I had a great experience with Charlotte's Michigan family. We went to the Maple bush to collect the sap. It takes 40 gals of sap to make 1 gal of delicious syrup.
This is Charlotte 's niece Shirley, she was our hostess. We had the best home cooked meals and entertainment.
You gather the sap from the buckets on the trees, pour that into 5 gal buckets then into the collection wagon. We walked over 5 miles up & down hills collecting.
The sap is then taken to the sugar shack to be cooked, filtered and bottled.
The shack was very rustic, but they cooked there, they would stay long hours making sure the sap was at the right temperature.
We got to eat fresh syrup that night.
We went back the second and last day of collection. I was getting on the full wagon for ride back. The horses pulled forward and I didn't have a good hold. The wagon wheel rolled over my foot, but God and my boot, soft ground kept me from a broken bone.
Notice the back right wheel, that's the one. I have been sore and swollen for a week, wearing the stupid boot. I am pretty much back to as "normal" as can be. I hated having Charlotte drive the whole way back, but I had the perfect car nest!
It was a fun 12 days, we got to visit with all of Charlotte's family. I did 3 days just sitting around at her sister' house.
Now I know why a gal of maple syrup cost $54, it was a lot of work!! I can now say I have done that!!
Nice summary of your trip, Cindy.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte's niece Shirley looks like Charlotte!! I honestly had to do a double take.
ReplyDeleteThat picture of the french toast makes my mouth water every time I see it.
I can't believe it takes that much sap to make just one gallon of syrup! I figured it was mainly sugar and water, so it wouldn't take that much.
I'd love to do this sometime. It looks really cool.