TAP, TAP, TAP

For me, maple sugaring is a passion that satisfies my need to be involved with the earth and a part of the natural cycles of nature. In the early spring, when the days grow longer, the sun feels stronger, and the snow gives way to bare ground, there’s a smell in the air, it’s intoxicating ... a smell that says winter is over and the sap is about to flow.

Waiting for that first sign of sap is an anxious time for me, the soccer season is going to start soon and march madness is just around corner.  You may be ready, but nothing happens until nature says it’s ready  Sometime in late February or early March, when temperatures still drop below freezing at night, but daytime temperatures top forty degrees, the sap starts to move in the trees. Then, on one bright sunny morning, it begins to drip from the spouts and sugaring season is underway. Hard as it is to predict when the sap will start flowing, it’s easy to determine when the season ends. As soon as the buds come out on the trees—usually by mid-April—it’s all over. “The sap turns yellowish,”. “It tastes bitter and smells like old socks if you boil it.”

Tapping trees and making maple syrup is satisfying.