It took less than a month for Hillside Apples owner Bill Roethle to meet his goal of nearly 40 gallons of maple syrup produced this season. Roethle, like many sap collectors in Door and Kewaunee Counties, could not even get out to his trees in Casco to tap them much before the beginning of March due to cold temperatures and deep snow. The weather certainly cooperated after that according to Roethle.

Weather will still dictate when Roethle will tap his trees for sap in the future, which usually runs from the end of February through the middle of April. His excess sap will now go to wholesalers in northeast Wisconsin to be made into more maple syrup.