When maple sap runs, it runs. When it doesn’t, it doesn’t. This has been a particularly intermittent Spring so far. There have been multiple 2-3 day sap runs, but punctuated by as much as a week of zero flow in between. By and large, nights have to be below freezing and days above freezing (and ideally, sunny) for the sap to run. We’ve seen a very abrupt transition from Winter (two weeks ago) to full-on Spring (right now).
Of course, here in Maine we usually don’t plant gardens ‘til mid-May because of the likelihood of late frosts, so we suspect we will be seeing more Maple sap in the next 3-4 weeks. 40 gallons of sap yields one more gallon we have to offer you, so here’s hoping!
Nancy has often waxed poetic about how tightly one becomes tied to the land and natural cycles when one does something like sugaring. I am more Scientist than Poet, but I would have to agree; since we have been doing this I am so much more attuned to the weather and how the trees – and everything else – is reacting. The Earth we live on is an endlessly-fascinating place. We are blessed to see it so clearly every day.
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