The Last Boil

Now that's sounds oh so delicious, in an interesting almost oozing kind of way.

The end of the sugaring season is fast approaching (And not too soon since this week I gathered a wopping 66 gallons of sap; 30 in one day.) Last night when I went to check the buckets there was a yellow tinge to the sap. So unless someone has taken great pleasure in relieving themselves, marking these buckets as their own, like a dog, this yellow tinge indicates that sap is now not prime for sugaring. I breathed a sigh of relief, as a sadness cupped my heart.

It's been a wonderful season full of quiet early morning boils, and heavenly rewards. We've produced 3 gallons of syrup. We've boiled about 160 gallons of sap. So far we have innoculated 4 classrooms, 88 students, with the love of maple sugaring. These wonderful souls have helped me answer the question, or at least ponder it, "Which is better light or dark syrup?" For them it's the dark, but some lovelies just couldn't make up their mind and had to vote both.

Personally I love darker syrup. It has a richer maple flavor. But the Grade B or C for that matter are often shunned in the maple syruping world. Where people are looking for the lighter liquid gold. They can have it. Give me that rich thick dark maple syrup on a 6 inch stack of pancakes, outside for the early morning boil anytime. It's heaven. I thank God and Mr. C., who innoculated me with the maple sugaring bug. My life is so much better, sweeter, for it.