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Homestead Blessings

It's Sugaring Time in Tennessee!

1/31/2015

14 Comments

 
It's that time of year again and the sap is running! Time to tap the maple trees! Maple syrup season has always been one of the most favorite times of year for us here on the homestead. Sure, it's a lot of hard work, but it has a great reward. We always have so much fun sitting around the boiling sap in the evenings with hanging lamps and the light from the fire talking and singing and just enjoying the winter night air. Then there are the piping hot pancakes served up with puddles of maple syrup to give us fuel for the days work of collecting the buckets of sap from the trees and keeping the fires going under the boiling pans. Yes, indeed, it's the most wonderful time of the year!
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This year we had that cold snap, then a few days later the weather warmed a bit and the sun started to shine. The nights dropped back down below freezing and then the next day it started over again, the day time high being somewhere between 45-50 degrees and the nights dropping down to 25-30 degrees. This makes the sap in the trees "run" to the top from the bottom when it is warm, and then from the top back down to the bottom when it is cold again. Perfect time to tap. As you can see here, we are drilling a maple tree with this brace and bit, drilling at a slight angle and going in only about 2". As soon as that drill goes into the tree, sap starts to drip out.
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The hole in the tree ready for the tap to be put in.
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We hammer in the tap, and drive a nail in above it so we can hang the bucket.
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Beautiful, clear sap has already begun to drip into the bucket. On a good run, we might collect anywhere from 2-8 gallons of sap from one tree a day. 
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To collect the buckets of sap, we use horse drawn wagons to carry the big drums that we poured the buckets of sap into and then hang the empty buckets back on the trees to continue catching the flowing sap. Here Cecilia is taking a turn driving the team.
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Our homestead just happened to be in what is called a "sugar bush", which means several maple trees that grow in a grove close to each other. We have around 20 trees just within the area of the house and barn. Now that's a homestead blessing! Maple trees right out the front door, they give us sugar in the winter and shade in the summer. 
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We take the barrel of sap {and yes, that is a 50 gallon barrel full of sap} to the boiling vats and then carefully strain the sap through a cloth to catch any little pieces of bark or bugs that might have fallen in. 
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It takes 40 -60 gallons of sap {in the northeastern states it is 30-50} to make one gallon of maple syrup. And it approximately takes 6 gallons of sap 5-6 hours of boiling to make about 1 pint of syrup. When the sugar content is higher in the sap, it takes less sap and boiling time to make the syrup.
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As you can see here we have a "sugar snow" blanketing the ground around the sugar shack. Snow falls later in the year here in Tennessee make for a good sugaring time because the weather becomes more steady and moderate in its fluctuation.
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You want to see lots of steam coming off the sap as it's boiling down because that means the water is cooking off and the sugar is cooking down.
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When the sap in the boiling pan begins to turn a brownish color, we let the fire die down and pour off the syrupy sap into big stock pots and then take them inside to the wood cookstove to finish off where we can keep a better eye on it and not let it cook too much. The smell of maple syrup fills the inside of our cozy farm kitchen and there is nothing like it! Sweet and sugary smelling with a hint of hickory smoke from the chimney and dinner simmering on the back of the stove- makes all the hard cold work worth every minute of it. 
 We pour the finished hot sticky syrup into warm quart jars and screw on the hot lids and set them aside letting them seal as they cool down. Then into the pantry the jars go to stay until we get a hankering for maple syrup, which is more often than not. 
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And here we are ready to go for another round of collecting and cooking! Maple Syrup memories are sweeter than the syrup any day.
Blessings,
 Vicki
Below is a list of our favorite books (with links) about making Maple Syrup.
The Maple Sugar Book
Backyard Sugarin': A Complete How-To Guide, Third Edition
Making Maple Syrup: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-51
Here are a couple of story books (with links) we love to read around Maple Syrup Season, perfect for reading aloud to the family.
14 Comments
Kathy
2/3/2015 12:53:41 am

I enjoy looking at Homestead blessings blog daily! Thank you for all the interesting posts.

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Vicki link
2/12/2015 03:13:21 am

Thank you Kathy,so glad to hear from you!

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Sandy McConnell
2/3/2015 03:00:50 am

What a charmed life. Yes, I know it's hard work but it is still charming to those of us who aren't blessed enough to live off the land as you do. God is so good and so faithful. Even down to the flowing sap to provide such sweetness for his precious children. Aren't we all blessed beyond measure? Have a wonderful day and thanks for the trip to the Sugar Shack.

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Vicki link
2/12/2015 03:23:50 am

Thank you so much for the encouraging comment! It's folks like you who inspire us to keep sharing! And yes, God is so good,

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Danielle
2/5/2015 09:22:12 am

Wow! All those maple trees right in your yard. Looks like lots of country girl and boy fun! That's so wonderful you can make it together as a family. Thanks for sharing your pictures! I love following you girls on pinterest... You always have such nice kinds of country things on there - almost all my pins came from you girls. :) Thanks!

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Vicki link
2/12/2015 03:32:19 am

Hey Danielle,found you on pinterest also !!! Love your crocheted lace head band! Keep up the good work! Thank you for your comments

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Rebecca link
2/6/2015 04:26:59 am

thank you for taking me through the process of making your syrup. I sure enjoyed seeing your pictures and reading how the process is done. What a great family tradition

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Vicki link
2/12/2015 03:38:35 am

Glad you liked the post! Maple syrup is amazing.Yes, a wonderful family tradition, Thanks for the comment!

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Sheila
2/11/2015 02:10:35 am

I love this...we have a sugar bush as well and tap in the spring. Unfortunately ours isn't nearly as close to our home as yours is. Ours is on family land shared a few miles away. We still have a great time and there is nothing like opening a jar of fresh syrup and pouring it on warm pancakes! :) Thanks for sharing!

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Vicki link
2/12/2015 03:52:53 am

Oh Yeah!! Pancakes with your own fresh maple syrup!!! Hope you have a wonderful harvest!! Thank you so much for reading our blog!

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laura
2/12/2015 01:48:51 pm

Hey Vicki! We hope to get out into the country someday! Perhaps we'll be able to do this too :) Can you tell me, is the initial outlay expensive? An evaporator pan, etc? And where do you find your syrup-making equipment?

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Vicki West link
2/15/2015 04:11:10 am

Greetings Laura ! The expense of your operation depends on how fancy or how much you want to do. You can do small scale with a hand drill, a few buckets and a kettle on an outdoor fire [of some sort] and/or a kettle on your stove in your kitchen. Oh you do need taps but even these can be made!! A stainless steel pan [like we have] is nice but you can cook the sap down in a large pot or kettle. You might look at our Pintrest page Homestead Blessings, for ideas or Lehmen's should have taps, buckets and other maple syrup supplies. Also you might be able to find supplies at country auctions. A few great books that may be a help to you- Making Maple Syrup by Noel Perrin, Back Yard Sugarin' by Rink Mann and The Maple Sugar Book by the Nearings- all contain info. for beginners & inexpensive set up ideas (listed at the end of this post with links).

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Jade
3/16/2015 09:37:59 am

I absolutely love your blog! Such cute pictures, I can't wait to see more! You all are so beautiful!
Thanks,Jade

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Mrs.B link
4/10/2015 07:27:31 pm

Hello West Ladies,

I am so glad I found your blog ...
Sugaring in January - burrr! but I'm sure it is much warmer in Tennessee during January than up here on the Montana prairie (we are usually 20 - 30 below zero w/ 20 - 25 mph winds).
We are native Texans who have been transplanted to a small (modern) homestead on the Montana prairie and are loving it!
Blessings,
Mrs.B

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