Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Making Maple Syrup

I've given this maple syrup thing quite a lot of thought over the past couple weeks, and figured I might share a little of what it means to me to be a small, part time sugarmaker.

It means getting up earlier on the weekends than I would during a weekday, and heading over to the cabin, in the dark, to build a fire in the woodstove. My parents drive 50 miles one way just because they want to be a part of the process, but they cannot endure the cold like they once could. So I get the fire started early, so the cabin is warm when they arrive. They'll typically stay over a couple nights, helping in the sugarhouse during the day.

It means getting an early start on the fire in the evaporator, so the sugarhouse will be warm enough for their comfort also.

It means getting several cases of glass syrup bottles for Christmas, and being honestly thrilled with that gift. It means watching my 73 year old mother skim foam off the boiling sap, (and finding out she has ordered a custom, stainless skimmer just for that purpose), while watching my 75 year old father swing open the firebox door and pitch in some wood.

It means celebrating my youngest son's 12th birthday in the sugarhouse, complete with cake and candles, surrounded by family members singing "happy birthday"....and wondering if he is OK with that. It means watching my 14 year old son back the Mule around the trees, collection tank full of sap, and hook up the discharge hoses and begin offloading sap into the storage tanks, all without any input from me. And observing my father, who watched the whole thing through the window, smile and nod.

It means watching my wife bottling 200 degree syrup one moment, filling the preheater the next, running and emptying buckets, and bringing home a new journal today, just so we can record such details as gallons made, sap collected, and who was there that day to help celebrate a birthday.

It means knowing you're committed to either reaching your production goal, or running until the season ends, whichever comes first. It also carries the unfortunate realization that neither scenario is under your control.

It means being cold and wet, and tucking your pants legs down into your boots....when the trees thaw enough to run, the ground thaws also, and it's mud everywhere.

It means hanging a note on the office door, apologizing for being in the woods instead of the shop, and asking that if you drop something off to please include a note with your name and number. Then returning only to find that every note includes something along the lines of "How's the sap running?", or "would you mind if I came over and just watched?", or even "I remember doing that as a boy...good for you!"

Bottled another 2.5 gallons this weekend, getting there, one drip at a time.