Our first week of 2018 at Adams Maple Mountain has been amazing! God has blessed us with beautiful sap weather.
We started Saturday with a pancake breakfast followed by tree tapping. The weather was beautiful – 36 degrees and partly sunny.
Cousin GraceAnne and Dick came early to help with the breakfast. They drove from down-state and showed up just in time to help with the chuck-wagon. They are so appreciated!
Our Belle, tapped the first tree. She was precious. She loved the sap coming out of the tree. She drank it heartily saying “good.” So sweet.
Another first was Jonathon. He was so excited to be able to run the tapping drill. He did a fine job and did not give up until the job was done.
Kevin let another crew around to tap trees.
It was also Max’s first trip to Adams Maple Mountain. He is the newest member of the family. He was so cute and loved all the activity!
We had many hands to do the work. About 40 people visited us on Saturday and helped with tapping. We enjoyed the day in the sugar bush with family, friends, food and fun.
We tapped 300 trees on Saturday. By Sunday morning, we had full buckets of sap. It ran like a champ. We had another group come out on Sunday to help with gathering. The weather was nice in the morning, but it turned cold and it was very windy by mid-day. It was a stay in the cabin kind of day. We were so happy to see the steam come out of the evaporator and smell that sweet sap.
Everyone enjoyed the day outdoors!
By Sunday, we had sap running out of the buckets. It did not freeze overnight so the sap ran all night long. It was beautiful! Many hands showed up on Sunday for the first gathering of sap.
They collected 570 gallons of sap! Amazing. After gathering the weather turned cloudy, very windy and cool. The cabin was the place to be. Greg fired up the evaporator and everyone was glad to see and smell the first maple steam! We made a venison tenderloin dinner and everyone visited in the cabin for the day.
At 6 p.m. Greg and I were the only two left – and the maple sap was just about perfect for the first maple toddy! Boy did it taste delicious.
It was a special weekend and we are so thankful for our family and friends. We had a fantastic time at the syrup cabin. We are excited to see what the season brings at Adams Maple Mountain. Come out and see us!
Greg, Kathy and Blain Adams – your Adams Maple Mountain hosts.
We will start our 2018 syrup season on February 24th. Tapping promises to bring sap as soon as the taps are in because the weather is warm. We had rain this week and the snow is nearly gone.
For some reason I did not post in 2017. It was a good season and we made nearly 80 gallons. We made new followers and have many fans of our special syrup.
Cannot wait to see what 2018 season will be like.
The 2016 syrup season is underway. We have had a good two weeks of sap. We have made 46 gallons of syrup to date. Last week we collected over 1200 gallons of sap. Not bad for warmer than usual weather.
We had a nice run on Saturday and a bit of a run on Sunday, but the weather has turned too warm for the sap to run. We are looking for a run on Thursday or Friday. The next two weeks look promising for perfect syrup weather – warm days, freezing nights! Let’s hope so.
Be sure to check out Adams Maple Mountain on Facebook for photos and more syrup stories and videos.
https://www.facebook.com/adamsmaplemountain
Saturday, February 27th is the projected tapping day for 2016. We will be getting the trees prepared for the first sap run.
More to come….
Yes indeed – we are tapped for the 2015 season. It was a beautiful day with temps in the high 20’s, sunny and no wind! What a treat – a blessed day in the sugarbush. We had 20 people to help with the day and it went quick. We started tapping around 11:00 a.m. and were finished by 1:00 p.m. We had a nice lunch in the cabin and the mood was joyous. Everyone is ready for the syrup season and especially the Spring season with warmer temperatures.
We started last weekend with the annual bucket cleaning. Blain, Zach and Greg were on hand for that. I had to get in a help a bit too.
February 28th was tapping day. Bret did the official first tap – with help from Dad Kevin. Then Greg and Kevin drilled holes while the crew did spiles, buckets and lids.
Our crew at work –
Lunch in the cabin was cozy and everyone enjoyed the day!
Now we just need the sap to run. Let’s go Season 2015!
In 2006 we moved from Romeo to Evart, Michigan. We were building a new home; a project we started in November 2004 and ended in May 2006. After that, we were able to concentrate on building a new sap cabin and getting a new operation going in the north.
Summer 2007 was spent building the cabin. We found a nice family of loggers that put up cabins. We contracted them to put the shell of our cabin up. Tom Flood did our foundation work. The family of Richard Troyer had the cabin up in one week!
After the shell was up, Greg, along with all of our family and friends, gathered weekly to finish the cabin. We had a lot of fun putting it all together! Come Fall, Greg, Blain, Kevin spent every Saturday and a few Friday’s doing electrical, plumbing and installing the new evaporator. We did not manage to get a well done before the cold weather hit the end November. So, we spent our first syrup season hauling water from the Farm.
Our family of workers.
