Last year I tapped two maple trees in my backyard.  I got more than 40 L of sap, most of which was reduced to make about 1.5 L of syrup.  There’s a complete summary of the adventure here.

Last year my first day of sap collection was April 2.

Yesterday, March 7, I was in my backyard.  It was warm and sunny.  I had to squint because of the sunlight coming off the snow.  There was a steady stream of water rolling through my eavestroughs.  It felt exactly like April of last year, and it crossed my mind that the sap could be running at that very moment.

This morning I tapped my two trees, as well as a neighbour’s.  There haven’t been any signs of sap yet, but it was cold and overcast.

I’m expecting of lower yield than last year.  Ideal conditions for the run are a) lots of snow on the ground, which insulates the trees’ roots, and b) warm sunny days with freezing nights.  We had very little snowfall this year, and it looks as though we might go straight from freezing days and nights to very warm days and nights.  We’ll see.