We've been push, push, pushing to get ready for maple season these last few weeks, and it's a good thing, for the first run came sooner than we expected. Our season officially started on February 27, not the earliest we've ever started, but definitely earlier than usual. A lot of our preseason work involved tapping a new section in the sugarbush. The additional taps put our total count up to right around 1000.
We had our first boil on 2/28 and turned out 12 gallons or so of beautiful light amber syrup--so close to Golden, but not quite. Today we are in an absolute deep freeze with wind chills below zero out there, so we have a bit of a break before we start up again. Of course, we are all chomping at the bit to make syrup right now! But give us a week or two and we'll be wishing for a couple of days break. It can get intense when the sap really lets loose, and we aren't quite sure how hard we are going to have to work to keep up with the extra sap from the new mainline.
We're hoping for a few things as far as syrup production this year... First, that we get a decent total amount of syrup. We sold nearly all of the syrup we made last year, which is one of the main reasons that we expanded in the sugarbush. We're hoping to make enough syrup to meet the demands of all you good folks who buy it with a little room to grow! Second, that we get a good balance of Amber vs Dark. We have customers who love Amber, and others who love Dark, and we like be able to keep both in stock all the way through the year. And third, that we get more Very Dark than we did last year for the customers who love that deep, intense maple flavor. We made almost no Very Dark syrup last year. The weather warmed up all at once and shut us down just as we started making the dark stuff. Hoping to get a good supply of that as well.
In the end, we will get what we get, and we will be thankful for every drop of it. Here at the beginning of the season there are big hopes and lots of optimism. It feels like anything could happen. We're just along for the ride...and hoping it's a good one in the end.