My Maple Sugaring Operation
Posted by: TammyAs I previously mentioned, it’s tapping time here in CT! I thought you might enjoy seeing pics of my ‘fancy’ sugaring operation.
The woodpile under the tarp is but a small part of my pile. The remainder is to the left, just out of the picture. The wood stove helps to minimize the wind and I’m not burning nearly as much wood as last year’s open pit design.
Here is a close up of my wood stove:
The pan on the back is a buy from the UCONN surplus store. It’s my main boiling pan. The smaller pan in the front is to warm my sap prior to pouring it off into the big reduction pan. You don’t want to lose your boil by adding cold sap to hot.
You can see the bulk of the wood supply in this pic and Ben, my eleven year old. He and I share many a good conversation while we sit on our logs. I know some people think that the boiling sap all day is a waste of time but the time spent with your children is priceless.
On the subject of just sitting around all day boiling. I don’t. LOL. Last year I build two new stone raised beds while I boiled sap. This year, I’ve repaired beds, cleaned up leaves and pulled old stems out. I had to clean up the glass from my broken cold frame door, too. I’ll be planting some of my cold weather crops in the cold frames this weekend, too. So, as you see, it’s not “lost time” while I’m out there. I multitask.
- Tags: backyard maple sugaring