The very best thing that happens at this particular time of year is that the sap begins to rise in the sugar maples. It’s a big deal in Michigan, and all across the North Country, because tapping the trees and boiling the sap down to make maple syrup and maple sugar is something we’ve done here since before the memory of time. For centuries the precious sweetness has come just in time to stave off the great hunger of late winter and restore our spirits.
You can go buy really good maple syrup or maple sugar candy at any of the farm markets Around Here, but you can do that all year round. Just this once, why not pull on your mittens and tramp out to the sugar shack? Stand in the steam, drop a bit of the boiled sap on a snowball, and eat the excellent treat. Know in your bones that spring will come and the rich fields will yield food once more.
Maple Sugaring Open House Saturday, March 26th, 10 am to 3 pm Martha Wagbo Farm and Education Center (M-66 south of East Jordan) Donations suggestedTake a naturalist-led hike out to the sugar bush, tour the sugar shack, and watch maple syrup being made right in front of you. Bring your kids out to meet the friendly farm animals. Taste samples of maple sap and syrup served over ice cream. Browse the maple-themed bake sale. You might even win a door prize. This is an old-timey sugar shack. The kids will love it, and you will, too. For more info, contact Wagbo at 231-536-0333, or visit the website.
The Parsons family has been producing maple syrup from the sugarbush around Harwood Lake for more than a century. They love the spring tradition, but they embrace new technology, too, and have created a state of the art commercial maple syrup operation. Their website is a marvel of good stories and clear explanations and I invite you to go read all about their Harwood Heritage Gold. Then go see it all for yourself on the 20th.
(I know, I know, that’s a photo left over from our visit to Farmer White’s last October. But it’s Harwood Harvest Gold! And bloggers whose cameras are in the hospital cannot be choosers.)
Torch Lake Views 
Carsten
March 8, 2011
That’s a sweet post Gerry.
The first thing coming to my mind (it’s 7:37 AM) is: Pancakes!
The second is: It must cost a lot of energy to concentrate the sugar from the sap.
And a little question: How do they tap the sap from the maples? Maybe when your little camera has recovered…
Good morning and have a beautiful day,
Carsten
Gerry
March 8, 2011
‘Morning, Carsten. Mustn’t forget French Toast and Waffles and Bread Pudding. (My grandfather used to put syrup on everything, including his eggs. I come from a long line of heathens.)
It does take a lot of energy to boil the sap down, but we can’t eat wood, so it’s always seemed a fair trade to us. To tap a tree, one must drill a hole in the tree and then hammer a little spout (called a spile) into it. Here is a link to a commercial site that explains it all for you and sells supplies: How to tap maple trees at home. And here, for a vintage view, is a link to a stereoscopic view from the New York Public Library digital collection: Helping uncle tap the sugar maple trees
Reggie
March 8, 2011
Wooow… Gerry… I have never had maple syrup before, don’t even know how it tastes, but this looks goooood… One day! One day! One day you shall take me out to ‘milk’ the maple! 🙂
Gerry
March 8, 2011
Come along, Reggie! My secret purpose in writing Torch Lake Views is to entice people to come visit us.
P.j. grath
March 8, 2011
Sap buckets are out on the trees here, too. Syrup and honey, honey and syrup–who wants white sugar, anyway?
Gerry
March 8, 2011
To tell you the truth, my vice is not so much sugar as butter. I am a fool for dairy products of all kinds. But I do like a bit of sweetness here and there . . .
Fee
March 8, 2011
I used to love maple syrup on my granny’s pancakes! Had to be imported, of course, from your northern neighbours if I remember rightly, and wasn’t cheap as a result. A real treat.
I also like the sound of the friendly farm animals – my wee one would love that (so would mummy, of course!).
Gerry
March 8, 2011
‘Morning Fee! Maple syrup is extravagant even when bought at the local farm markets but it is an excellent treat. We have quantities of friendly farm animals around here. If you ever decide to visit the heart of the North Country we will introduce you to all of them. OK, a lot of them.
Lois
March 8, 2011
Hi Gerry, If you don’t want to wait for maple sap to be collected and boiled down, the next time you’re out walking your pals look for a maple tree with icicles, break one off and treat yourself. It’s a weaker hit, but sooooo sweet. Lois
Gerry
March 8, 2011
I can see it now, Miss Sadie, the Cowboy and I licking icicles on maple trees. You’ll probably be lurking in the underbrush taking a picture. Works for me!
Karma
March 8, 2011
I’d like to see a picture of you and Miss Sadie and the Cowboy licking maple trees, LOL! Not being well acquainted with the equipment of tapping maples, I cannot figure out what the first shot is a picture of. Please enlighten the mapley challenged. 😉
Gerry
March 9, 2011
‘Morning, Karma! That first picture is a birchbark pail. (In the absence of the little camera, I am trying to find new ways to create images for TLV. I put the pail on my scanner bed, threw a towel over it, and scanned away.) A very long time ago people used birchbark containers–although not that particular one–to collect sap. It’s just a reminder that there’s been a sugarbush in northern Michigan for many centuries, and that all the people who ever made it through a hard winter here have enjoyed its sweet blessings. It’s something we have in common.
Nye
March 8, 2011
Gerry, I’ve always used honey for my pancake. But I have to try the maple syrup now, I hope to find some at my grocery store.
Gerry
March 9, 2011
Nye, I have found a North Carolina source for you, should you ever want to make a little daytrip to Yancey County. There is a place called Maple Creek Farm, which claims to be the southernmost commercial producer of maple syrup in the country, a claim I can believe! Here is their website: http://www.maplecreekfarm.net/
And, um, you can definitely order Harwood Heritage Gold from the Parsons. Just follow the link in the post.
Scott Thomas Photography
March 9, 2011
My favorite breakfast food. I even add pancakes or waffles at times. Goes great over fruit, too. Every have maple flavored cotton candy?
Gerry
March 9, 2011
I draw the line at cotton candy. I have, however, had maple syrup sundaes with nuts on top.
Robin
March 9, 2011
The buckets and taps were up on the trees when we left Ohio last week. Maple syrup is an amazing substance, good on just about anything. 🙂
Karma
March 9, 2011
I noticed today my neighbor-around-the-corner has gallon milk-jugs on his maple trees and they are already quite full!
Gerry
March 10, 2011
Robin, Karma, I look forward to excellent photos of local sap boils. I’m pretty sure a steamy sugar shack is better than a visit to a spa.
Barbara Rodgers
March 12, 2011
You reminded me of our local Hebron Maple Festival this weekend. Mmmm… My husband used to help his aunt and uncle do this in Massachusetts every year. He got to ride out in his uncle’s old truck and collect the sap buckets and then boil the sap down to syrup over a wood fire. One exquisite delight for all of our senses to enjoy! I’m glad I got to see (and taste) the process for a couple of years before they felt it was getting to be too much for them. To this day I won’t touch what we call “fake” syrup! Once you’ve had the real stuff nothing else will do, as I’m sure you know! 🙂