For something different, I did some recordings of this year's maple sap harvest and boiling it down to maple syrup. I did an audio "walk-around" for a podcast episode but also took photos along the way. Between the audio and the photos, you'll get a better idea of what we do each year to harvest our own maple syrup.
This year's snowfall was deep enough that wearing snowshoes were called for to go around putting in the taps. The kids' old sled was a handy way to tote the gear along.
Drilling. The drill bit came out wet for two of them. The others came out dry. A couple of those actually had ice mixed in with the sawdust in the drill bit's flutes. Frozen trees? It had been quite cold leading up to this.
The snowshoes did provide a packed-down path. We could just wear boots later when checking on and emptying the jugs.
Once the sap did begin to flow (and it was a slow start this year), we boiled the sap down in 4-gallon batches in two steam table pans on our propane grill. They're propped up on empty soup cans for now. A summer project will be creating a more stable support them for next year.
By the last week of the season, the snow was mostly gone. The jugs needed to be propped up to make up for the snow that wasn't there anymore.
When boiling down the condensed sap on the stovetop, the official advice was to boil it until it reaches 219°. Maybe it's our candy thermometer, but that wasn't always attained. Instead, we watched for the boiling syrup to rise up in a foam of fine "tapioca" bubbles. Then we tested it with a hydrometer in a 100ml graduated cylinder to see if it had the desired density.
This year's harvest was not as plentiful as previous years'. Last year, we got 18 pints. This year, we were only able to get 11. A week of a cold snap and a week of too-warm weather messed with the sap flow in the trees. From the photo, you can see the range of colors. The lighter colors were early on. Later in the harvest, the syrup turned out darker.
All in all, though, we welcome the blessing of homemade maple syrup.