Tapping the Trees! A New Experience for Us!!!

Tapping the Trees! A New Experience for Us!!!

Thursday, March 3rd

Pot Luck Farm - our home for the next 6 weeks

One of the steps we always take before agreeing on a house-sitting opportunity is to Skype with the home owners so that they can decide if we will be a good fit for them, and vice versa. With our current home-owners, Eileen and Dick, there was an instant connection that has, in such a short time, become a treasured friendship.

Eileen & Dick - two wonderful people!

During our first Skype session, back in October (which lasted for over an hour!!!), Dick and Eileen told us that they have some sugar maple trees on their 170 acre property and that some friends in the neighbouring community of Corinth, VT, will be coming over to tap the trees during our stay. We both got very excited about this and asked if there would be any chance of us helping out. After so many years of teaching about making maple syrup, I was extremely happy to be able to cross this off my ever-growing bucket list of things to do before I croak!

The day after we arrived, Eileen and Dick introduced us to Ron and his family, who were collecting sap from trees already tapped. We helped to empty some of the buckets into containers which were then carried to the truck, ready for transporting to the sugar shack for boiling. Ron told us that he had left about 20 trees untapped so that we could be a part of the whole process. 

So, on Thursday afternoon, not long after we had gotten back from our hike up to the viewing cabin on Wright's Mountain, Ron drove in and asked us if we were ready to tap the remaining trees on the property. We were delighted - and thrilled that he would be so willing to take the time to do this with us. After all, we were a couple of 'greenies'!

Turning on to the road from the driveway, we located the sugar maple trees that edged the property and Ron produced a brace and bit - the traditional tool used for drilling the holes. Holding one of these in my hand brought back memories of using them during woodwork class (shop) in high school - circa 1962!!! It was a sweat-producing activity, and Ron told us that after we had completed one tree each, we would move on to using a cordless drill! Phew!! 

In the video clip below, Ron had drilled a hole in the tree using the cordless drill, and then I took the brace and bit in hand to finish it off, so to speak. Since I had, in actual fact, used the traditional tool for my first tree, I didn't think it was really cheating!!!

It was acceptable editing... and, from that moment on, Ron was dubbed as our 'stunt-man'. (He has such a great sense of humour, is full of fun, and is an awesome person to be around).

Mark and I took it in turns to drill holes, hammer in the spiles, place the buckets, and secure the lids. All in all, it took about an hour to tap 20 trees. 

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All the time, Ron was helping us to decide where the best place would be to drill - and we also needed some assistance in recognizing the maple trees (though we'd got it towards the end of the hour!!!) By this time, we had promoted Ron to Director, and told him that Hollywood had better look out next year for his nomination for an Oscar!

After we had finished, we drove along the roadside counting all twenty buckets we had put in place. 

A couple of days before this, Dick and Eileen had taken us to Ron's Sugar Shack in the local township of Corinth, VT. 

The front of the tool shed, with firewood ready to go.

The sugar shack, itself, at the back of the shed.

He had been boiling sap from before dawn that morning and we were able to see the three compartments in the boiler where he supervised the temperature and the progress of the sap-to-syrup process. Inside the shack, the room was full of sugary vapour, and the condensation on the internal walls had a slight sweetness to it.

Obviously noticing our drooling tongues, he poured out some of the syrup into two small vials for us to taste. Mark immediately made it known that it would be great to have some more - whereas I was much more restrained!!!

To our surprise - and immense pleasure - Ron dropped a hot-dog into the boiling syrup and presented us with a really flavourable snack!! Apparently, he also boils eggs in the pan when the family gather in the boiling shed.

The Wiener can just be seen in the steam

We are so darn lucky to keep meeting the most amazing people in our travels. Ron, together with Angel, Rick, and their two awesome teenagers were proof that our luck is continuing to work out for us.