Last week, we officially wrapped up the 2026 maple season—and overall, it was definitely a success.

With two of the strongest sap runs we’ve ever seen, we were on pace for a record crop early on. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. A week of 60–75° weather hit us hard, and despite strong vacuum levels, the trees just never fully recovered afterward. We did some re-tapping, which added another 13% to our total sap volume. It wasn’t a home run, but it was still a worthwhile effort.

One bright spot this season was sap quality. Our sap averaged 1.30% sugar content—our highest on record and 12% above our long-term average, while also being crystal clear most of the year.

Managing only one-third of our usual tap count, while boiling for roughly half (we still purchased sap from Robinson Road and one other producer), was a welcome change. Instead of being stretched too thin, we were able to really focus on our home woods. Vacuum levels were the best they’ve ever been, and our mainlines have never been tighter since our inaugural season in 2016.

Of course, it wasn’t without a few stressful moments. We had an issue with a wheel on our sap truck nearly falling off due to under-torqued lug nuts, then having the spare tire come off its beed due to a leaky valve stem.  That’s exactly why we keep a backup truck and trailer ready to go. Thankfully, the extra time this season also helped us stay caught up in the sugarhouse. For once, we never had to choose between keeping orders and inventory moving or heading out to fix leaks in the woods.

April is always a great month around here. It gives us a chance to catch up on all the little projects and notes we made during the busy season, while also enjoying the return of better weather while we untap. We’re already looking ahead to next year, and we’ve got plenty of exciting projects lined up for the summer.

Last week’s sap run was one to remember. The trees really opened up Wednesday afternoon and kept our releaser running hard for nearly 48 hours straight. This is exactly why we run two submersible pumps in the releaser. Most of the time a single pump handles the job just fine, but a few times each season the flow climbs past 20 gallons per minute and the second pump has to kick on to keep up.

From Wednesday through Saturday we collected more than 45,000 gallons of sap from our home woods alone. On top of that, we hauled in another 45,000 gallons from the two outside woods we still purchase sap from. It made for a busy stretch in the sugarhouse, but runs like that are what every sugarmaker hopes for this time of year.

The flow unfortunately tapered off on Sunday and has been slow for most of this week. We’re hoping for a solid hard freeze to reset the trees and get things moving again. Vacuum levels have been strong all season, so we’re confident the tap holes are still ready to produce once the weather decides to cooperate.

Our eleventh season is off to a great start. On Friday we filled a dozen barrels and still had enough chilled concentrate on hand to boil down another twelve drums on Monday. It took a few days for the woods to fully thaw, but with fresh tap holes and melting snow reserves, the sap ran strong all week. Tomorrow’s freeze should help recharge the trees’ sap reserves—and thankfully, this weekend gave us a chance to refill our own sleep reserves.