Maple Syrup time!

The trees have been tapped and sap collected twice now. I always love this time of year at my parents house. Everything is wet from melting snow and the promise of spring right around the corner. The slushy, muddy tracks through the woods give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Dad, Mom and Ethan tapped 70 trees on Friday. The kids and I helped collect Sunday and Monday. So far we have about 120 gallons of sap which would make around 4 gallons of syrup, give or take. The bulk tank is about full and ready to start cooking. The sap house is near the woods, set up with a nice evaporator, a 200 gallon bulk tank outside. Dad thinks we'll have to start cooking on Thursday, I think sooner. I love the smell of the sap cooking. There is nothing like it in the world, the sticky sweet smell hanging in the air. The sap house gets nice and humid as it's cooking off the water. Always the perfect way to start spring in my opinion!

I'll add some pictures later, my laptop is down right now.