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•••••JANUARY 31 , 2024•••••
Tapping Time The correct time to tap walnut trees to make syrup is the same as for maple trees. The temperature needs to be below freezing at night and above freezing during the day. The temperature fluctuation causes the sap to rise up the trunk as the trees are coming out of dormancy. We have had several days of these temperatures but have also had several feet of snow in drifts in places. At the end of our most recent cold spell, we received close to two feet of snow followed by strong winds. This caused drifts of four or five feet to accumulate in random places, such as my driveway. When the days warmed up, I wanted to go tap some trees, but was unable to get to even the closest ones, unless I trudged through snow over my knees for a quarter of a mile. I do not want to do anything bad enough to do that. By Sunday, enough snow had melted, I felt fairly confident I could get the Ranger up to the Morman Trail where a group of (Outdoors cont’d on pg 3)