Sugar Bush Memories

This structure when completed will be the Sugar Shack

Here it is completed with a covering of heavy plastic. It is only

a shelter from inclemant weather, both ends are open to allow

steam from the boiling sap to escape.

Grandpa and 2 of the Grandchildren are off to prepare the treesFirst they have to drill a hole in each Maple tree

Then they tap in the sap spiles so the sap can freely run out of the tree

And attach a sap bucket to the spile to catch the sap
Once a day the sap is gathered in larger buckets and taken

to the sugar shack to be boiled down into syrup

Mmmm - it is clear like water today and tastes sooo good - like sweetened water Grandpa stokes the fire to get the pan of sap to boil

OOOOps! The first batch burned on us, did we have

fun cleaning the pan! "Dear God, please don't let Grandpa burn this batch!"Here we go again - no last minute trips to the bathroom with this one!
Grandpa has company to help keep an eye on this pan of sap

Everyone gets in on the taste test - it is like drinking juice! Sooo Gooood!

Once the sap reaches about 218 degrees F it is taken from the

big pan and filtered into a smaller pot to continue boiling until

it reaches 220 degrees F, then it is bottled.

The temperature is watched very closely!