CROCUS, MAPLES AND BIRCH

FIRST CROCUS

COLLECTING SAP (NOTE THE SKI POLE)

YELLOW BIRCH SAP CAN BE ADDED TO THE MIX

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 33 degrees F, wind NNE, breezy.  The barometer stands at 30.22 in., and the humidity is 72 %.  It is a beautiful morning, with full sun and clear skies,  but it won't get very warm as long as the wind is from the north and northeast, directly off the lake ice.  Speaking of which, the ferry has a hard time moving along its path, stopping completely at times.  The ice must be breaking into huge heavy sheets now, which are very hard for the ferry to push aside, and very tough on the engines and the hull of the boats. Crocus are blooming now in town on south facing hillsides.
   I went out to Andy and Judy's sugar bush to collect sap yesterday afternoon.  There is still a lot of snow in the woods, making snowshoes and a ski pole necessary.  The snow is soft, like sand or sugar, and it is tough slogging.  The sap is not flowing very fast, and it is becoming a long, hard season.  Today's sunshine may speed things up.  For more information on maple sugaring and past sugaring seasons, use the Blog search engine.
   There are a few yellow birch (Betula lutea) growing in among the maples.  Both are climax species, which grow up in the shade of other trees.  Birch trees of most species have spring sap flows as do  maples, and the sap can be made into syrup as well, and although I don't think it as desirable, it has a slightly minty flavor which is rather refreshing.  In northern Europe a  beer is made from the sap of the native white birch (Betula alba)), but I have never tasted any.