Among the Trees
We have spent the last month in the woods and among the trees.
Weather Talk
Welcome to the midway point between winter and spring or Groundhog Day. We here at Justamere, and I suspect maple producers up and down the east, are hoping for 6 more weeks of winter. Weather is one thing we can agree to disagree on. I trust you don’t begrudge me too much for wishing for winter. Weather makes good small talk. “Boy, can you believe this weather?” is a classic opening. Weather is not only small talk for us or any farmer, but also the most important aspect for all we do. As a refresher, great sap, good sap runs, and phenomenal maple syrup comes from a good hard freeze followed by temperatures above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. Precipitation makes a difference too; we just are not sure how much puts us in the Goldilocks zone. When I was out in the garden pulling weeds on January 1st, I sure wanted to talk about the weather; how warm it was and what that meant for the trees. Happily, just after garden clean up, came the freeze we were hoping for.
Kodi thinks the weather is just right
Change is Constant
Constant change applies to the weather but also the weather forecast. We try to predict, using every forecast we can find, when temperatures will be just right for the sap to run. It takes about a week and a half of long days for us to tap all our trees and we like to time it perfectly, which never happens. One year of missing an early run resulted in us strategizing to tap early and wait. Maybe we have too much information because scrutinizing the weather (this year) highlights a lot of change – from hour to hour. We have been convinced that sap would run for a couple of days, gotten prepared only to see later that day that the freeze will continue. We are ready and we are waiting.
Cracking the Code
There is no way to speed up the process of tapping trees. It takes as long as it takes and in this era of rushing and multitasking, I think that is a good thing. Take your time. Consider and look at the tree. Place the tap in the right spot. Thank the tree and move on to the next one.
We have always tapped in pairs. One person puts the spout on the 5/16” line and the other person drills and sets the tap. The person tapping often must wait for the person putting on the spouts. Weather and other considerations caused us to attach the spouts ahead of the tappers this year. We worked in pairs attaching spouts and drops and that actually sped things up. It was not a fast process by any means; we spent long, beautiful days among the trees, but it did speed up the overall tapping of all the trees. While it still takes as long as it takes, we do feel like we have maximized our efficiency tapping trees - we cracked the code!
The reason is takes so long to put in taps is that there is really no good way to put in spouts. There are tools that help, but they are cumbersome, and it is usually cold out. Warm gloves are too bulky for the tools so one’s bare hands get cold pretty quickly. These tools are misnamed the “one hand tool” and the “viper” implying stealth in the woods. Our task is complicated in that the tools are made for men, so while the “one hand tool” may only take one average male hands, it takes 2 hands for women. The "double tool," a two handed tool takes 3 hands, which introduces a second brain that complicates things further! These tools really do help and with our excellent crew using them we are prepared for what the season brings.
Not Medieval torture devices, but a one hand tool (left) that take two hands and a double tool that takes three!
Thank you again for your support. Enjoy the rest of winter and be well.
We will be at the Berkshire Grown Winter Market in Housatonic on February 15th - 10-2.