Wheeler, Michael, Jason and Travis read to tap trees.
First sap of the year dripping from a freshly tapped tree.
Michael, Wheeler, Travis, and Jason got out 691 taps on January 11th and 12th, just before a ten day cold-snap that came with a heavy snow. We collected a few hundred gallons of sap before that big freeze, but not enough to make finished syrup. We boiled down the sap but we were unable to fully “sweeten the pan,” so we decided it best to drain our evaporator and store our near-syrup separately so as to not damage our shiny, stainless equipment with the expansion of frozen liquid. It felt like a false start to the season to tap the trees, boil a little sap and then wait 10 days. We twiddled our thumbs and waited for a thaw while the temperatures hovered in the single digits and teens with constant snow showers and blowing snow for over a week. But… thaw it did!
Temperatures soon soared into the 60s for our first real week of syrup making, and sap poured out of the trees for four days and nights. We processed thousands of gallons of sap during this period of time. Since then, the season has kicked into high gear with great freeze-thaw cycles, and syrup is being made, bottled, and stored away on the regular. With any luck, the month of February will be full of warm days and cold nights just like this weekend.
Fist syrup of the year.
Maeve smiling as she tastes the sap. “Sweet!”
I’m not gonna lie, sugaring is a grind. All our plans are canceled this time of year as we ride the highs and lows of the season. There are a lot of long days working around rain, snow, and mud. When the sap is running, we are there to boil it! But we feel so much gratitude to get to do the work that we do. We are energized by the sweet smelling steam rising up from the evaporator, time spent working closely with family and friends, and we treasure a life entwined with the elements. It’s good to be back in the sugar house!
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