We have been in high gear for the last 8 days in the sugarbush.  Record high sustained temperatures have resulted in slower "weeping" flows that have continued for several days.  The unusually warm weather has resulted in a darker, richer tasting syrup we usually only produce at the end of the season.  This robust "B" maple syrup has been popular for those who enjoy cooking or baking with this natural sweetener.

 A cold snap last night froze up the lines which gives us a day to clean up and rest for our next "run".  The weather forecast for the next week looks perfect for sap flow with below freezing at night and highs in the 40's and even one day of 60.

 With the recent warm days and cool nights, the sap started slowly running  on Wednesday, March 3rd. We anticipate having our first boil this coming Wednesday, March 10th and hope it is the first of many boils. This year we added a preheater for the sap to decrease the amount of time needed for boiling in the evaporator. A reverse-osmosis machine for increasing the sugar concentration in the sap will be ordered and installed summer of 2010.

We now have syrup for sale in most sizes, with a large quantity of quarts, the most requested size.

We are heading out to Bar Harbor, Maine for the International Maple Syrup Convention. We will hear the latest research and technology in the maple syrup field and determine what can apply to our sugarbush.

We'll be bottling the last weekend of October. Any orders received for which we have limited supply will be shipped the first week of November. We appreciate your understanding and patience in receiving your syrup.

We have been making preparations for next season, even as we continue to bottle on a regular basis to keep up the sweet cravings of our customer base. Our bottling unit has been upgraded  by adding a quick adjusting table.  This allows us to easily and rapidly adjust to different size bottles, as well as fill up to three bottles simultaneously.

In July, we visited a large maple operation in northern Minnesota which incorporates rerverse osmosis, thereby removing much of the water prior to the sap entering the evaporator. This reduces the time, but more importantly reduces the energy consumption to produce syrup. This may be one of our future upgrades.