Quoth the redhead, 'nivermoore.': maple syrup

Showing posts with label maple syrup. Show all posts

Friday, April 29, 2011

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Saturday, March 5, 2011

The tapping of the sugar maples

Today we tapped the first sugar maples at the cabin! The sap is definitely on the run! Maple syrup, here we come!

The rest of the trees will use tubing rather than these lovely spiles, but it will be a lot easier than trudging up & down that steep hill with sloshity buckets of sweet sap.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Welcome, spring!

The First Spring Day
by Christina Rossetti

I wonder if the sap is stirring yet,
If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate,
If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sun
And crocus fires are kindling one by one:
Sing, robin, sing;
I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring.

I wonder if the springtide of this year
Will bring another Spring both lost and dear;
If heart and spirit will find out their Spring,
Or if the world alone will bud and sing:
Sing, hope, to me;
Sweet notes, my hope, soft notes for memory.

The sap will surely quicken soon or late,
The tardiest bird will twitter to a mate;
So Spring must dawn again with warmth and bloom,
Or in this world, or in the world to come:
Sing, voice of Spring,
Till I too blossom and rejoice and sing.

Monday, March 16, 2009

the sweet stuff of 2009 . . . sugaring again

Some photos from our sugaring so far . . .

arch & boiling pan

Ryan welding
making some last-minute improvements

still cold sap with maple reflection

Freddie helps us measure how many inches of sap we have in the boiling pan

Ryan measuring the sap

sample jars

Old Dingman Reserve . . .
the only batch of syrup made from the trees at my folk's place

samples from every batch we have made
(almost . . . we're missing one)

boiling syrup

syrup about ready to pour off

pouring off the syrup

syrup & steam

first filtering

back at the homestead
we finish off the syrup on the stove to can it

final filtering & preparing a sample jar

Monday, March 31, 2008

sugarin' on the tele

Our sugarin' party is so popular, it's even on TV!

Well, OK, only in a manner of speaking. Ryan had this old tele out to watch one night when he boiling up into the wee hours. The next day I caught this reflection of Abbey, Bryan & Lou hanging 'round the boiling sap.