The Out of the Woods series from Future Generations University in West Virginia hit an important topic several weeks ago, and the recording of “Two Seasons – Sanitation & Tubing“ is now available as a Recording.
The Talk Title “Two Seasons” is a play on this quote from Garnet Whetzel.
“There are only two seasons in a year. Maple season and getting ready for maple season.”
I am quite sure that every single maple producer exists in this shared reality – the list of things to do is almost certainly greater than the amount of time you have for working on your list. But there a few things on your annual list that you just cannot afford to ignore! Keep in mind that a good chunk of this presentation assumes a 3/16th tubing system, but there are lots of great lessons to be learned from the talk. Chiefly this, compelling evidence is shared on the benefits of sanitation (using the Krueger method with calcium hypochlorite) from a nice experiment out of the Mountain State. Results from this experiment are followed by a great discussion on the bacteria, yeast, and mold challenges that maple producers face in the woods and in the sugarhouse.