Our friend Dale started the maple sugaring fire under the evaporator pan last Wednesday evening. The boys and I headed out to help Mom keep the fire going Thursday, and had the most enjoyable day. Mom read "Charlotte's Web" to the boys by the fire, while I sat and listened to the migrating geese flying overhead.
We cooked flatbread over the fire for lunch and sausage over the fire for dinner, and meals followed by smores over the fire on Friday. Cooking meals outside is one of my favorite parts of sugaring, and it was especially nice this year because the weather was so mild.
Nick came and joined us after work Thursday, and we all stayed there until Saturday afternoon. It was the warmest it's been while sugaring, we were out in tshirts. I can't say that felt natural for February, but it sure was lovely to not have to deal with the inches of mud that are usually at the sugar house this time of year. It was so dry, and clean!
We had collected over 500 gallons of sap, and boiled it down from Wednesday evening until we took off about 12 gallons Saturday at noon.
The boys loved licking the warm syrup off of the spatulas that we used to scrape out the evaporator pan.
We'll head back next weekend to finish the syrup and wash the 100 five gallon buckets that held the sap. We'll enjoy a potluck meal with the families that sugared together, and celebrate my mom's birthday.
Oh Kylie, this looks so fun, especially with the warmer weather.
Posted by: Bev Mohler | March 04, 2017 at 11:46 AM