The taps are in

With temperatures below zero this morning, the thought of tapping the maple trees was a little ominous.  DH spoke with our neighbor yesterday and he already has over 400 gallons of sap from the little bit of warm weather we had this past weekend.  Northern Vermont is predicted to have temperatures in the 40s and maybe even 50 over the next couple of days.  So out we went this morning, trudging through the feet of snow that have accumulated this winter and tapped our trees.  This particular task was not as daunting as it sounds as we are only tapping six buckets.  Our first venture into syrup has begun.  Boiling will take place over the outside fire pit on my days off.  If we are successful at making even a syrup-like substance then we will look at obtaining more buckets and taps for next year.  An old barrel woodstove is stored in the basement and I have found plans for making a homemade evaporator for this exact type of stove.  I will keep everyone updated on our sweet sticky journey.

These two buckets are on two different trees, one behind the other