Sunday, March 27, 2011

Maple Sunday..

Maple Sunday... a sure sign of spring. The sap is running, the nights are cold, the days are warm (well.... warm-ish) and steam is rising up from the sugar houses. I look at this picture, it actually hangs in my dining room, and I think... "isn't that neat, what a cool way to collect sap".. then, my horse sense kicks in and all I can see is... work!!!Oh it looks good, the two gentle horses hauling the tank thru the woods.. everyone in the family helping out.. but afterwards, there would be horses to care for, harness to clean, sap bucket to empty.. sap to boil.. and the list goes on and on.. yes, romantic - but in real life......... Our trip to the sugar houses on Sunday showed us a more realistic view of how the sugar houses operate today. This particular one is very modern and semi-commerical. There was a large crowd of people, despite the very chilly day. These folks don't even use buckets. All the trees are tapped with plastic hose , which then all connects to bigger hoses, and eventually run to the sugar house. Now, it might seem easier to deal with the hoses than the buckets, but the hose has it's own "issues". Mainly, wild life, the squirrels and various other creatures loves to chew on the hoses, and bigger animals (deer and moose) if running fast enough, can easily take it down. One gentleman we spoke with said he had spent five hours checking and repairing hose the day before. Here, the hoses are all plumbed into the house... and then empty into this holding tank. The warmer the day, the faster the sap runs... We were there at the "warmest" part of the day, and the sap was really pouring in. This is their boiler... as I said, it's very modern and though it was really neat to see, I missed seeing the wood fire and the steam rising out of the house. (They boil off at night when no one is around but, after I tasted their maple flavored ice cream.. (so YUMMY) I had to forgive them for not boiling while we were there. There were many farms taking advantage of the day and offering open houses and tours. One of these was an elk farm, and yes, they raise and sell their animals for meat. They had a nice display of antlers and told us all about the elk, their care and the like. They'll have some fawns in a few weeks and said we can come again and take a look at them. From elk to alpaca!!! Another open farm on the list. We have been to this farm a number of times, and it's very nice. They have a gift shop with hand made items, plus yarns and fiber for sale. Their animals are very friendly, and Abbie was totally in love with them. This little alpaca was quite taken with Abbie's hat... almost looked like she was checking her out and asking "are you a pink alpaca??" Abbie decided she better check and make sure she didn't turn into an alpaca!!!! The last stop on our trek was a "more traditional" sugar house. Now this is what I am used to seeing!!!! They were boiling off and that wonder maple steam rose up thru the roof..... and a nice toasty fire turned that sap into beautiful maple syrup.... because this time of year... this day..... THIS is what it is all about...... yup, a sure sign of spring....