This weekend we began our sugaring season.<\/p>\n
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\nIt is always a bit of a guess when to tap the maple trees. Sometimes we do so midway through February and get an early run of sap if there is a very warm day. Sometimes, like this year when temperatures stayed in the twenties, we wait a bit longer. <\/p>\n
However, we decided it was time to begin no matter what the thermometer was saying when Snowdrops poked their heads up in the shelter of the Arbor Garden.<\/p>\n
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I love how Spring (and Flowers) just won’t be stopped!<\/p>\n
Besides the usual beloved trees down in the village of Meriden, we tapped a few very old maples at the farm where Elizabeth lives. These maples are in a hedgerow sloping down to a road. Because we were low on buckets and because of this nice downward slope, we decided to use tubing with all the taps flowing into one line with a big barrel at the bottom of the line collecting the sap.<\/p>\n
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Sounded good anyways.<\/p>\n
I am used to technology getting way ahead of me in here in the office, but I was surprised when yesterday the maple trees with buckets were flowing so well that a few of the buckets were full while over at our higher tech piped line, there was no sap in the big barrel at the bottom of the line. <\/p>\n
There is something much more elegant about buckets on a maple tree, but perhaps these trees prefer buckets to piping for other reasons than this aesthetic one. I went over this morning to fiddle and fuss with the line and to generally tune in to the trees. After this visit, I have decided that the issue is not so much a problem with the tubing as a reflection of this new location. It’s too early to know for sure, but I think these new trees are in a colder micro-climate than the ones we tap in town. I sensed they will need a few more days of above ground temperatures before the up and down voyage of their sap begins. <\/p>\n
Maple trees have their own wisdom and sometimes all it takes is a chill wind blowing across them to make them wait awhile longer. The next few weeks will tell the story and teach me a lot about this new set of maple trees. No matter what amound of sap we get from these trees, I am glad to have a reason to visit this beautiful spot and I am grateful for the owners of the land for their generosity.
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With fifty gallons of sap to boil down today, its time to begin the dance of March wherein I do a little work in the office then run out to stoke the fire then run back in to do a little work and so on and so forth. Sweet boiling sap. A Roaring Fire. Happiness!<\/p>\n
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This weekend we began our sugaring season. It is always a bit of a guess when to tap the maple trees. Sometimes we do so midway through February and get an early run of sap if there is a very warm day. Sometimes, like this year when temperatures stayed in the twenties, we wait a … Continue reading Sugaring Begins<\/span>