Some Maple Photos

Being born and raised in Vermont, I learned to love Maple Syrup, and all the ways it can be used. But not everyone knows how it comes about, some believing the syrup comes out of the tree as is, kind of like the sap from a pine tree. Well, I now live in Florida, and I do not get to participate in the production of maple syrup, but through social networking, I have friends that share photos of this fine art called "Sugaring."

Up front, I want to thank friends for posting pictures that I can steal for this post. They include my nephew Jared Provoncha with photos at Steve Dow Sugarhouse. His brother Israel who lives near Bethel. My friend Sally Cadoret and her husband at their place. My old baseball catcher Joe Widli at his place near Royalton. And my friend Will Staats who hides from the rest of the world as a game warden.

Most people have heard of a sugar house or sugar shack. This is the place where the miracle of maple sugar making happens. They come in different shapes and sizes. I took these photos last October of Steve Dow's Sugarhouse. We held the memorial for my brother John here.

Outside view...

Inside View...

Of course, this was in the fall when the sugar maple trees were starting to prepare for the long winter sleep. The next three photos are recent photos of a sugarhouse in use. The sap is boiled to create the syrup. Traditionally, this is done with a wood fire, but the vapors are not smoke, but the evaporation of the water in the sap from the boiling. Just like a boiling pot of water will create a steam cloud.

Sugaring is a very social event. When the weather gets warmer and the temperature gets above freezing, the sap starts to run and the collection begins. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. If you wonder why maple syrup is expensive, it takes a lot of work and effort to create each gallon.

A bucket collecting sap and a bit of snow...

Someone has to get those buckets to the trees...

Hey, sugar maple trees are big, you can put multiple buckets on each tree...

Now the gathering of the sap has changed through the years. I remember as a kid going to the Dows and they were using horse-drawn sleighs to collect the sap. Tractors can be used too...

At this operation, they dump sap from the tree buckets into larger plastic buckets so they can keep the bucket on the tree to collect more sap. These larger buckets are poured into the collecting tank.

As you can see, the sap looks like water. And that is what it tastes like, sugared water. Can't put that on your pancakes...

The larger production sugaring operations have gotten rid of the buckets and use plastic piping. The sap flows from the trees to a dumping tank and then transferred to the sugarhouse. There are also all kinds of hybrid systems with both buckets and piping. There is no right way. But costs can be the decision maker.

As I said previously, sugaring is a social event. But once the collection is done and the boiling begins, most groups sit around and eat, drink and tell Crocky stories, I mean funny stories.

Here is my nephew Israel with his new son Harrison and wife Kayla. A family event.

My grand-niece Paislee enjoying her time at the Dow Sugarhouse...

Some Grandpa time (Steve Dow) next to his fancy evaporator (or whatever you call that huge silver thing)...

My friend Will Staats checking a gauge.

My friend Joe Widli posted this yesterday, the 100th gallon for 2018. That would be 4,000 gallons of sap.

My reason for posting this is because I feel lucky to know so many people who are trying, in different ways, to keep a Vermont tradition alive. As long as there are sugar maple trees, and people looking for something to do on a spring day after a long winter (someone say four nor'easters), maple syrup will be made! I hope they keep sharing the memories.