Well, they were wondering if our kids would like to help them collect sap one day. This is by no means their “sap collecting day” as they collect sap daily over quite a period. It was just a good day on the weekend for the kids to come. Another ski family who are our friends were coming out, and we thought we’d roast some hot dogs over a fire when we were done.
The kids loved seeing all of their favorite trails without snow. It was strange to them to see their favorite woods naked like that, but the ski trails made for a wide path for us to follow, and the kids knew where they were, only everything looked very different.
Ingrid kept asking Daddy to “open the tree” so she could get the syrup.
I had remembered from a trip to the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center that some insects lay their eggs on the back of leaves in the fall, and I started searching around the dried leaves to find some to show to the kids as the collection took place.
I didn’t find any insect eggs, but I did lift up a leaf and see some green. It’s the first green I’ve seen growing out of the ground this year, and I called all the kids over and they all jumped up and down. Green. Spring is indeed here.
The sap will be boiled for about 40 hours they said. Our day’s collection as seen above will boil down to 1 gallon of maple syrup. We each got to taste the sap, and it was lightly sweet and surprisingly refreshing.
A good time was had by all.
elizabeth says
March 31, 2015 at 2:51 pmwow! what a lot of effort is in maple syrup! It makes me appreciate it so much more! thanks for this fun post. 🙂
annamaria magda says
March 31, 2015 at 3:00 pmthank for this post, I have never seen before how maple syrup we can collect, ” open the tree” is the best, greetings from Warsaw
Mom says
March 31, 2015 at 4:47 pmHow fun! What a wonderful experience! Maybe someday we’ll be up there and can join you in “opening trees” to get syrup! 🙂