Oh, the good intentions! I didn't mean to go so long without posting anything on here. Life has a way of doing that. But here we are in the midst of a new maple season, and next weekend is Maine Maple Sunday already!
The season has got off to a bit of a slow start. It was a longish winter. There wasn't a lot of snow--definitely less than usual--but there was a lot of cold. So much cold. It took a while for the trees to begin to thaw. So far there have been short runs with down days in between that are either too cold or too warm for the sap to run. Every season is different, and you never know exactly what you are going to get until it's all over.
Last year was a dark year for syrup. Everyone was in the same boat--the sugar content in the sap was really low, and it took even more boiling than normal to make it into maple syrup. We made some amber, but not much. This year's sugar content has been a lot better--consistently over 2% and as high as 3% and even 4% from some of the trees. It sounds like a little thing, but what a difference it makes. Higher sugar content=less boil time=less firewood=less work!
The sugar house is a hopping place right now. So far we've bottled about 17 gallons of syrup--some dark, some amber. There's about 10 or so more gallons waiting to be bottled. The evaporator is fired up and boiling down the sap the RO concentrated this morning. That should add another 5 gallons or so to our total. The maple busy-ness isn't confined to the sugar house. We're also working on Instagram posts and Facebook posts and getting posters up for Maine Maple Weekend. There's maple cream to make, and maple nuts, and ice cream to buy--because what is Maine Maple Sunday without vanilla ice cream topped with maple syrup??? There are soft sugar candies to make, and maybe some maple dip--which tastes like maple cheesecake filling. Mmmmm....
It's a crazy, busy time, but it's a good time. We'll sleep when it's over...