After last year’s hiatus, we’re back into sugaring. It’s a whole lot of work, but it’s also very rewarding and I love doing it. I love that everyone around us is involved in it somehow, it’s got a community wide feeling to it.
The contemplative boil coupled with the smell are the parts I was missing the most.
When we wind down the operation, I don’t need to feed the fire every 5 minutes. The fire bricks keep plenty of heat to keep evaporating several gallons for an hour or 2, so I keep an eye on things remotely.
When we draw syrup, I don’t take pictures. There’s too much going on and it gets very sticky. Between the bucket collection, the boiling, the draws, the cleanups, moving wood, it’s really a lot of work. We were insane to do it outside through the night and moving sap by hand a few years back. I have a distinct memory of being outside by myself at 2AM, seeing light in my warm house from a distance, hearing coyotes come down the hill, and really wondering what the fuck I was doing there. And I would always worry that a bear would knock down the pan to get in the syrup. I’m glad I don’t have to do this anymore, but I’m also glad I did it.
I’m bubbling with ideas for things I want to improve in the operation.