If we are being honest, it hasn’t really felt much like winter before or during this Sugar Season, except of course for that whopping cold snap around the holidays. Perhaps much of that feeling has been in response to the lack of snow showers here in the mountains. We might be jealous of the weather that our fellow sugar makers get on the regular up north, but it just feels right when you approach the sugar house in the morning with snow on the ground. It somehow adds to the magic of this whole thing.

Well, that big snow that we’ve been looking for might be on its way, or not! As we all know, Mother Earth’s weather systems can be unpredictable, have a change of heart, and do a one-eighty in a moments notice. According to who you talk to, we are in for somewhere between 2 and 30 inches tomorrow. Ha! That said, we have our fingers crossed for The Big One, and we’re doing what we can to ensure it’s happening. We are not walking under any ladders, and we are absolutely avoiding black cats (except for Giuseppe). If it makes any difference, we say let it snow, A LOT!

As for recent activity here at Waterfall Farm, the week began with a full moon and a sap gush on Sunday morning, February 5th. This first big run of the season blew wide open, and by Monday morning, the tanks were full and we were fast-stepping to keep pace with the sap run. Another light freeze snuck in on Tuesday morning to boost the waning flow all the way to Thursday’s heat wave. Here we saw temperatures soar into the 60s this week, which, after several days without a freeze, shuts down the sap run like turning off a faucet. For this reason, we don’t like to see temperatures above 50 degrees this early in the year. Anything over this mark is considered a “growing-degree-day,” and each of these days brings a swell to our maple buds as they prepare to break open and flower in the spring. Once this happens, the chemistry in the sap changes to a point that it no longer makes the sweet and delicious syrup that we all know and love. You could still make and eat it at this point, but you will not be too happy about what’s in your mouth.

This morning, the high clouds started rolling in and the temperatures had dropped back into the thirties. With much of our operation out-of-doors, these swings in temperature create a steady mandate for maintenance and repairs. As we write this newsletter, we are in the middle of trouble-shooting an unexpected drop of vacuum pressure in the tubing system and double-checking that our systems are all ready for the freeze- a flurry of activity as we all anxiously await whatever comes next.