Now that it looks like Spring might actually make an appearance in Minnesota this year (finally!), it’s time to gear up for maple syrup season. Literally… we’ve been slowly collecting equipment over time. In our first year we purchased 30 taps & buckets, and boiled sap in a borrowed boiling pan on a “stove” made of cinderblocks. Yep, others in our neighborhood have cars up on blocks – we had a maple syrup pan. Does that make us yuppie rednecks? Pioneer rednecks? Year 2 brought a second round of taps & buckets (running total: 60) and a finer filter to strain the sand out of our syrup. Jason scrounged an old wood stove and did some welding and retrofitting to make it fit the borrowed pan, so we had a more efficient boiling operation. Now year 3 is upon us, and the tap & bucket count is up to an even 100. Earlier this week, Jason once again made the pilgrimage to Anderson’s Maple Syrup in Cumberland, WI to add to our collection. We now own our own boiling pan and a supply of glass bottles that can only be described as “optimistic.” Here’s hoping for a high-yield season!
