FROM: NewEngland.com
DIY Maple Sugaring & List of Maple Syrup Supplies
My backyard’s small sugarbush. Every year we put out 15 or so taps.
It took a few decades, but five years ago I finally got around to setting up my own maple operation. “Modest” would be a generous way of describing it. “Tiny” is more accurate. I pored over Backyard Sugarin’, the go-to guide on how to build a shoestring maple-making operation. I came at this with big dreams: Maybe I can sell a few gallons, I thought. Maybe one day I’ll even build my own sugarhouse. You know, give it all up and become a full-time maple syrup maker. Oh, dreams.
The thing is, sugaring has a quick and powerful way of humbling novices. I overboiled an early batch, producing something more akin to candy than syrup. After one long day, I spilled another batch as I attempted to bottle it, and nearly half of what I’d slaved over oozed across my counter. I wanted to curl up in the corner of the kitchen and rock myself to sleep.
But there were some successes, too. I actually did make syrup that first year. I awed my family with the small crop I’d produced and felt sharp pains of agony whenever we, you know, we actually ate it. Can’t we just look at it? I thought. I mean: All. That. Work. No luck. That first year, a few short weeks after I’d made my maple syrup not a trace of it was to be found. So it went the following year. And the year after that.
Over the years my operation has evolved, with a maturing level of methods. My very first batch I tried to cook down on the stove. When that took too long, I turned to the grill and quickly went through a tank only to barely bring my pot of sap to boil. I finally settled on a crude little rig that was made with cinder blocks, disposable cooking pans, and a lot of firewood.