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Friday, April 1, 2011

4/01/11 SOME WILL CALL IT SPRING

THE SUGAR SHACK

LIFT THAT BUCKET, PULL THAT SLED

STOKE THAT FIRE

SOME CALL IT SPRING
Friday, 8:30 AM.  32 degrees, wind W, calm.  The barometer still predicts precipitation, and it is snowing lightly, fine wet flakes.  There may not be much of a maple sap run today, we shall see.
     Yesterday we collected about fifty gallons of sap, and I assume Andy and Judy will boil sap into syrup all day today.  The sap collected the last few days, some partially boiled down already, should yield almost three gallons of syrup.  I have to emphasize to readers that this is a small and pretty much old fashioned operation, and big commercial processors would be collecting sap by running hose lines from tree to tree to collection points, and might add pumps and such as well, and have a more efficient system all the way around.  But then it becomes so expensive it has to be a real business, and that is not Andy and Judy’s intent.  So we all lug and trudge, and feed the wood stove, and in return get fresh air, plenty of exercise and enough syrup to last all year and give away to all the “worker bees” and many others.
    We have crocus blooming on the south side of the house.  Some will call that spring.

1 comment:

  1. Yum! Doesn't it sound good. You could call
    that the Sugar Shack after some old song
    from the 1960's? Yes spring is here. Should be
    a contest guessing when the ice goes out on the West Channel or Cheaquamegon Bay.

    ReplyDelete