Sugaring Time

It has been three years since we last made maple syrup. We would make it more often except it is SO much work. Since we make enough to last us two years, there is no reason to burn an unreasonable amount of wood every year. The girls would prefer that we make syrup every year, though. They love sitting in the driveway, doing the NYT crossword puzzle, sunning in lawn chairs while Terry splits logs into match sticks to fit the small firebox of the evaporator. This year we are promised more help from Liz, Anne and Ian.

Last Sunday was a warm (38 degrees) sunny, blue sky day and Terry pronounced it tapping day. So off he went, drill in hand, with me following behind with our 12 buckets. Only 3 trees are on the near side of the ravine. The rest are a walk in the woods on the far side of the ravine. Tapping is easy - emptying the buckets is not. Enter Liz. We hold the sap in large containers in the garage until we can boil on the weekend. Check out the video below to see Terry tap a tree. The next post will show what happens next!