Before the (do we even say its name?!)…. CoronaVirus!…. became an epidemic and spread into Wisconsin, I had the opportunity to assist some friends of my grandparents in making maple syrup! This was not my first time, I helped this previous year too, and I enjoyed it just as much as I did with my first experience. The only difference was who I went with. Last year, a few of my younger cousins came with my siblings and I to my grandparent’s friend’s land to help with the process. This year I went with my siblings and my boyfriend.
March of 2019
March of 2018
On the afternoon of March 14th, the four of us ventured over to my grandparents; however, upon our arrival, we realized we were not quite dressed for the occasion. It had been raining the day prior by my grandparents, so their neighbors’ land was going to be muddy and swampy. Additionally, it was a bit cooler than we expected. Not having boots, my grandparents lent us some. I also did not have a very warm coat, so my grandma let me use hers. Grandpa and grandma coming in clutch again! Gotta love’em 🙂
Finally, dressed in proper clothing, my grandpa, siblings, boyfriend, and myself took the four wheelers down the road to their neighbor’s land. My grandpa’s neighbor and some friends of his were gathered around the evaporating station when we pulled up, and they were busy boiling off the water from the batch of sap they collected from that morning.
Everyone was excited to have us there to help, but, before they sent us out to collect the sap from the tree, my grandpa’s neighbor shared with us the maple syrup process. First, the sap is collected from each of the trees tapped in the woods. Each of the trees have a spout coming from their tap, and either a blue bag or white bucket is connected to the spout. In the blue bag or bucket is sap, and we collect all the sap into larger five-gallon pails. Once all the sap is collected, it is brought to the evaporating station. It is poured into a holding tank which then pumps the sap through a tube into the evaporating tank, and in the tank there are four different boiling stages. In the first evaporation compartment of the tank, the sap is boiled to about 2-3% sugar. In the second and third compartments, the sap continues to boil and become more sugar concentrated. The sap travels through pipes into each compartment once it reaches a particular consistency. By the time the sap reaches the fourth compartment of the tank, it is 66% sugar. My grandpa brought spoons with us so that we were able to taste how sweet the sap was at each stage of the maple syrup process. As one would perceive, at the beginning stages, the syrup tasted more so of water. At the latter stages, the syrup tasted like sugar.
It is a very interesting process!
When the four of us went out to collect sap, we became covered in mud, and it was very wet. Some of the trees were in standing water that was up to the middle of our shins! I was definitely grateful for the boots my grandma lent me. Each of us walked from tree to tree with our pails collecting sap, and, when we filled a bucket, we put it on the trailer to be transported to the evaporation station. We also had to take the four wheelers further back into the woods to collect sap, and it was so muddy that I thought we were bound to get stuck. As we approached this part of the woods, you could clearly identify the tracks of four wheelers that had gone back before, and the tire tracks were several inches deep. We did not get stuck, but we were definitely close to doing so! And, if we did get stuck, there would have been no way we would have been able to get the four wheeler until the ground was more dry. It was a risk, but it was an exciting one!
Once we collected the sap, we poured it into the holding tank to have it pumped into the evaporation tank. Then, our part was finished. After the sap enters the evaporation tank, it takes a significant amount of time for the water to boil off, so the four of us stayed for a while and conversed with my grandpa, his neighbor, and his neighbor’s friends while the sap boiled and left once the time began to approach dinner.
Some random points from this adventure include:
- My brother found satisfaction in the noise a rock makes when breaking through ice on standing water. I don’t know why it was so satisfying, but, each time he found a big rock, he could not withhold the urge to throw it through the ice.
- It was my boyfriend’s first time driving a four wheeler. No need to be concerned, no one died 😉
- My sister was walking around with a garbage bag on her leg because she was in a boot. My sister had to have foot surgery a few weeks prior, and to keep her boot dry and clean, she needed to put a garbage bag on it.
This adventure may not be for you, but it is unique because not everyone has the opportunity to contribute in a maple syrup process! I would recommend it to anyone interested in trying something new and enjoys the outdoors!
