Last year, on this date, I set my first tap for maple syrup. It’s a big deal for me. It helps break the tedium of winter days that sets in around early January. If the sap is rising in the maples, there is a finite amount of time left for winter to run it’s course.
There will be no beaten track into the woods this year for a while. Temperatures have been depressingly low despite the increase in the length of the days. The weather report says that temps are, at last, going to rise to the normal mark for this late winter season. After this frozen puddle of winter, I’ll believe it when I feel it on my bare neck!
This week I’ll spend some time cleaning buckets, taps, and tubing. I am short of a few bucket lids, so I’ll check the local Tractor Supply for lids. Who knows I may find a fellow syruper there. We’ll share our stories of prior – more normal years. Then, the talk will drift to how many gallons we’d expect to take from our tiny sugarbushes. What else is there to do.
Yes, I know. It sounds like we are a bunch of maple syrup nerds. But this time of year is slow. Only the most adventurous have started seeds, and with so much ice and snow covering the ground, we can’t get into pre-spring yard cleaning. That’s when you discover all the projects and junk left out in the fall. Winter came along and covered it all, but with the retreat of the winter time, glaciers, it’s all exposed. The neighbors now know, if they hadn’t already guessed, how much of a lazy slob you are. Oh, Yes! There is enough debris that you could use an entire dorm full of college students working for the minimum wage to clear it out.
Of course, we don’t talk about things like that by the seed racks at the store. We are all flawless homesteaders. Of course, the store help has now noticed that we are talking, not buying. So we move along, to run into each other again at the garden area of one of the local big box stores. As the bit from the play goes, “this is the season of our discontent…). It’s pre-spring, the rotten icy, dull butt end of winter. Boring!
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If I had one wish, before even wishing for a lottery win, world peace or more wishes, I would wish to be able to watch the whole extraction and bottling process, and maybe even buy a couple of bottles from you. Remind me, are the trees on your allotment? (Or just random public trees that you know will deliver the goods?)
The trees are on my lot but behind my rear fence. I know of people who tap public trees, but I’ve always thought of that as an iffy proposition if neighbors or the city take issue. most of the trees on the sanctuary land behind me are wild cherries or maples too young to be tapped.
I tap and boil just enough for family consumption, it’s enough work as it is. People with large sugarbushes run tap lines of tubing between trees to their buckets, or even into a shed were they boil the sap in evaporators. I’ve visited some operations while working as an anthropologist, and they are impressive operations. One heated soley with wood and sold by the roadside in spring.
I’m just fascinated by the process, especially since starting a new pro-metabolic diet which favours maple syrup as a carb source. I absolutely love it!
There are hours of boilng involved. We wwind up wwith between three and four gallons – just enough for family use – and we use it on everything.
Great 😊
I always wanted to be a gardener. I even built a 10×10 raised bed, filled it with soil, manure and compost built a compost bin to make some of my own Planted a variety of things. I carried on in that fashion for three years, and well, I guess I’m not a gardener after all. But I envy those that develop a real love for it.
Weeding is the worst part, Violet. but I’ve found that heavy mulching with ground leaves or other similar organic material keeps moissture in and weeds out.
home-made maple syrup… wow!
Try being house-bound for five weeks. 🤣
A point well taken.
A little bitter, though. I took a walk today – 2 blocks so I’m not quite so snarly now.
MAK, it is so easy to forget how dependent we are on our walking ability. We just take it for granted until something happens, like a broken hip.
I could drive before I could comfortably walk after my hip. I was so grateful to leave the house but could barely walk a block comfortably. Thank God I had a good physical therapist!
I’m thanking god for the same thing, most particularly for his knowledge. When I had my hip replacements I was walking 1/2 mile around the hood with my walker, but that didn’t hurt and I knew the timetable for recovery so I was more relaxed. This has been a big unknown and I was really frightened.
And with ice all about this time of year, the anxiety of falling is intense.
My driveway is a skating rink. I got the back gate open (frozen shut) and the reason I walked down the alley was to get the big picture of how the driveway is because I’m going to drive out of my garage next week. The days are warm but the nights are in the teens.
It’s been such a long time ago, my Love’s friend from Canada when he came for business to here, he gifted us a Maple Syrup. At first time I had met with tree and syrup. I am not sure do we have this tree in my country, I should check. But the interesting part for me now, during these days how make you all busy… Another point, yes, trees are being appreciated… so much. I can understand this. Not same in here, important point is to have a new area for building new concrete hills,… This should be a culturel appreciation and mentality of people… I admire so much. By the way, as if I am going off the subject, sorry for this. Otherwise I can understand what you are talking about. Thank you for sharing with us, have a nice and enjoyable day, Love, nia
I loved getting to watch the maple syrup experience when I worked for the National Weather Service in Vermont. A few of our volunteer weather observers were syrupers, and during the sap season I was eager to make my work visits to their properties. One of the old guys used to sell his syrup on an honor system, with jars out on the porch, and a bucket next to them to hold the money. I stood hours in the smoky cook shack where he kept a fire going night and day, to keep the syrup moving through the troughs as it boiled. 30 gallons of sap for 1 gallon of syrup – is that the ratio for you as well? There is nothing equal to real maple syrup. Mmmmmmm <3
My two largest trees may do better than that – right mixture of sun, shade and fertile growing situations. I have some younger trees that i’ve just started tapping two years ago. but I only aim to produce a few gallons for the family. However the import of sapping looms large in my heart for what it symbolizes.
That is so special, Lou. <3