Preparing to set out the maple sugaring buckets
Breaking a truck trail through the stand of maple trees, for gathering sap buckets later.
After getting Noah off to kindergarten and eating a quick lunch, I hopped on the loader tractor and headed to the woods to break roads for sugaring. We use a tractor and wagon to put out the buckets, and to gather the sap. There are many sugarmakers in the state that still use horses to do this work, but that is one pleasure I have not had. My dad tells stories of gathering with horses that knew the woods roads so well that they knew where to go and where to stop without being told. It would be nice not to climb on and off the tractor over and over while gathering the sap.
One long icicle of maple sap!
I had a fairly easy time breaking the roads. The snow has settled quite a bit with the warm weather this week, with the depth in the woods ranging from 18 to 24 inches. I managed to do all the roads for every different loop through the woods. Whether we tap the maples along all these loops or not will be decided by how many buckets we want to put out this year. We will hang from 400 to 600 buckets. If we put out fewer buckets, we may pass by a section of maples to let them rest this year.
Unfortunately, in breaking the roads I had to mess up some of our ski trails we have been enjoying for the last few weeks. We have plenty of places to ski, but I will miss the trail that goes under the maple tree that has the big "sapcicle" hanging from it every day. I must have broken the tip of the branch the first time I went through to make the ski trail. Now, as the temperatures drop through the evening, the dripping sap from the broken spot slowly makes a 6-8 inch long sapcicle. YUM!
--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Posted by Blogger Chris at March 21, 2005 09:14 PM
Do you actually hang buckets or use those plastic tubes? I see areas where those blue lines run from tree to tree to collect the sap.
If you are using the buckets, how often do you empty them? And how much syrup do you yield from 400 taps? Sounds like a lot of work! Granted, I am sure those pancakes taste fabulous with homemade maple syrup!
Good luck with the gathering!
Jonathan Gates reports from Howmars Farm in Franklin, Vermont.