Chris gets a big green tractor, I get some blue plastic tubes.  But it’s okay – I’m as excited about my new project as he is about his.

We have two very large Maple trees on the farm and I wanted to tap them and make Maple syrup.  I went to the aptly named “Tap My Trees” website and ordered the ten-pack of spiels (the things you put into the trees) and blue tubing so the sap can run into milk jugs.  Then I’ll need a turkey fryer (or at least the burner part) so I can boil the sap outside,  until it gets close to the syrup stage.  Then I can bring it inside to “finish it off” and use the hygrometer (which I also bought) to tell when it’s at the right sugar content to make awesome Maple syrup – from our own trees – on our own farm.  Of course, this is all in theory.

I’ve been waiting for those spring days when the temperatures are above 40, but the nights are below freezing.  This week seems to fit – so Chris drilled two holes in each of two trees.  We hammered the spiels (the drain-type things) into the drill holes, attached the blue plastic tubing and put the other end of the tube into empty milk jugs.  Now we wait — and collect the sap every night.

It can take 12 gallons of sap to make one quart of Maple syrup.  That’s almost as bad as the ratio of collecting those green black walnuts husks, shelling them and collect a few little shelled nut meats.  But I guess anything worth having – is worth putting the work into it.  We will see how this goes — pancakes, anyone?