Maple Sugar. Another Year Gone

Each year the size of my sugar bush has declined. Last year I had 5 trees and 17 taps but this year 2 trees. I will admit that one of my trees, the giant Silver Maple in the back yard, had 7 taps and on a good day it can produce damn near ten gallons of sap. The other tree has but three so in total I have my ten taps. The goal this year was to get one gallon of syrup.

Interestingly, I did not even tap the trees until April and by the 7th, I was done. Due to a couple of great days of frozen nights and warm days the 35 gallon storage container was filled and even beyond. The struggle was not great, the work was pleasant and my demeanor thankful.

Last year some of the locals tapped in February because it was so warm. By March the weather was so odd it became impossible to collect anything. The buds came out on the trees, shut down and told us to buzz of or worse. I think they were concerned we humans had made a mess, so they refused to do what they have been doing from the beginning of tree time. For my big maple that would be at least 100 years, maybe more.

This year again it was odd but in a different way. Cold beyond all recollection with not a single day of melt until late in March. It has to be confusing out there. Still, this year I am content for I have my syrup and while it is dark it is tasty beyond any other sweet known to man except that of the honey bee. This is not simple sugar of the corn plant, not a GMO Maple, just sugar the same as was gathered by the Native Americans for thousands of years. I am like so primitive, so paleo but I do have nice aluminum things

I suspect that my sugar bush is shrinking, in part, because of me. It hurts to go into the woods in deep snow and at the end of this March there was still 2 feet of the stuff in the woods across the street. I am getting older and lugging the sap through snow and branches is loosing its appeal. The joints bark out and tell me to knock it off, but it seems I have a genetic message that says gather, gather food. Revel in it.



Next year I am hoping for some sort of normality where the snow and cold are reasonable, not deep and 60 some days of night time subzero. Then too, next year I will be 71 and just that many more pains. Today Tony and I decided next season he and I would work together and tap the maples around town, maybe the ones right next to the side walks, get us a cart, some buckets and each day go on a circuit then head back to a boiling fire to play some tunes and tell some lies.Pancakes tomorrow.