Maple Syrup

Sappin' season is Amy's favorite time of year. There's something special about that first sip of fresh Maple sap right from the tree. It is the best Spring tonic anyone could ask for... and the syrup it creates is pretty good too. Of course for most people (like this one guy named Ross we know) their sfavorite part of making maple syrup is what he calls Snappin' - Sappin' + Nappin'. This complicated procedure involves a cot and a hot pan of maple sap.

We've been making maple syrup for three seasons and have loved it from the start. The first year we tapped about 60 trees and hauled the sap to a friend's sap house for the evaporation process.

The second year we tapped about 80 trees and used our own sap house to make the syrup. We borrowed an old fashioned sappin' rig (see picture) from a neighbor who had upgraded to a fancy commercial evaporator. This evaporator, made from an old oil barrel, worked like a charm and we produced about 10 gallons of syrup for our season.

The third year we tried the pipeline system, but had some technical difficulties and didn't end up having a very productive year.

Having learned quite a bit through trial and error, we're going to stick with the pipeline and hope to have better results this year.