Either through NASA or Pink Floyd, we've all heard of the darkside of the moon. Today, while collecting the maple sap (close to 18 gallons from 13 taps, thank you) short neural bursts of those words with an under score of Pink Floyd synapsed through my brain. For I was seeing some real flow effects on the dark side of the trees.
Buckets hung in full sun were close to full. Whereas buckets hung (think Darth Vader) on the dark side; well their taps were still frozen or at least iced over.
I love sugaring. Besides the obvious sweet rewards, every year there is science in my backyard in the form of freezing point depression, flash crystallization, and now the effects of shade on sap flow.
Recently someone asked me, "Are your taps in?"
My reply, "Yes, and today the sap will run."
Their face all scrunched up, they asked, "How do you know?"
And my reply, "I just do."
There is something truly innate about sugaring.
3 comments:
Cool-how can I help!
We will be boiling the first batch this Sunday...
Hooray, glad to hear that it is sugaring time! Hope the season is sweet for you.
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