Tapping 2022: A Photo Essay

Once again each tapper strapped boots into snowshoes,
tramped up Herbie’s Highway (a ski route on ski days and a snowshoe route on tapping days),
noting that the mice travel on a separate highway,
bypassing the ash trees,
to stop at each maple tree where, selecting with care a fresh patch of bark
to bzzz into as far as the wooden block then bzzz straight back out again,
and feeling pleased to see the blonde shavings that indicate the tap is a “good” one,
the tapper hammered in the spout and the loop of tubing,

and wished each tree well before looking ahead to the crown
then the trunk of the next tree (this one appearing strong in spite of, or because of, a life of adversity).

The snow changed
with the weather
and as the hours passed.
Best of all was the day it rolled away.

The Forest Meets the Sugarhouse

The 2020 bumper crop is in. As we scurry to pull taps and scrub pans, it’s good to pause, step back, and take the long view. Our crew member and guest blogger Morgan Perlman writes: The Forest Meets the Sugarhouse Once everything in the sugarhouse is cleaned in the morning, we get the boiling started… Read More

Endless Run

Chief of Operations writes: QUICK UPDATE March 28th: There’s no time to elaborate. We boiled well into the wee hours and are right back at it. In short: sap, sap, and more sap; playing “tank tag” which involves redirecting the sap into various holding tanks every little while to fill them up to the max… Read More

Hill Report: Chasing the Bubbles

Guest blogger Bob Page writes: A simple summary of the three laws of thermodynamics and the fight against entropy. First Law:  You can’t win. Second Law: You can’t even break even. Third Law: You can’t get out of the game. It’s been two years since I volunteered to help out at Nebraska Knoll during emergencies… Read More