The Bovine Bugle

The sweet sap run is slowing down in northern Vermont

A sap gathering bin goes out onto the muddy paths in search of buckets filling up.

The snow and the sugaring season are going fast. It has been a week since we gathered last, and the lingering question is do we leave the buckets up in case there is one last run or do we take them down and clean things up. After yesterday's sunny, warm 60+ degree weather, you wonder if it will get below freezing again.

From the last gathering we made 17 gallons of medium amber syrup, and this brings the season total to about 75 gallons. This is about 60% of the volume we should make based on the number of buckets we have out. Historically, for every 3 sap buckets, or "taps", we put out we usually make a gallon of syrup. With 425 buckets out, we should make 140 gallons or so of syrup.

The sap has been very sweet this year, with the average sugar content of the sap running about 3%. The higher the sugar content of the sap, the less sap it takes to make a gallon of syrup. We use a sap hydrometer to measure the sugar content of the sap. We fill a tall stainless steel cup with sap and float the hydrometer in the sap. The hydrometer is graduated, and we read the graduation at the top of the liquid. The sweetness of the sap from different areas of our sugarbush has ranged this year from 2.6% to 3.9%. The rockier areas tend to run lower, and the trees growing on deep soil tend to run higher in sweetness.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Posted by Blogger Chris at April 8, 2005 09:31 AM