A Sweet Memory

Sure enough, days have flown by and Maple Season is long gone. 

This year we were blessed to be able to have enough trees on our own property to not have to run around elsewhere. 

But one of the things we didn't have was a sugar shack.  But there was a rickety old frame of something that might have been a chicken coop once upon a time. And this funny frame is what we chose to recreate into the temporary Sugar Shack.

All the spiles, and buckets were pulled out and washed, and the weather forecast watched diligently for the first "run" of the sap.

One warmer weekend (ok, so it was warmer compared to the average temp back then!!) Josiah decided it was time, and grabbing his hand drill and some taps, went out to the big clusters of Maples in between the house and the pole barn to start the Maple Syrup season!

The first hung bucket of the year.

So, we ran out of time, and funds for the sugar shack, and since we are hoping to re-purpose this building for something else, and build a proper shack in the future, we decided that tarps and plastic were going to have to do for now. :)

The man and his shack.

Inside, once Josiah had the boiler set up, and running, and with the sun coming in the front, it really was quite warm in there.

One of the best parts, I think, is going around each day, up and down the back hills, to collect the sap, and see how much each tree produced.

Since this was the first year tapping these trees, Josiah took a detailed chart with him and tested, and documented each trees sugar content every time!

Another awesome part about the season is the smell. Seriously someone should discover how to bottle up Maple Syrup scent and sell it!! 

Last year we tried making Maple Sugar for the first time!! And it was an amazing success. Somehow with stirred Maple Sugar, you get more sugar than the syrup you start with! And it's very good too. ;)

Half the fun this year, was having people over to show everything to. 

And of course once all the work is done, a pancake/waffle supper is just the thing!

Josiah put 55 taps in all on our property, and the total syrup intake this year, was over 12 gallons! Here's hoping for more next year!

Yes, it's been a while since Maple Syrup season was over with... things have been piling up so fast here, that I haven't had a chance to share. But it was a immense success, and now a sweet memory.

~Chs