The excitement around here is picking up daily. Even though the weather teases us, we can be confident that spring has sprung, and with it, the hope of a new season dawns. The focus of the past couple of weeks has been sugaring, the term used to describe collecting and processing maple syrup.

Our maple syrup operation is very small by any standard. We have about a dozen trees tapped this season. We have one small wood evaporator that our neighbor, Bob, built for us. He made the evaporator out of a 50 gallon drum, a 20 gallon cast iron pot, and stove pipe. This has significantly helped us boil down our sap more efficiently this year. We also have a small propane burner that we use to finish the syrup.  In all, we can make about ½ to one gallon of syrup daily during the season, which can last from a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the weather. This year, the weather is favorable for a longer season.

The process of making maple syrup is as North American as it gets. Native Americans showed the pilgrims how to take the running sap from maple trees and create a delicious treat. To make maple syrup, one only needs to collect sap, and then boil it down until it has the consistency one would expect of syrup. While simple in principle, it is very time consuming, especially in sub-industrial operations like ours. In fact, Susan and I have logged more hours this past week than we usually do, due to the favorable conditions.

To prepare for collecting, I tap the trees about two weeks prior to when I expect the sap to run. Sap runs around February or March when daytime temperatures climb above freezing while nighttime temperatures fall below freezing. I then hook up hoses to the taps and then I run the hoses to five gallon buckets. During the peak season, a tree may give between five and ten gallons of sap per day. Each morning, I collect the buckets and empty them into the evaporator.

Next, we get the fire in the evaporator hot enough to start a rolling boil on the sap. Sap to syrup ratios are about 40 – 80 to 1, meaning that we have to evaporate a lot of water. I do not recommend boiling this down in your house on the stove because you will have water dripping from the ceiling. Don’t ask me how I know this, but trust me on this one. Once the sap for the day boils down to about six gallons, we move it to the propane burner where we can control the temperature better.

From this point, we are about 1 – 2 hours from being done. This is also the best part because the smell is very intoxicating. It is also a very critical part. Towards the end, there is a fairly small window of opportunity when we will either have delicious maple syrup or hard maple candy coated to the pan. Again, don’t ask me, but trust me on this one. Once the desired consistency and taste are reached, we filter the syrup through cheese cloth to remove foreign material and miter, debris from naturally part of the sap, and bottle it.  If you are a member of our CSA, you do not need to trust me that it tastes great this year because you will get to judge for yourself; one of your early shares will contain a bottle of this nectar of spring.

Take care, and remember, no matter what the weather forecaster says in the next few weeks, spring has sprung, and the maple syrup is the proof.    

Denny and Susan