at the homestead, at the market, learning opportunities, tools
Sugaring season
Apr
In February we helped a friend tap 650 maple trees on property owned and managed by Camp Whitewood in Windsor, OH. Thankfully, we had a beautiful day and got into a nice work rhythm. Hammer in the tap, hang the bucket, put the lid on and repeat! It’s incredible how quickly the sap flows on a warm, sunny day. The sap got collected every few days depending on weather. You need a freeze at night and above freezing temperature during the day to have sap flow. We helped collect sap a couple of times and started the process of separating the water from the maple sugars, which is done in a wood fired evaporator. Essentially, the sap is boiled until all that remains is the sticky sweet maple syrup. Generally speaking, it takes 40 parts sap to make 1 part maple syrup (40 gallons sap = 1 gallon syrup)! Now you have an understanding why the stuff is so expensive. It’s liquid gold and, wow, is it delicious!
We are sharing all of this because we are super excited to be selling syrup this year and proceeds benefit youth education at Camp Whitewood.
