Sugar Season

It's sugar season.  We tapped the trees on Papa Bear's birthday, and prepped to boil our first batch about 10 days later, marking the 9th birthday or our little Sugar Baby (Constance).  This year's snags have included taps falling out and a finicky propane tank, but we have overcome them all so far, and this morning, I have us up and running w/our second boil of the season.  Pictured here is our "complete" set-up, including the windbreak so the burners don't blow out (I seem to like to boil on windy days this year.... but I'm trying to beat tomorrow's rain).  I could put it all closer to the house to protect from wind, but I do like to keep some distance for fire safety.  Better to burn the deck than the house (not planning to do either, of course).  In any case, it's 8:10 am and we're boiling away, cooler is emptied into all these pots, and we're hoping to have another quart or two by dinner if all goes well.  So far so good.  The kids love to check how much has collected and empty our jugs (the younger two actually fight over it and have almost dumped entire jugs of sap arguing and grabbing from each other - we're working on that...).  They are all quite helpful and except for the boiling, it's pretty minimal stress or energy-consuming.  The boiling isn't hard, but it requires time and attention, and even though I get other work done, I have to be mindful of it, and the last hour or so is a bit more demanding.  But the product is worth it, and the smell heavenly.  Happy sugaring season to you all!

Product of our first boil.