Buckets hanging from taps photo from land-of-snow.com |
modern tap- drill upward hole about 1 1/2inches into tree and hammer in the tap photo from Schmiding.com |
Ojibwe woman tapping tree with wood chip and birchbark containers circa 1900 photo from en.wikipedia.org |
It has been a long time since I have done it the way Aboriginal people showed it to Europeans originally , and I know for sure these fellows -as old as they are - haven't ever done it like that . Maybe with a little persuasion I can get them to chop the wood I need for an open fire . Of course , the promise of a meal cooked on that open fire is the easiest way to tempt them into commitment . I'd best turn on my charm .
Pancakes and bacon...or hot cornbread...or maybe frybread...slathered in maple syrup...and fresh white pine tea sweetened with maple sugar ...I'm spring hungry .
I can't wait for a full glass of sap right from the tree to welcome the new life that is beginning to stir...all new life begins with water ...and it's flowing .
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The sap run has been extra long this year. We are still boiling down what has been collected today. At 40 litres of sap per litre of maple syrup , the 85 litres of syrup made so far involved 2600 litres given readily by the trees , with long hours of evaporation . Needless to say , the sugarbush has taken up all extra time and my blog has floated quietly around blogland with no help from me . However the trees are slowing down , although no buds are swelling yet ...and the weather is cooling again . Usually , the sap runs again after a cool spell so we may get a third run . Please check in once in a while , I will be back soon.
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