The Bovine Bugle

MAPLE SYRUP MAKING CONTINUES

Big sugaring day today. The snowstorm earlier in the week brought a change in the weather pattern and ideal conditions for a big sap run. My wife Karen, my brother Steve, and I made up the gathering crew. We had the morning chores done by 8:30, so we were ready to start gathering by 9:30, a nice early start. We gathered 6 1/2 tubs or almost 1,000 gallons of sap. The storage tank inside the sugarhouse holds 800 gallons. We had to put about 80 gallons of sap in a stock tank and the last tub we gathered we just left in the gathering tub. Once my dad starts boiling tomorrow, we will dump the extra sap into the storage tank when there is room. We finished gathering around 2 p.m. The weather for the rest of the week looks very promising and we will probably gather again on Saturday. More of the family will be around on the weekend so we will have lots of help. It's always funny, though, that once gathering is done, nobody wants to go to the barn and milk the cows for two hours. Ha, ha.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont