Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Is it sap season yet?

This time of year, any hint of warmth has us wondering, "is it time yet?"
Friday afternoon, we decided it must be, as it was warm enough to go out without coats.

With great excitement, we headed off to the backyard, drill in hand.

Everyone got a chance to turn the drill.

We were treated to an immediate reward: the sap was running!
Oh, how I love that "drip, drip, drip!"

The next day was frigid, but we'd gotten some new buckets, so we set out again to tap more trees.

Naturally, it's been freezing cold since then, so we haven't begun boiling. But it's coming!

5 comments:

Calamity Jane said...

I used to work for some folks in Alaska who made birch syrup. Best job I ever had. Wandering around through the punchy snow collecting the sap on those sunny
late winter mornings, bliss. The syrup was great, but I really loved drinking the sap straight, cold out of the bucket. It tasted so SPRING! Birch sap is much thinner than maple (it takes 100-150 gallons of birch sap to make a gallon of syrup) so it mostly just tasted like water, but like water infused with tree energy. Wow.
Does maple sap taste so good?

Julie said...

Can she be any cuter! OMG:) I want to reach through the screen and eat her!!!!

Jules said...

I smiled so much at this post my jaw ached! Lucy has that fantastic self-possession that such young children have and I love how these photos show that.

Anonymous said...

I'd LOVE to have a go at this! We are hoping that somewhere on our land there are some likely maples. I've ordered a book from the library to learn just in case!

Wasabi Honey Bee said...

Oh how fun to do your own syrup!!!! I've always wanted to, but it's not near enough cold here in CA. Sweet baby pie too : )