Harvest Journal
This blog captures the busy pre-harvest stretch in Talkeetna, the up-to-two-month window from March until the sap flows, when the crew clears trails through deep snow, digs out tanks, and repairs the winter-worn tubing lines. With 10,500 trees to tap, they're strong, ready, and waiting for the first flow.
The 2015 harvest journal follows the earliest, longest, and slowest season on record, a 28-day run that began April 4th after a record-warm March and battled freezing temperatures that fouled the vacuum and gravity lines. A crew of seven brought in 125,000 gallons of sap from 10,000 trees to make 1,100 gallons of some of the sweetest, lightest syrup the farm has produced.
The 2014 harvest journal follows a short 16-day season that started on the average date but ended abruptly as record-breaking low-70s heat burst the birch leaves three weeks early. A crew of 13 tapped around 10,000 trees and brought in 1,300 gallons of syrup from 140,000 gallons of sap, a modest year that prompted new products like Wild Chaga.
The 2013 harvest journal follows the latest-starting season on record, as a long, cold spring left many trees dry and pushed the first official day to May 4th, well past the usual mid-April start. The crew added tubing to 1,500 more trees and brought on a larger RO, then met a fast, sugar-rich run that promised a short but sweet harvest.
The 2012 harvest journal follows a 23-day transition season in Talkeetna, as the crew tested a new vacuum-and-tubing system across 2,000 taps, collected from 5,000 pails, and worked around Michael's shoulder surgery. Despite record warmth followed by a hard freeze, the season produced 1,320 gallons of syrup at a 106:1 ratio.
The 2011 harvest journal follows the season from the first spring thaw through a record 24-day run in Talkeetna, where a crew of nine tapped roughly 4,500 trees. A low-yield year saved by extra days, it produced 986 gallons of syrup at a 117:1 ratio, including a rare light amber first batch made from ice-crystalled sap.