A Sweet Dripping-Part I

Normally, sometime around this time of the year, I write about Sugar Season up here in Vermont. These wonderful few weeks where the snow is melting, the days are getting longer, and the sun starts the sap running through the veins of the maple trees. This year we have had a very late start. We didn't even tap the trees until March 14th, which is pretty late by the book's standards. And gathering has been more off than on since then. Last Sunday I was able to go out to gather with everyone. It was a beautiful, sunny, mild day and it was great catching up with everyone I haven't had a chance to talk with all winter long. Plus, the nice weather made for a great hike thru the woods running from bucket to bucket in search of any sap slowly dripping out of the taps.

There wasn't much. Saturday night had been cold, into the teens, and it just didn't warm up soon enough for the sap to have run yet. By the time we got back to the sugar house they had decided it wasn't even enough to bother boiling that night. So we stood around talking and munching and eating sugar-on-snow. We boil down the maple syrup until it is about soft ball stage, then pour it over packed snow, then roll it up on sticks and eat it like maple taffy. Talk about a sugar high! But it is soooo good. And, remember, maple syrup is said to have all those antioxidants for good health.

They are boiling over at the sugar house tonight. On days when I work, I get back too late to help gather, but it is always special to come over the hill on our road and see steam pouring out of the roof of the sugar house. Today was perfect weather for it. The low last night was around 30°. By noon the sun was out bright and clear, and it was 57° as I got home. Normally that is too warm for the sap to run well, but the ground is still so frozen out in the woods, I imagine the buckets were filled to the brim. Hopefully they gathered a bunch so we can get a good supply of syrup for the year. We often make about 80 gallons a year. Last year wasn't so good, only about 47. They've probably done about half of that so far. But sugar season is tricky. If we don't get down below freezing tonight not much will run tomorrow, then the weekend doesn't look ideal. Saturday we are expecting 3-5" of snow. It's what we call a "Sugar Snow." It is always welcome during sugar season because it puts needed moisture back at the base of the trees to give the roots something to absorb during the nights. Really, I think it's just Vermont's way of coming up with a cute name for another spring snowstorm other than the really nasty word everyone wants to call it!