It is that time of year. Warm days, nights below freezing. And each sunny day in the forties I feel that maple sap running up the tree.
And each afternoon as I pick eggs and later when I shut the chicken coops for the night I look up to the stars and remember.
As a child near my birthday in March we would visit my grandparents and they made maple syrup. Usually it takes about forty gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Ken Keppers also loved making syrup.
It is a magic time as the earth awakens and one can be outside before the garden soil is dry enough to work. Years ago when I was emptying buckets I realized two full five gallon buckets of sap I carried would become one quart of syrup.
This year I am taking a break. Before next year I will go through the equipment, get set up and be ready. Ken did most of the work – tapping, carrying buckets, boiling down, and I would assist and take over at the last hydrometer reading and filtering. Ken would then step in and help me bottle.
By next year I will find help and enjoy the window between winter and the trees budding out with the smell of fire and sap and finally the sweet syrup.
