When we first established our property in 2015, we had approximately 7500 taps. We made the mistake of tapping trees that were too small and installing excessive drop lines on multi-trunk trees. We later realized that while a 6–8 inch tree or double tapped tree may produce 5-10 gallons of extra sap annually, it wasn’t worth the materials, labor, and additional system maintenance. Consequently, during last year’s tapping season, we decided to remove any trees under 8 inches and extra droplines from all but the largest and healthiest trees. This resulted in a significant reduction from 7500 to 6800 taps.

Despite this improvement, we encountered an unexpected situation this year. After tapping, we discovered approximately 1000 extra spiles. This wasn’t the first time we’ve had excess supplies, so we decided to count every tap while untapping this year. To our astonishment, we found that we only have 5800 taps now. Every year, we remove trees that are too small, dead, storm-damaged, or otherwise unsuitable. It only takes removing a little over 1% of the trees each year for 11 years to reduce the number of taps by 1000!

As a result of these efforts, we now have 5800 high-quality taps. Our yields have always been a little lower than we would have liked them to be in the past, and we attributed this to the presence of small soft maples and not keeping our vacuum tight enough. However, with a precise tap count and a focus on maintaining the property’s tightness and maximizing production, we’ve achieved a yield of over 1/3rd of a gallon per tap, a respectable number for soft maples in Pennsylvania.

For reference, here’s a picture showing our current tap count, our estimate for last year, and our original count in 2015.

Every year, Hailee creates a one-second video capturing a snapshot of our season. This is the 2026 edition (although it’s not truly every day anymore).

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.