Monday, January 4, 2010

Maple Sugar Time

One of the signs that spring was coming was when all the maple sugar camps scattered across the countryside were once again in use. There were lots of sugar maple trees in the area and many families looked forward to supplementing their income by boiling down the sap to make maple syrup every spring. It was a lot of hard work trudging through the woods drilling holes into the trees and setting up the taps and pails and then checking them every day, dumping the sap into a tank that they pulled through the woods on a sleigh and take it back to the camp where they boiled it down to maple syrup.

We didn't have very many maple trees on our little acreage so we weren't too caught up in all the action. We had our own things to do to prepare for the season. Daddy would try to make a lot of extra furniture to show at a booth in the annual Maple Festival in a nearby town.

We children had to take turns every year to go along to the festival with Mom and Daddy on Saturday. I could hardly wait until it was my turn to go. There were so many things to see. With booths filled with every imaginable craft and homemade things and of-course plenty of maple syrup and and maple candy.

In the afternoon we were able to watch the parade. I enjoyed seeing the different bands but what I looked forward to the most was the float with the Maple Queen. She always looked so pretty and happy as she rode by smiling and waving at everyone. I wished I could do that some day but knew I would never have a chance to fulfill that dream.

At school children would come and share maple candy that they had made. Recess was spent licking the pieces of sticky maple candy. Some of the more daring boys would try to chew it and would always end up with their mouth stuck shut for a while, while the others laughed at them.

16 comments:

  1. I hope that one mean boy's mouth got stuck shut for a while!!! Did you have an Aunt named Jemima - that would've been a hoot! I love stories like this ~ we city people who just go buy a bottle will never realize what goes into the real process of true syrup. So neat!! ♥

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  2. I would absolutely love to see in person the whole process of getting the maple out of the tree and making it into sugar...fascinating!!

    Wishing you a Happy New Year as I make my return to blogging :D

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  3. Oops I meant to say syrup not sugar.

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  4. This is a great post!! What a wonderful memory to have and to share!! My husband is from Wisconsin and has fond memories as well...

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  5. My people made extra money from making cane syrup from sugarcane...not the same taste, but a similar, very ardous process, too. But done in the heat, not the cold part of the year!!!

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  6. Thank you for you kind words!
    I have updated the post hope to see you enter the raffle :)
    God bless!

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  7. Your post made me wish it was March already and Maine Maple Sunday was here!!
    I've never had sticky maple candy, just the melt in your mouth sugar kind, is there a recipe?

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  8. I just wanted to say that I don't comment much, but I love your blog. Thanks for taking the time for those of us who read along! H

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  9. It is interesting to hear about how others live and I enjoyed the way you shared it. Have a great week.

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  10. What an endearing post. Sounds like you have some lovely memories. Thank you for visiting my blog today.
    Blessings, GG

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  11. What a lovely blog! I just had an enjoyable visit and plan to come back and read much more! So interesting! Thank you for commenting on my blog, also. Kerrie

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  12. Thought I would drop by and thank you for your comment and read a little, looking forward to coming back and reading some more. Wish my kitchen were bigger so I could try your fruitcake recipe, that sounds so fun!

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  13. I remember my dad taking us to the local Maple Syrup farm each year. OH the sugar candy was SO good.. I wish we could do that with our kids, good memories.

    Thanks for sharing yours!

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  14. I look forward to maple sugar season where we live. I love to see the buckets on the trees although a lot of tubbing is being used these days.
    It's also a sign that spring is on the way!
    Sunny :)

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  15. What a great memory. I visited a maple sugar camp a couple of times when we lived in Ohio. I love the maple sugar candy. Thanks for sharing.

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  16. We once stopped at a New Hampshire farm that made and sold maple syrup and candy. It was delicious, but sounds like a lot of work to prepare.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.