Remember last week, before we left for our trip, when we tapped a few of our maple trees in the river bottom behind our house? The pails sat safely next to the base of the trees, waiting to catch the sap when it starts to flow.
Apparently it rained nearly the entire time we were gone. It rained a lot and the snow melted…a lot. We arrived home Thursday night surprised to see how much of the snow was gone.
It was still raining on our drive home from the airport. It was evident that winter was on its way out and the dreariness of spring was upon us. In the morning, I glanced out the windows in the back of the house towards the river. Sadly, our tree-tapping experiment had gone awry.
The river has already flooded, a little earlier than usual. The flood waters have interfered with our first attempt to collect the sap out of the maple trees. Instead of sitting safely next to the tree, the collection pails are floating in the swollen river. We need a new plan. Despite my frustration over the floating pails, I do find the flooded river bottom eerily beautiful.
Wasting no time, Jesse formulated a plan to retrieve the pails. Using the scow boat, he floated out to the pails and gathered them up.
We located more maple trees on higher ground behind the house and drilled new holes for the taps.
Once the spiles were inserted, some sap started dripping out. We were so excited!!
So excited that our daughter did not want to see it go to waste. She said that it only has a hint of sweetness.
Once again, we are all set up and waiting for the sap to really start flowing. Let the adventure continue…
Just Two Farm Kids 