It’s been a fantastic maple sugaring season this year, one for the record books. But even the best things in life must eventually come to an end. Our backyard sugaring operation is pulling its last taps from the trees today, and boiling off the remaining sap. Exactly seven weeks after the first trees were tapped on February 9, this backyard operation is just over 50 gallons of maple syrup richer for their labors (compared to about 6 gallons last year). Once the final shine is put on the boiler and the remaining wood stacked for next year, the harvest will be divvied up among the volunteer households. A win-win experience all around. But before then, there’s still a lot more work ahead of everyone – last buckets of sap to be collected, pulling taps, cleaning, boiling, and cleaning some more. All hands on deck for this final weekend. Of course, there will be one last celebration at some point because, in the end, backyard sugaring operations are about community and camaraderie as much as they are about the harvest.
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Ah, Fenway!
(Fenway home-opener is on April 8) |
As you contemplate the seasons changing and how life in New England changes along with them,
we have added a new maple sugar-inspired recipe to our “Weather Cooks” page to mark the occasion - Maple-Glazed Walnuts. This weekend would be the perfect time to whip up a batch of these treats. Baseball season around here starts on Monday at 1:05 pm with a Red Sox-Yankees opener in the Bronx, and this snack food will sweeten your game-viewing experience, no matter who is winning.
Like most New Englanders, I am a die-hard Red Sox fan, but there are a few at Head in the Clouds Amherst (as happens to be true across our town) whose lifelong loyalties lean the other way. We’ve never tried to watch a Yankees-Red Sox game together, and likely never will, but if we did, Maple-Glazed Walnuts would certainly help!
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