The weather has taken turn here in northwestern Montana. Specifically a turn towards the perfect temperatures for sugaring.
It’s an exciting time for a few reasons. Obviously we enjoy the maple syrup but more than that it’s the beginning of our food production season.
As the bottles fill with that clear, sweet sap my heart and soul fills a bit too. The seasons are changing like they always do and with that the promise of spring gardening can be seen on the horizon.
Maple Tapping Day from Kathie Lapcevic on Vimeo.
It’s a simple thing like most in our lives but I must admit, I’m grateful for all that liquid sugar pouring from our trees.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
We hope to tap our trees this season. First time for me and I’m wondering if the sap needs to stay at a boil. We have a wood stove that’s on 24-7 and I was hoping to just put the pot on the stove and leave it do it’s thing. This method certainly seems to be able to heat and evaporate water without actually boiling it but don’t know if that will work for sap. Just wondering if long slow and casual will get the job done, eventually.
At some point you’ll have to get it boiling because to actually make syrup you have to get to 7 degrees above boiling. Obviously that will only happen once all the water is evaporated so I imagine a slow evaporation will be fine as long as you finish it over a higher heat. Does that make sense?
Sounds sensible enough.