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Fields & Fire BlogDrill drill, tap tap, drip drip
It must be . . . maple syrup time! One of my favorite seasonal rites of passage happened today – tapping our maple trees.
Some dear friends, big and small, came to help us today – first you drill your hole a little smaller than the diameter of your spout, and about 1 1/2 inches deep. Then tap in your spout with a hammer.
Hang your bucket, cover it (keeps out the rain), and listen to the beautiful drip drip.
Next, do a celebration dance. Costumes required.
Exciting! I have a vivid memory of being 6 months pregnant with Ella, standing in the farmer’s supply store picking out our spouts and buckets for the first time. A woman watching us tried very hard to convince us not to buy them, since once the baby came, we would never do it again. Ha! We did buy them, and we’re still here, tapping away. (We only get a small amount of syrup from our few trees, but we love doing it anyway). I have grand visions of tapping all the unused sugar maples in our little town, and driving Cole around the streets collecting the sap . . . Ok, so that probably won’t happen anytime soon, but for now, we have six buckets hung, and that will do just fine.
Ooh, do it, do it! I love that idea.
We would be happy to tap many more trees with you, and many more celebratory dances with elaborate costuming!
And I just have to add that I’m SO glad you’re the kind of person who brushes off words of discouragement from well-meaning but sort of clueless strangers… I’m sure that woman in the farmer’s supply store thought she was being helpful, but she didn’t know who she was dealing with!
Okay, kid cuteness to the extreme.
Adorable kids there!
I remember tapping maple syrup during my childhood in New England. What an amazing experience, and how yummy fresh maple syrup can be.
This looks so wonderful! I’ll bet it is the best tasting syrup in the world. Those little beans look ready to enjoy some. How fabulous having the bounty of the wild harvest on your doorstep – why wouldn’t you do it? We have a way to go until the sap rises up north, enjoy the warmer weather!
I’ve just remembered prior to my second son’s birth being at the hospital with my midwife as we thought I might be going into preterm labour (I wasn’t and didn’t but snowstorms can do that apparently!) and a lady in the lift said “Are you having a baby right now’ we all said ‘No’ and she said “Take all the drugs, anything they can give you take it’. We all nodded politely at the crazy stranger. I had my son at home, in my bedroom, drug free. There are some bonkers folk out there!
Be careful what you wish for! It was great fun to share.
Haha! I’m sure she did mean well, definitely.
There’s nothing like it!
It is unusually early for us to be tapping, but quite fun! The bounty of the wild harvest, indeed.
Oh, there is so much well-meaning but kooky advice we parents get – before birth and after! Our daughter was born at home too, second-generation (I was a home birth baby!). Thanks for coming by Emmalina!
That is so awesome. I have a deep love for maple syrup. I’ve never tapped myself, but I have very fond memories of visiting a local sugar shack every year to hear about the process. In fact, I still attend my friend Deb’s open house up in New Hampshire: http://www.sugarmommasmaple.com/ Her maple products are AMAZING!
Mmm, maple is so very very good. Have fun at the sugar shack!