Years ago I worked at a most amazing place called Ward Pound Ridge Reservation which was in Westchester County, New York, just 50 miles north of New York City. I LOVED this park and my experience working there is one I still cherish all of these years later. Besides the beautiful meadows filled with Little Blue Stem and the deafening calls of Spring Peepers at the end of Michigan Road, another of my favorite things about it was maple sugar season, which is right now–at the end of February and into March, depending on the weather. “Sugarin’ Season” as it’s fondly called happens at the end of winter before the trees put energy into buds, when the nights are still cold but the days are above 40 degrees. It was not unusual for there to still be snow on the ground when we were out tapping trees and hanging buckets.
At Pound Ridge we ran a modest operation, strictly for educational purposes. School groups visited the park and got to help us tap the Maple trees and then, collect sap. And we did it the old fashioned way–with a yoke and big metal buckets. Though it was hard work, the kids loved to take turns drilling the holes, putting in the metal spile, filling the buckets, and carrying the sap back to the “sugarhouse.” That’s where all the magic happened. I wish, just for a moment I could step back into the sugarhouse when we had the evaporator running–oh, the steam, and the smell.. Yum. Makes me hungry for some waffles. Have you ever had the opportunity to step into a Sugar House when it was running full steam ahead? I used to stop my school groups outside of the closed door, get them in a circle and then bend down to be eye level and ask in a whisper if anyone has ever stepped into a cloud before. Lots of shaking of heads, no. “Well then, let’s go,” I would say, opening the door. Then, silently, I would lead them in and it really was just like being in a cloud–the small room inside warm from the fire under the evaporator, the air filled with the sweet smell of Maple sap cooking down to syrup. There were always lots of oohs and aahs, and lots of smiles.
Do you know much about the process of making maple syrup? Do you enjoy “real” maple syrup on your pancakes? Let’s test your knowledge by playing our new game, Can You Spot the Lie? Two of these sentences below are truths, and ONE is a lie. See if you can Spot the Lie:
Maple Syrup:
- More than 80% of the world’s maple syrup comes from Vermont.
- It takes about 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup.
- It takes about 40 years before a sugar maple is big enough to tap.
Can you spot the lie? Click here to see if your guess is the right one.
I am guessing 80% of the worlds maple syrup comes from Vermont.
I love playing games Sharon.
Thanks for your maple memories and the wonder of walking into a cloud.
PS – missing the link on “click here” to see the answer
Hey Colleen, So sorry! I forgot to add the answer to the post. Whoops. But of course you are correct! Vermont leads the US in maple syrup production, but not the world. That award goes to Quebec, Canada. Thanks for reading, and letting me know about the missing link.