It's spring in Vermont!
Yes, here we are at the end of March bundled up and surrounded by several feet of snow in the mountains of Vermont. Our friends, the Sanders, invited us up for maple sugaring fun! Jake's parents, two of his cousins, and our friend Carolyn made the trip too.
We drove up on a Friday night, woke early the next morning to a hearty breakfast of oatmeal topped with, you guessed it, maple syrup, and then we got dressed in our snow gear, so we could help tap the maple trees and hang buckets.
There was still a LOT of snow on the ground (I'm guessing around 3 feet). I misjudged this as I ventured off the trailer for the first time. I jumped off thinking I was jumping into a few inches of snow and landed in a deep snow drift, flat on my face!
Everyone helped by bringing buckets to the trees.
First, someone drilled a hole in the tree.
Next, someone hammered the spile (spigot) into the tree.
Then a bucket and lid were hung.
A few of the trees had sap start dripping right away. The Sanders had some trees with fully flowing sap, while other trees didn't even have a drip yet. They said it was due to which side of the mountain the tree was on (temperature and pressure are big indicators of successful sap flow).
We finished our circuit in the woods then rode up on the tractor to see their animals.
Josiah's favorite activity was climbing on their log pile!
Afterwards, we walked (well, Jake and the boys sledded down) to their sugar house where they boil the sap and turn it into maple sugar. The season was later than expected this year, so they hadn't actually started boiling yet.
After lunch we got to try a few maple syrup treats. It is tradition to have donuts, Sugar on Snow, and pickles!
Josiah loved the Sugar on Snow. Maple syrup is boiled and poured over snow where it cools into a sticky candy--perfect for scooping up with a fork and enjoying!
We headed home shortly after. All in all, this was probably one of the coolest things we've done as a family--so much fun!
