It's Sugaring Time.....at the Ponderosa

This is what I see on my way to the grocery store. Forget fighting traffic. But I do have to keep on the lookout for these guys crossing the 'street' in front of me. **This is a rural grocery store I was going to.Off they go. Over to the next hill.

Now on to the tree tapping......First you have to drill a hole 1 and 1/2" deep at a slightly upward angle. The spouts are tapped gently into the hole.

Next connect the plastic hose and down into the 'bucket'.

Years ago they would make wooden or metal spouts that would be tapped into a tree and the sap would run down it like a slide and into an open bucket. This was all fine and good but you also got debris from the elements like rain water, sticks, old leaves too. Much more sanitary now.

Now you have to wait till the next day. You see, tapping time only happens when the day weather is above 32 degrees, but the night time temperatures must drop down below freezing.

This is how much sap drained into one of the containers in a 24 hour period. A few trees further away produced nothing. Luck of the draw. These trees are just outside the Homestead Cabin Retreat's door by the way.

The sap is saved into a large bulk tank till there is enough to start the process of cooking it down. 40:1 is the ratio.

This week I sent out emails listing all the remaining openings for the year. Not very many left. This is all good. If you didn't get one and would like to, email me or check the calendar on the website.

I took down "Winter" and put it in boxes and put up "Spring". It took two entire days and I'm still not done. Good thing this weekends group isn't coming till friday. It gave me an extra day of primping. Can't wait to show you.