By Ginger Dudkiewicz | From BayLines Express, February, 2022
The read aloud book, Sugar on Snow, became a family bedtime favorite. Little did we know where it would take us. The kids regularly asked us if we could make maple sugar.
My husband Dan and his brothers talked. Ed came by with a manual brace drill, a few old spoons, and a couple buckets to tap our first tree. He made a hole in the bark about half an inch deep, inserted the spoon, and bent it to make a hook to hang the plastic pail.
Waiting is the hardest part. Every day, the kids checked the buckets. When sap first ran it was a very exciting day.
The fellas made an open fire in the middle of the gravel driveway within a circle of firebricks to contain it. Fortunately, we had a very large steel bowl for the sap. We set it over the fire. Our boiling operation was primitive, but by the end of the day, we had syrup. Our first creation, barely a cup. It was the best maple we ever tasted. Oh, we were hooked.
Maple sap is a clear liquid with no flavor, but a faint hint of sweet. It is boiled until the water evaporates and the syrup remains. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. Because boiling creates clouds of steam and intense moisture, making syrup indoors is not recommended. Of course, I tried, but only once. The moisture was so intense, as they say it could peel paint right off the walls.
Maple sugaring was not the only change my family and I were experiencing at that time. My RP had finally progressed to the point that I was legally blind. I knew it was coming. Turning in the car keys was tough but it was important to me that I permanently park my little Ford Fiesta before I caused an accident. RP had determined it was time for me to learn to modify my usual approaches to living.
As for getting to work, I rode with co-workers or family and chipped in for the gas. MCB assigned a counselor. I was having Braille lessons at home and white cane mobility training. I got a CCTV for magnification at my job at UMass. I had been fearing the loss of my job, so it was a great relief to know there were new skills I could learn and adjustments I could make.
The sugaring season is short, about 4 weeks. Temperatures must be below 32 at night and above 40 by day for sap to run. As soon as the overnight temperatures are above 32 degrees and the tree buds swell, sugaring season is over.
The next season brought a barrel evaporator, a well-used gift from a retiring friend. It consisted of a 55-gallon steel barrel with a smokestack and an evaporator pan above the fire.
With the improved setup, we needed more sap and branched out in the neighborhood, tapping more trees, which meant more buckets.
A trip to the Red Bucket Sugar Shack in Worthington resulted in new spouts and used metal buckets with covers that prevent bark, bugs, and rain from getting in. Naturally, we then required a bigger gathering tank and two new plastic barrels.
After several seasons of outdoor sugaring in all kinds of March weather, dreams of overhead protection began to take hold. It was time to build a small shack. We framed it up like a pole barn with rough pine board walls, a large hinged door and windows on the back side. The roof is made of corrugated metal and perched on the peak is a vented cupola with a pulley system to control the vents for escaping steam. Dan moved the barrel evaporator inside. Shelter from the weather was a wonderful advancement.
One improvement led to others. The next trip to Red Bucket resulted in a real sugaring system, an arch, a bigger evaporator pan and a larger smokestack. We added 2 holding tanks,250 and 500 gallons, the smaller one on the truck for gathering and the larger tank to hold sap to flow to the evaporator. With the bigger operation, we needed easy access to wood, so Dan built a lean-to against the east side of the shack.
After work and school and even at times after the sunset, Dan, Jim, Katie and I would go in the pickup truck to gather sap. We’d stop at the side of the road or pull into driveways to check buckets. Dan would carry two full buckets; I could handle one; partials were light enough for the children. Trudging through deep snow while carrying heavy buckets with steel handles which were very painful to hold, was definitely not a storybook activity.
Although I could no longer read temps on the sugar thermometers, stoke the fire, or independently gather sap, I could always help. In the woods, the high contrast between bare trees and snow made it possible for me to follow closely behind Dan’s silhouette ahead. It was impossible to use my cane in deep snow while being weighed down by the heavy bucket.
Taps produced differing amounts of sap, depending on direction, south facing ran better than north. We were careful to under tap to keep the trees healthy.
Back home, we started the fire in the arch, and we poured the sap into the pans. It would take a little time for the sap to boil. Dan would often stay in the shack, tending to things. I would bring dinner. We added an old metal kitchen table and chairs.
In the dark it was difficult for me to carry the food the 400 feet from the house to the shack without a free hand for my cane, I used the sound and feel of the gravel driveway beneath my boots as a cue and adjusted my steps if I veered and bumped into a snowbank. When I was almost there, I could hear Dan’s tiny TV broadcasting March madness.
Whether evaporating outside or in the shack, weekends meant parties and fun. Sunny sugaring days became grand social events. Folks brought lawn chairs to gather ‘round the warm evaporator, enjoy fresh spring air and maple vapors and take in a slice of country life in Hockanum. Although I could no longer clearly see faces, nothing prevented me from joining in on the merriment. We made cups of maple tea with the boiling sap. Confidently, perhaps over confidently, I once ladled hot sap directly on my wrist. Fortunately, my thick jacket absorbed most of the spill so no burn.
With an abundance of syrup, I used my CCTV to seek out recipes. I wrote them out in large print to make maple squares, maple muffins, and a maple cream pie. Once by Accident, Dan made maple cream (spreadable maple candy) in the evaporator. It’s fantastic for toast or as icing for a cake, but maple syrup, straight up is really hard to beat
We gave syrup away to our family, friends, and neighbors for sharing their trees. Since presentation is everything, off to Red Bucket, again for official glass bottles, caps, and “made in Massachusetts” stickers.
This year, Dan and I will frequent the North Hadley Sugar Shack, 6 miles north of us, for pancakes, syrup, cream, and maple cotton candy. Our kids have grown up, married and moved on. The K and J Sugar Shack patiently awaits a new generation.
For us, sugaring was truly a labor of love. It offered precious time with family and friends, made sure the kids were involved in aspects of farming and overall gave all of us a deep appreciation for the beautiful natural resources we have the honor to live amongst.
Ginger Dudkiewicz, now retired from her job at UMass, lives in Hadley, Massachusetts, in the beautiful Pioneer Valley. Contact her at gingerd@stuaf.umass.edu
Maple Muffins
Makes 18 muffins, or bake in a 9 by 13 pan
Ingredients:
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup maple syrup (Grade B is more flavorful for baking)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix wet ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix dry ingredients in a second bowl.
- Combine dry and liquid mixtures together.
- Add chopped nuts. Stir well.
- Pour batter into a well-greased, 9 by 13-inch pan if wanting to cut into squares.
- Bake for about 30 minutes.
- Let cool before cutting if using a baking pan.
- If desired, Top with maple glaze.
Maple glaze
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons real maple syrup
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions:
- Melt butter.
- Whisk in the maple syrup, then whisk in the remaining ingredients.
- If you want to thin it out more to create a thin glaze, add 2 tablespoons milk.