perhaps 75-100 gal of syrup. Had to put a bandaid on one leak in the storage system today.
Loren, the Acg.

John B. · Feb 28, 2013

Those are some great pictures! I would love to be there and help you guys.

Gene Dotson · Feb 28, 2013

My favorite memory of gathering sap was drinking the sap right out of the bucket. If someone could bottle that and sell it it would be a big seller for sure.

Friend's dad only tapped about 400 taps in 3 different woods. We would gather it before going to school and then again after school. A good day would yield about 600 gallons.

Gene

Gene Dotson · Feb 28, 2013

One other nemory was skimming the foam off and putting it in a bucket for the hogs. One year after final cleanup we forgot to empty the foam bucket. We discovered it several weeks later, so emptied about 4 gallons that had fermented, though we didn't know it. This was on a Sunday and Jim's entire day was dedicated to church, so we were on our own. Herb came home from church and checked on the hogs. They were very uncoordinated and running into the side of the barn door and falling on their haunches and sat there squealing and laughing.

Jim and I didn't know anything was amiss till herb came to the house and asked what was wrong with the hogs? We went to the barn and Jim said "why they are drunk". Herb asked how they got drunk and it came to us what had happened.

Maybe we should have sampled the bucket before we gave it to the hogs..

Gene

rabbit-1 · Feb 28, 2013

I was looking for a picture of some guy in jogging shorts, shoes.....

aFORDable · Feb 28, 2013

Thanks for the pictures and commentary. We are too far south to know anything about that. I plan on posting pictures later in the year on the growing and curing of dark tobacco which, like sapping, is a regional crop.

Morgan Flowers · Feb 28, 2013

Nice setup! I like snow pictures. Send me an email I would like to buy some syrup off you guys. [email protected]

larrystinescorner · Feb 28, 2013

really nice pictures ,,thanks ,dont know much about it,it was nice to learn

JayinNY · Feb 28, 2013

Kinda like makin moonshine, but legal, lol, thanks for the great pics.

Justin SE IOWA · Feb 28, 2013

What do you do with all that sap? Sell it? Turn it into something else and then sell? I guess you could say that im clueless! lol

Rick Kr · Feb 28, 2013

ACG,
I really like all of these pics. No one around here does syrup that I know.

I am really looking forward to the picture with all the steam rising off.

Rick

Jeff B. · Feb 28, 2013

Whenever I think of tree sap I envision some gummy, sticky yellow stuff. That stuff looks as clear and runny as water.

Adirondack case guy · Feb 28, 2013

Justin
The sap is metered into evaporators, with a float valve, (like in a toilet)that turn the H20 in it to steam which rises up and away from the evaporators. Once most of the H20 is removed the end product is Maple Syrup. Maple sap has anywhere fron 1-4% sugar content. As a rule of thumb, it takes 40gal. of sap to make 1gal. of syrup, with 2% sap.
Stay tuned for further pics., and comentary.
Loren, the Acg.

Adirondack case guy · Feb 28, 2013

It is water! It containes 1-4% sugar. once most of the water is boiled off we have Maple syrup.
Loren, the Acg.

Paul from MI · Feb 28, 2013

Looks like you guys are getting the snow that moved thru here two days ago. Pretty heavy wet stuff! I've heard that the first syrup of the run is the best, is that so?
Paul

Adirondack case guy · Feb 28, 2013

Back when weather patterns were "normal", rather than what we are having now days that was true. It takes cold freezing nights and warm sunny days to make sap run. The last two years, the sugar content has been low, requirng much longer boiling time and darker syrup. Syrup is graded by it's density, (checked with a hydrometer, and color compared to a certified scale box with samples. Tast is descresionary. Most people prefer medium amber, verses the lighter colored Fancy which is regarded the best and commands the highest price. Thus far, The darker grades are usually sold to comercial buyers rather than retail, by quality minded producers. since we tapped the trees. the temp has varied no more than 10 degrees night and day. Today we went from a night time low of 26F to a high of 34F. We haven't seen sunshine in a week, and still getting snow every day.
Loren, the Acg.

retired farmer · Feb 28, 2013

How do you get in there to maintain that tank? Looks like walls on both sides.

SweetFeet · Feb 28, 2013

Loren AGC,
As always, great photos! Looks like you guys are well equipped. Interesting as I have never seen any of this process taking place.

I agree with the poster below...I am surprised the sap is so clear. It does look like water.

casenut1 · Feb 28, 2013

remember helping the neighbor gather sap. did the bucket thing . now he has everything on plastic tubes with vacume pumps.

Scott-SD · Mar 1, 2013

Is maple syruping and sorgum the same process after its liquid?
There are a few threshing shows around here that do sorgum.

cjd12000 · Mar 1, 2013

No one I know down here has tapped yet but some are getting ready. Most use the line system and a old milk tank to let it run into. See a few buckets on roadsides where there easy to empty.

Adirondack case guy · Mar 1, 2013

We can't use tubing here. As you see, this 65A woods is dead flat, and the sap just freezes up in the sags in the tubing. Those here, who have sloping terain, use tubing exclusively.
Loren, the Acg.

Adirondack case guy · Mar 1, 2013

Sweetfeet,
If you filled a gallon jug with well water and stired in a half teaspoon of sugar, you would have a mixture very similar to maple sap. If you put this mixture in a pot and brought it to a rolling boil for a period of time, you would get your 1/2 teaspoon of sugar back., in the form of syrup. If your well water is hard, you will also have a suspended amount of lime that has to be filtered out of the final product. More on this later.
Loren, the Acg.

Matt H NY · Mar 1, 2013

Since there is no pitch to your sugar bush, would a vacuum system with tubing work?

Adirondack case guy · Mar 1, 2013

Vacume pumps and equipment is expensive and the tubing is a real pain to clean and maintain. We are also off grid and using a generator for power. This sugar bush covers 65 acers, equating to miles and miles of tubing. We are only tapping half, but it is 2/3 of a mile to the back of the woods. The family has been using buckets for 100 years, so change comes hard. This operation is more of a tradition than a profit center.
Loren, the Acg.

Matt H NY · Mar 1, 2013

Cool I definitely respect that

Finally Sap Is Starting To Run Here at Clinton Camp Farm

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