We tapped some of the maple trees early this year -- the 10th and 11th we put out about 75 buckets or so as it got so warm that we were sure the trees would run. Now 10 days later, we finally cooked down a small batch of about 4 gallons of syrup.
As the rain sprinkled down this afternoon (the first day of Spring), we are wondering if this will be one of those seasons that get too warm too soon and make maple syrup production a bust. However, the last two years most of our production was in the last 2 weeks of April, so we haven't given up, and unlike our helper, Dave, we haven't put away the snowplow for the season yet.
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| No snow in the woods left |
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| Robins, redwings, bluebirds, grackles, ducks, geese, swans, sandhills and other birds are back and making a cheerful noise each morning |
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| Turkey males have started gobbling and displaying |
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| The first day of spring the sun came up directly in the east |
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| My 6:30am firing and tank filling is not quite in the dark |
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The first 10 days of warm weather haven't really run much sap yet. The forecast for the next 10 days looks ideal.
Margo goes for a pre-surgery check next Thursday and then has surgery on her neck and upper back on April 2nd. The schedule is to be in the hospital until Monday the 6th and then head to Barron WI (a hospital rehab bed) for a couple of weeks. She will wear a neck brace for 3 months. She is hopeful this will get rid of the constant pain that stops her from doing most anything. A pain in the neck is not so funny for the person who has it.
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