J.R. Acres Pure Maple Syrup

04/23/2026

Hi Everyone! Just a reminder J.R.Acres Pure Maple Syrup will be at the Lake Crystal Arbor Day celebration this Friday! Stop by to say Hi and taste some delicious syrup from this season! 🙂

03/15/2026

What a busy week it's been here at J.R. Acres!
Monday and Tuesday were marathon sessions, in the sugar house with the evaporator chugging away as we processed a whopping 140 gallons of sap. All that hard work paid off on Thursday when we bottled just over 3 gallons of syrup!
Friday saw us boiling down over 70 gallons of sap and Saturday we collected almost 100 more gallons of sap before Mother Nature shut us down on Sunday with a winter storm .
Once we get ‘dug out’ after the storm we’ll be collecting and cooking again!

03/10/2026

Things here at J.R. Acres have been absolutely exhilarating these past few days. Spring has truly sprung, and with it, the undeniable excitement of maple sugaring season! The sugar bush is alive with activity, and it really feels like everything is hitting its stride right now.

We've had some fantastic runs, and the trees have been incredibly generous. In just the last couple of days, we've managed to collect a whopping 125 gallons of sap! It's a lot of hauling and hard work, but seeing those bags fill up makes every effort worthwhile.

Today was another big day for us in the sugar house! We stoked the evaporator early this morning and spent hours transforming 90 gallons of that clear, sweet liquid into golden syrup. The steam was rolling, and the air was thick with that incredible, distinctive maple aroma – it's one of my favorite parts of the whole process.

The weather forecast looks promising, and the sap is still flowing beautifully, which is fantastic news. We're planning to head out first thing tomorrow for another collection run. We'll combine whatever we gather with the leftover sap from today's boil and keep that evaporator roaring! The season is in full swing, and we're embracing every busy moment!

03/06/2026

The sap collecting begins!
You know how everyone always mentions it takes an incredible amount of sap to produce just one gallon of maple syrup? Well, it's absolutely true – it's quite the transformation!

Syrup producers use"The Rule of 86." It's basically a handy and surprisingly simple way to figure out exactly how many gallons of sap you'll need to boil down to get that gallon of golden syrup. No magic, just some clever math!

Here’s the gist: You take that special number, 86, and divide it by the percentage of sugar in the sap you've collected. We use a tool called a sap hydrometer to measure that sugar content – pretty high-tech for sap, right? The result of that quick calculation tells you the estimated number of gallons of raw sap required to make one gallon of finished syrup.

And guess what we were up to yesterday? We collected 44 gallons of sap, and our sap collected measured about 3% sugar, which, according to the Rule of 86, means we'll need to process roughly 28.7 gallons from *that specific collection* to yield a single gallon of syrup. It really makes you appreciate every drop!

The cool but challenging part is that the sugar percentage can actually vary quite a bit from day to day, so we're constantly checking it to make sure we're on track. It definitely keeps things interesting around here!

Anyway, just thought you'd enjoy that little peek behind the scenes of maple syrup making!

03/04/2026

03/04/2026

We are getting off to a slower start this year with the current warmer overnight temperatures, slowing the sap flow. The sap flows best when the temperature is below freezing at night and above freezing during the day. The good news is there are colder overnight temps in the forecast, and all 40 taps are running!

03/03/2026

The sap is starting to run!

03/02/2026

It’s tree tapping day at J.R. Acres! The weather this week looks ideal, warm days ( above freezing) and cooling down overnight ( below freezing). The rhythm of the sap collecting season! We have 40 taps ready to go and we’re excited to see how much we collect on our first day. Stay tuned for the results, we’ll share them with you soon!

02/27/2026

Looking forward to the 2026 season!

02/04/2026

Even though it’s a little early for tapping trees, the upcoming forecast looks promising. We’ll be watching closely to see if this pattern continues and if tapping is right around the corner!

01/31/2026

We have been tapping trees and boiling down that sweet sap for over 18 years now. Even though we’re still very much hobbyists- we’ve really gotten the hang of it over the years. In fact , the last couple of years have been amazing! We’re excited to say we’ve been producing enough of that liquid gold to share its deliciousness at local Farmer’s Markets and Vendor Fairs, and seeing everyone enjoy it!

Our hobby farm is always busy, growing a wonderful variety of fruits, and vegetables as well as enjoying the beautiful array of flowers blooming everywhere.

And of course, none of this would be half as fun without the enthusiastic ( and sometimes comical!) help of our golden retriever, Daisi! She’s our loyal companion, chief garden inspector, and all around best dog. She truly makes every day at the farm brighter.