My favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder book has always been Little House in the Big Woods. Two chapters that are back to back, Sugar Snow and Dance at Grandpa's, describe what it was like in the 1800's to produce maple syrup and the fun and work that the Ingalls' family experienced. Charles Ingalls' father tapped trees, emptied his wooden buckets into a big wooden barrel which his oxen pulled to the huge iron kettle where he boiled the sap. It was a tricky job to have the fire just right so that the sap did not boil over.
When Laura's grandma and grandpa had a dance to celebrate the syrup harvest, Grandma worked in the kitchen doing a final boil of the syrup while Pa played the fiddle and the neighbors danced. When the syrup was just the right consistency everyone grabbed plates and filled them with fresh snow. Then Laura's grandma poured syrup over the snow and it turned into chewy maple candy. The children ate the candy that probably was taffy like until they couldn't eat anymore. Laura wrote, "They could eat all they wanted, for maple sugar never hurt anybody."
It was with all that in mind that I set out to find the sweetness of the season this last Sunday in March. Three trees were tapped behind our son and daughter-in-law's house and the sap was boiling in a copper kettle over a wood fire. As I wandered down the road I saw my three grandchildren out and about enjoying the sunshine that was finally warming the air. Avery had a hatchet tied to a rope and was using it to climb the banks of snow like a mountain climber. Jay had a hoe and Carter was along for the fun of the adventure. They decided they were going to climb a hill near the old barn and use their tools to get to the top. Their dog Penny was having a good time chasing them around.
When Laura's grandma and grandpa had a dance to celebrate the syrup harvest, Grandma worked in the kitchen doing a final boil of the syrup while Pa played the fiddle and the neighbors danced. When the syrup was just the right consistency everyone grabbed plates and filled them with fresh snow. Then Laura's grandma poured syrup over the snow and it turned into chewy maple candy. The children ate the candy that probably was taffy like until they couldn't eat anymore. Laura wrote, "They could eat all they wanted, for maple sugar never hurt anybody."
It was with all that in mind that I set out to find the sweetness of the season this last Sunday in March. Three trees were tapped behind our son and daughter-in-law's house and the sap was boiling in a copper kettle over a wood fire. As I wandered down the road I saw my three grandchildren out and about enjoying the sunshine that was finally warming the air. Avery had a hatchet tied to a rope and was using it to climb the banks of snow like a mountain climber. Jay had a hoe and Carter was along for the fun of the adventure. They decided they were going to climb a hill near the old barn and use their tools to get to the top. Their dog Penny was having a good time chasing them around.
I walked up the driveway to check on the sap boil. Steam was rolling off the top of the copper kettle and the fire was burning nicely. It was all unattended. On the knoll behind the house three white buckets were attached to the trees. Pure clear sap was running out of the spigots at a nice pace.
The children returned from their adventure pushing a huge chunk of ice they found in an old well near the pond. I told them I didn't like them playing by the well, but I had to admit the chunk of ice was beautiful and looked like a round glass window.
Avery told me that the taste of sap running from the trees was like water with a sweet after taste. Carter showed me how he took a drink from the spigot. When I mentioned he was getting germs in the sap he said, "It doesn't matter grandma. The germs will disappear when it's boiled."
The snow piles are still high for so late in March, but it is not what Laura's Pa called sugar snow. Pa was referring to a snowfall they got after most of the winter snow had melted. He said, "It's called sugar snow, because this time of year means that men can make more sugar. You see, this little cold spell and the snow will hold back the leafing of the trees, and that makes a longer run of sap."
The run of sap will probably go into April this year in Michigan. Most of us are looking forward to a string of 50-60 degree days, but that will bring the sap run to an end. However daffodils are a glorious sight by the pond and the sweetness of the spring season will continue in other ways.
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