Our almost finished cabin.
Greg chinking the cabin.
Drilling holes for the porch posts.
Roofing crew.
Between chinking parties, wood cutting days, and building projects, we had a ton of memories to enjoy for years to come. So many helping hands took part in this operation.
The first syrup season brought an early winter with snow coming on November 30th and it did not let up through tapping weekend. We had record snow amounts all over Michigan. Cold temperature and ice were the norm for January and February. Our local college, Ferris State University, closed three-times – the first time they had to close in 20 years.
We tapped on March 1, 2008 for the first time in northern Michigan. It was partly sunny with temperatures in the 20’s. We had quite a crowd – including two new syrup makers – our first granddaughter, Ava, 5 months old and our nephew Grant, 10 months old. We tapped 260 trees, had a bonfire lunch and did a little sledding with the kids. It was a wonderful first tapping day!
The first run came on Wednesday, March 12th. Blain and Kevin gathered the sap and collected 90 gallons. By Friday we had our first syrup. It was so pure and wonderful – just as good as our Romeo syrup. We were excited! Little Ava came out to the cabin and Grandpa gave her a sample of the first batch. Her little tongue was just wagging in the little sap cup. She loved it! Grandpa said “she had to get it in her blood”!
Maplefest – our annual family and friends weekend at the cabin – was a blast! We had 320 gallons of sap to gather and the evaporator was going at full speed. Little Grant sampled his first syrup and loved the sap buggy. He was so cute! Little cousin Lea, about 2 at the time, went through the woods saying “more sap” (pronounced “stap”). So cute! In the cabin she would say “more st”rup”. Funny!
The sypup that first year was excellent! The new evaporator was awesome!
One thing we learned our first year is that is was more difficult to gather sap in the north than in Romeo. There are more hills to deal with. Blain and Missy went to gather alone the first weeknight it had to be done. They came home and said, “Mom, if you could at least come and drive the sap buggy, it would be a huge help”. So, we strapped little Ava to Grandma in the baby carrier, and drove the sap buggy for the gatherers. After that, we started recruiting week day help from Uncle Ralph, Aunt Erma, Kevin and anyone willing to come and help.
In April we were still going strong. Another change from Romeo where the season almost always ended in March. The boys all had a sleep in the cabin weekend and boiled around the clock because we had so much sap – 415 gallons to boil. Our last day was April 6, 2008. Our family crew was on hand to pull taps. We had a fun day doing cleanup, etc. Ava got to ride on the Case Tractor and the four-wheeler with Grandpa! She loved that!
We set records for Adams Maple Mountain in 2008 with 83.5 gallons. The most we had ever made. The new and larger evaporator was a great addition to the operation! We will cherish the memories of that first year in Evart, Michigan.
Syrup season 2015 is right around the corner. Tapping day is tentative as we let the weather decide for us; but for now, we will try to plan tapping day on February 28th. If the weather looks terrible, we will do it March 7th.
Our season last year was late, but it was a good one. We went from tapping in snowshoes in early March; a delayed start due to heavy snow and very cold temperatures, to a 70 gallon year!
We we are looking forward to our 8th season at Adams Maple Mountain north!
Adams Maple Mountain has been revived for a few days. We had a nice 350 gallon run yesterday and expect another large run today. Greg fired up the evaporator yesterday. We will continue the syrup making …
A spring storm hit Saturday night, April 12, 2014 in Mecosta County that did wide-spread damage to many in the area. Thousands are without power and will probably be out for another 3 or 4 days. Trees are down all around town, barns have fallen, homes are damaged, flood waters are taking out many area roads, etc.
Fortunately, Adams Maple Mountain did not suffer much damage. Our cabin just escaped when two large pine trees fell nearby.
Whose woods are these I think I know…
You can see the top of the cabin peeking through.
Blain’s bow stand did not make it through.
The bonfire pit also a disaster.
The sap trail is blocked by fallen trees.
And buckets are down.
Quite a few trees are down and most of the trails are blocked.
The property is littered with branches.
Road coming in is blocked as well.
More tree damage.
Buckets down.
More downed buckets.
Or buckets filled with rainwater.
The creek is rushing and over full.
But truly we were blessed with God’s protection over us because we did not suffer any damage to the cabin, our home or barns, and we did not lose power! Praise the LORD!
Adams Maple Mountain Spring Storm 2014 – safe and sound!
Can it be the end of the season already? Warm temperatures the past two days have us wondering. We have made 48 gallons of syrup this year. Greg has about 300 gallons yet to boil today. No run the past two days. It looks like warm weather through the weekend so we will be shut-down for a few days – or until the nights bring another freeze. Things will be quiet at the sap cabin so you will probably not find us there.
We hope you all have a sweet weekend!
Empty Buckets 😦
adamsmaplemountain 