Ever wonder how that sweet maple syrup gets from the tree to your breakfast table?
Let's pretend we are a drop of sap....humor me for a few moments, okay?
We've been hanging out in the cold, quiet roots of the maple tree for some time, now......
Then, one day in March, after a nice, long rest, the tree begins to warm up and wake up!
As the tree's roots drink in the cool, fresh melted snow, you feel yourself being pushed slowly up the sapwood with all you friends.
Then, you come to an opening that wasn't there before! You can't help but be pushed through it. You are now flowing into the spile or tap.
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| old-fashioned metal spile |
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| modern plastic tap |
From there, you drop into a bucket like this one, perhaps, or a modern plastic version.
Or, you may begin your slide through an elaborate maze of blue tubing leading into......
...a drum like this one, or an even larger tank.
On a "peak flow" day, when it warms up to 40-45 degrees, you'll be joined by 199 of your friends per minute, or as the old sugarmakers say, "two drops per heartbeat!"
You and your buddies may find yourselves sloshing about as you are transported to the "sugar shack" where you will be carefully poured into this evaporator.
Here, you will get boiling hot! You will feel yourself being pulled in two different directions as your water content becomes steam. You're being refined by fire, literally!
Stay tuned for part 2 of our saga..... Check our blog in a couple of days! Thanks.)
Very cool posts Jen.
ReplyDeleteDeanna