RicelandMeadows

Gathering sap the old-fashioned way

February 23, 2012

 

     Yesterday we gathered our third run of maple sap. Jake drove the horses for a while. He gets along well and is a good teamster. We come from a long line of draft horse people and maple sugar makers as well. There is no better mode of sap transport than draft animals.

 

     A tractor or 4-wheeler will get you through the woods and mud, of that I am sure. The only problem with those pieces of equipment is that they are not sustainable. They are also hard on the forest floor. The horses don’t get stuck. They don’t spin and they will even move themselves forward upon the sound of the teamster’s voice.

 

     I have fond memories of my grandpa working in his sugarbush gathering sap with his team. We would ride along and jump off to check the buckets. It was great fun. We were too little to do any real work, so it was more like a spring hayride than anything else.

 

     I have a day of boiling to complete. The weather has stopped the sap flow for today, but tomorrow looks like another good run coming. I look forward to the horse time that I get…to say nothing about bonding with family and friends :o)