19 March 2010

sap's running

tin sap buckets hang from maple trees lining a back road. many in this area tap their trees in the spring to gather up the sweet sap, then boil it down to make the sticky maple syrup that sweeten foods throughout the year. from a local farmer, i buy two quarts each april - for blueberry pancakes in summer, german apple pancakes in fall, french toast and waffles in winter. and i must make my stash last from one spring to the next.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's wonderful, your very fortunate, we don't have that here and wish we did. All of the flavors of the pancakes sounds very delicious.

Unknown said...

Sounds delish! Enjoy!

Kisma said...

How cool is that and yummy!!!!

Shanita Taylor said...

Wow, I didn't know people did that with buckets to gather sap.

chizlov said...

I love this. I picture a little girl or boy on their tippy toes trying to stick their finger in the bucket to get a taste. Very good work.

ershadsocal said...

I did not have any idea how maple syrup is collected.Now I now. Thanks.

meatless USA said...

The rubber is collected almost the same way as maple syrup.

Lynne said...

To the best of my knowledge, we don't have maple trees (for syrup) in Australia - only the ornamental (Japanese) varieties. So real maple syrup is imported (usually from Canada) and is very expensive. Most often, Aussies eat imitation maple syrup. I guess it's not a patch on the real thing!

Lucy said...

This is the most special thing in the world for me. Thanks for sending me a bit of what I miss!

marie grady palcic said...

i love the picture. very nice.

Anonymous said...

That is awesome! I would love to do that. Also, now I'm super hungry for blueberry pancakes.

CrazyCris said...

that's one of those things that used to fascinate me when I read books like "Little House in the Big Woods" as a girl! the idea of making your own maple syrup... of having the REAL deal instead of the more artificial stuff (which in itself is still very hard to find here in Spain, I miss syrup!!!)

although in the past several years I've preferred to transform my pancakes into crepes and eat them with jam or chocolate... yum!!! I save my rare syrup for french toast.

Irene said...

Lucky you, I haven't found maple syrup in the Netherlands yet and miss it badly. Straight from the source sounds best to me.

Unknown said...

Sweet! I heard a question on a quiz show the other night asking about when syrup is 'harvested' and I thought it was the 'fall to winter' time. But you reaffirm their answer of 'spring to summer'...I've never heard the story of how it's done. Thanks for sharing.

gogoi-d said...

Your 'maple syrup' has reminded me of my young and naughty days stealing sweet juice along with my friends from 'date-palm'trees collected in earthen pots in Asom, India and getting whack'd by my mother for the crime next day.The syrup is used for preparing
'Jaggery'.If kept for more than 24 hours it become 'liquor'localy called 'taari'famous all over India.

Nancy said...

It always amazes me how much sap it takes to make just a little maple syrup. I understand why it is so expensive. Enjoy yours! :)

keila said...

Pancakes with maple syrup is a MUST for our family dinner tonight after reading your post. Isn't it funny how you can read something and you get that instant craving and you feel that you might not survive if that craving isn't satisfied? Also, love the picture!

Faye said...

Ahhhh....the taste of real maple syrup on pancakes!! Mmmmmm!! Our family used to buy gallons of it from my Aunt & Uncle, who lived in Ontario.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm. What's better than delicious 100% maple syrup? Not much. How nice to be in an area where you can see it in its infancy, so raw and fresh. Thanks for sharing this!

Unknown said...

A dream of mine is to someday visit the New England areas in the autumn season! I have only seen documentaries and pics, which only gets me inspired to save up for such an occasion...

A Fitness Minute with Pat Anderson said...

Nice photo. I would love to see the whole process of making the syrup!

Truth Ferret said...

Living up north (Ohio) I remember the wonderful maple syrup on breakfast items. I also remember putting maple syrup on fresh snow and eating it. Those days were wonderful and the memories sweet.

Jill said...

Great picture! I was working on a puzzle just recently, and in the picture, there were buckets hanging from trees. I had no idea what they were, until my husband, who knows so much random trivia, quickly pointed out, "oh, those are used to collect sap." Very cool!

gretchen said...

I love your photo!!! Where did you take it? It was a perfect day to catch that March chill.

Gretchen

Kay said...

Yummy! I miss the real thing!

Boblog said...

I'm sitting here remembering 30 years back and I can smell maple syrup!

Grace Givenz said...

I hope this was an invitation to breakfast any time of the year!

Susan said...

I love the picture...nice !!!

Wrytagirl said...

'twas my birthday when you posted this, and I happened just now to choose your blog to for my first time participating. Serendipity maybe? And like Shanita, I too didn't know this was how Maple Syrup was collected. You learn something new every day.