Tapping Trees

We'll be making syrup with our neighbors in their beautiful sugar bush again this year.

Sunday morning was beautiful with its sunny blue skies.

So we headed into the woods with a hand drill, a bucket of spiles and a sled full of sap buckets.

This is a week and half earlier than last year, but it's been that kind of a winter.

Rich is already hearing stories of flowing sap next-door in Rusk county,

though they tend to be warmer than we are here in the coldest part of Wisconsin.

Last week's snow storm made it a bit more of an adventure than it has been in previous years

as we struggled to make our way from tree to tree in the knee-deep snow,

drilling each hole, pounding in the spile, and hanging each bucket as we went.

But the gorgeous day, great company, and the promise of our own delicious syrup,

make it worth a little extra effort.