Maple Syrup-ing

Boiling down maple sap to get maple syrup is an all-day job.  Dad gets the wood fire going at 5 a.m. and spends all day tending it, skimming off the foam, adding wood, moving sap from the side bins into the center one as they get close to boiling. 

Clare loved fetching the wood.  We stayed most of the day and the syrup was finally finished by 4 pm, much sooner than normal as this was Dad's second batch and there were less than 30 gallons to boil down.  It takes 40 gallons of maple sap to get one gallon of syrup.  It's easy to see why the "real stuff" is so expensive in stores. We made good use of the leftover hot coals, cooking chicken fingers and potatoes for an early dinner (or a late lunch in Dad's case).

Getting wood for Grandpa.

The center "vat" is the most concentrated; Dad transfers from the side vats into the center one as the sap boils down.  In the end, the center vat is only about half full.  It's a lot of work for a little syrup!

 

And a few more puddles to play in afterward: