Store Sugaring Report and The Promised Sugaring Walkabout.

The sap is running again.

The thing I noticed yesterday was that some of the people who came in to buy sugaring stuff, mostly containers, seemed stressed. They were in a hurry. Like... IF I DON'T GET BACK SOON THE SAP BUCKETS WILL OVERFLOW!!!!

The other thing I noticed was that the sugaring folk were chatty about their sugaring experiences so far this season. I heard a lot about numbers of gallons produced and some about the quality of the syrup.

The thing I noticed TODAY about the sugaring people is that they looked TIRED. They must have been boiling all night. There is an unwritten sugaring law: "As long as the sap is running you MUST collect and you MUST boil."

This was delivered today:

So I didn't get any pics of local sugar shacks,
but here are some pics of a local guy sugaring in his driveway.
He usually gives us a quart or two as a gifts throughout the year.
(He also makes wine.)
(And keeps bees for honey. He sells his honey at the store.)

This is the new way to collect sap. Blue plastic tubing is attached to the taps on the trees and runs all through the woods to a central collection vat. We sell lots of those 5 gallon plastic buckets for collecting sap and we have huge spools of the blue plastic tubing out back in hardware.

The Iconic Sap Bucket

This is the old way. You have to haul each bucket to a big tub to empty the sap. We still sell this type of sap bucket becuaes people with 5 taps and little kids like to use it. It is picturesque.

The Iconic Maple Syrup Tin

This is my favorite syrup containing device.
It shows the old way of collecting sap.

It is not old or anything. You can still buy syrup in these tins
I stole this pic. I forgot to photo one at the store today.

REALLY the last thing about sap

Actually, I can't promise this is the last thing about sap

because

SAP IS SUCH A BIG THING IN VERMONT.

I swear.

Colored leaves. Snow. Sap.

(Except we don't get all that much snow anymore.)

The colored leaves and sap thing are logically linked

becuase you get sap from the sugar maple (Acer saccharum)

and they have BRILLIANT red/orange leaves in the fall.

 Kids love sugaring.

Go ahead and poke around on Amazon and see all the beautiful books on

Sugar Snow,

Sugar Bush,

Maple Syrup,

Maple Sugaring!

My favorite is Anytime Mapleson and the Hungry Bears.

I read this to my kids a lot.

Stolen from amazon.com

Sugar sugar sugar.

YUM!

Sometimes I drink the syrup right out of the jug.

I swear.

My son pours it in a shot glass and heats it gently in the microwave.

Waffles were invented so those little squares would hold the syrup more effectively, right?

So clever, little syrup holders. 

This guy, Noel Perrin, who lived near here,

wrote these wonderful essays about Vermont,

of which MANY were about sugaring.

Check this out:

Also stolen from amazon.com

I remember one essay that explained how to consume massive amounts of maple syrup. He said (1) buy plain donuts, (2) dunk the donuts in syrup and eat until you are stuffed, (3) cleanse your palate with a dill pickle, (4) repeat, (5) sleep it off.

Anyway, this was lying on the Register #2 counter yesterday:

Sugar tourism. Sugaring for kids. YAY!!

 

Last thing about sap

Got Dinner mentioned to me that the nights have not gone below freezing here in the valley but up in the hills they have and the sap is still running there, sure enough.

So the world is still safe for maple syrup.

Whew.

Jeeze, you should have seen the tower of plastic syrup jugs that hardware got in today.

I forgot to bring my camera today :(

So you can look at this old pic of tins instead.

Special Order!

I was walking out in hardware today and look what I saw --

a BIG fancy evaporator!

Someone ordered it special.

It is bigger than the other one and cost $100 MORE!

I think it is nicer looking as well.

Hee hee hee... you can see my legs in the reflection.

I actually think this one is esthetically UN-pleasing.

 You know what? I think I ought to take a walk-about and get some photos of local sugar shacks.

The Sap Is NOT Running

It is not sugaring weather anymore.

It didn't last long.

It can come back, though.

When the temperature dips below freezing the sap runs down to the roots of the tree and there it stays through the winter. Then, when the days warm up, the sap runs back up the tree. At night, if the temperature dips again, the sap runs back down to the roots. So every day that the sap runs up the tree is a chance to catch it. Stick a tap in the tree while the sap is running and it drips out the spout. Then, if you want a liter of syrup, you just have to collect about 40 liters of sap and boil it down.

When sugaring weather lasts a long time the price of syrup goes down.

This year it might go way up.

The first new syrup arrived today.

George is in charge of syrup.

He always organizes it here:

He has someone price it then he puts it out on the shelf or stores it under the produce room counter.

We only carry syrup from small producers who live around here.

This is where syrup lives, in aisle 2 with the peanut butter, jelly, honey, salad dressing, juice, and  PRINGLES!! YAY!!

A Sugaring Drama

So the sugaring supplies were flying out of the store today

and I was all like,

"Oo! Oo! Lemme take a pic of your purchase please, Sir/M'am!"

I scored a hit with this filter and grading kit purchase.

A Minor Lid Purchase

All morning long there would be pleas over the loudspeaker for hardware to come up to the front for jug prices. Last year we had this quart syrup jug at the register that had all the prices written on it but it wasn't around this year. I guess the customer is supposed to notice the price and tell the cashier? Anyway, hardware eventually got tired of the confusion so one of the guys bustled up front and put this on the window by register #2.

 Then, a couple hours later, H.G. came up and announced that some of the prices were wrong. I tried to get him to stage a dramatic sign removal scene but he just laughed and told me I better be quick if I wanted my shot.

And that was it for the price sign for the rest of the day.
I bet it will be back tomorrow.

The Most Expensive Thing In The Store

The Evaporator

Besides containers and an evaporator,
tubing, buckets, filters, thermometers,
and grading kits,
sugaring requires lots of little parts.

This is the spot in hardware that gets crammed with all the seasonal stuff.

Christmas stuff is switched out for sugaring stuff.

For example:

4-way threaded manifolds and 3/4 inch mainline tees with branches

5/16 inch "tee" saver spouts and regular old fashioned taps with hooks. It is supposed to say TREE saver. There is a whole box of them for sale behind the plastic drawer full.







Double manifold saddles with 2 straps, 3/4 inch bases, spout plugs.

Lids to fit All State gallon, 1/2 gallon, quart and small and Sugar Maker gallon, 1/2 gallon, quart and small.

The Vast Container Requirements Of Sugaring Season

Glass

So pretty

Then, just in case, a crap ton of back stock in the basement:

Plastic jugs:

One side of the basement

The other side of the basement

Tins: