Maple Syrup Season

I have such fond memories of making maple syrup with my family as a kid.  In March we gathered buckets of sap from our maple trees in the woods and brought the sap home.

Then Dad built a fire in an open barrel and cooked down the sap over it until it was almost ready.

After that it was Mom’s turn to cook it down further over the stove.

  And sometimes we cooked it down even further to make maple sugar or maple candy.

Afterwards, I got to help scrub the ceiling and walls to get them clean from the sap that stuck to every surface.  🙂  But it was so delicious and worth it!

Today we ventured over to Green’s Sugar Bush to get some of the wonderful liquid gold that they make.

They use more high tech equipment (and probably more sanitary) to refine the sap, but it is still fired by wood.

They have horse and wagon rides and pony rides for the kids while their parents wait in line for a wonderful pancake and sausage breakfast.  So delicious and fun.  They only did two days this year, so its done for this year, but I every time I taste the syrup it brings the memories welling up and I can feel the crisp cold days of gathering and smell the wood smoke and sap.  Truly double blessed to have the memories and to be able to support the Green family as they create memories for their family and many more people.