I'd like to remind you that we live more or less in the forest. Living in the forest means there are a lot of trees. Now, some of those trees are maple trees. And maple trees are where maple syrup comes from...
...see where I'm going with this?
A note before we continue... I have never done this before. I am under the direct supervision of the Mister who did this growing up. This whole process is totally amazing to me. And I am seriously worse than a little kid running around checking all my buckets and their progress. Crazy!
If you would rather read about professionals doing it and a more serious how to... this is a pretty good read.
Ok, so it all started with getting our buckets, spouts, hooks, and lids ready.
The Mister was so smart to mark a bunch of maples with a small dot of spray paint last fall, so that this time of year when their are no leaves we can still tell the maples from the oaks.
Each of the trees got a small hole drilled into them.
Then you insert the spout and tap it in gently. And at this step some of the trees quickly started leaking sap. So dang exciting!
The buckets have a small hole that is used to rest them on the hook under the spout. Then you cover the bucket with a lid and wait.
And yes, of course, the dogs were snooping around trying to figure out if we were doing anything that resulted in food for them. (Isn't Sammy getting big?)
We put up a total of 14 buckets and I just adore the look of them around the property!! It all feels so farm-like!
And no, I have no idea how much syrup we will be making. I think you need something like 40 gallons of sap to boil down yielding about 1 gallon of syrup. I told the Mister that I would be clam happy with enough for one breakfast. Ha!
It's pretty cool to have a purpose outside this time of year as one can constantly fiddle with and check the sap levels in the bucket. I also found out quickly that I adore the calming effect of listening to the steady drip drop sounds of the sap methodically filling the bucket.
Nature is amazing! I feel so in tune with my primitive self and maple sugaring is nurturing my need of getting my hands in the dirt to be more self sufficient. We'll see if I still feel that way after we boil down the first batch of sap.
...to be continued!
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And thank you for all the well wishes after my wisdom teeth removal. All four are out. I have made it to day three of recovery and I'm feeling pretty good. The next step is getting back to normal food.... and I think I'm well on my way!
