Sugarbush

 
The end of the week found me working in the quiet of the forest.
Not our woods, but it doesn't matter.
There are maple trees hiding among the balsam firs.
It's time for them to show themselves and prepare for maple syrup season next year.

The goal was to find the maples and mark them with flagging tape.
There needed to be fifty trees picked out.
Maple syrup is always in demand.
And for maple syrup, you need a sugarbush

Harvesting sap for syrup can be a lot of work unless the set-up is efficient.
This bush will use gravity lines to feed sap into a central reservoir.
There will be some buckets too, but only enough to experience some nostalgia.
It's fun to collect sap by hand a few times, but the novelty soon wears off.

This work is a good blend of insightful planning and hard labour.
The trails need to help make the sapping process easier;
and of course they need to be cleared too.
It is rewarding work with a clear accomplishment at the end of the effort.

Once the main trails are set, all that's left is some dress up trimming.
This lot has a cozy feel because the maple bush is surrounded by thick balsam fir stands.
It's easy to picture what it will be like in the Spring.
Bright Spring sun and the gleam of sparkling light through drops of sweet maple sap.