After a deep freeze during the first nine days of February, winter decided to take a break. The trees began to wake up, stretch their limbs and the sap began to flow. Just a little at first, but finally on Saturday the 13th the temperature climbed to 50 degrees and the sap began to pour. From the 9th to the 16th we collected about 2400 gallons of sap and boiled off 40 gallons of that precious North Carolina Maple syrup.
From the 18th to present, winter has returned from it’s vacation and we’re frozen in again. It looks like the next big run will begin early this week, and then its anybody’s guess after that. March is a wild card. The trees have been frozen for the most part since Christmas, which holds them back from budding out. That portends a longer season but sap flow requires freezing and thawing to trigger sap flows. So we’re hoping Punxsutawny Phil is right and we have another month of winter with lots of freezing and thawing and, oh yea, lots of snow.
We’ve been so busy with our farm duties and boiling syrup that we have not yet started to ship out syrup or schedule pick ups. We will begin working our way through the syrup reservation and waitlists as soon as we are able. Thanks so much for your patience!! We are a trove of optimists and every year we underestimate the time demands of sugar season. When your name hits the top of our list we will email you directly to parse out details of shipment or pick ups, and payment. Due to the unpredictability of our schedule during sugar season we will not be able to schedule any pick ups until after our boiling season concludes in mid March. We hope to have shipments on the move a little sooner. All reservations will be held in the order that we originally received them regardless of wether they will be shipped or held for a later pick up. If you arrange for a pick up at a later date, you will not lose your place in line.
Please, NO drop-ins. This farm is also our home, and we appreciate your respect for our privacy.