Sweetest Time of the Year!

It's that time of year when the days are getting longer. The darkness feels like it is being pushed back into its normal time. The days are getting warmer and the sun just feels like it is ready to burst out of it's winter blanket. The birds seem to be singing louder as if they know spring is just around the corner. My squirrels seem to be waking up from their little naps, much to my dismay, since they seem to think they are starving and need to eat ALL of my bird seed, EVERY SINGLE DAY!! If they weren't so cute, squirrel dumplings would be on the menu. . This time of year is my most anticipated! More time for the boys to play outside, jumping in puddles, riding bikes and less cabin fever. I love the thought of colors bursting out of their deep winter sleep.  Even the trees are awaiting to burst out in their colorful brilliance. To me it's a sweet time to be in.

With the anticipation of spring, comes the sweetest time of the year, Maple season. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year. Last year we blindly tapped 11 trees. I say blindly because we bought our house in November after all the leaves had fallen and we were guessing which trees were actually Maple. Glad my hubby knows some things about New England trees... Maples are a bit scarce in Zambia and Texas so I was REALLY blind. But surprisingly, we were right on all our taps! We didn't get any oak sap! Is that even possible? We learned a lot of DOS and DON'Ts about maple syrup making last year. We are thankful for friends who gave us great advice!  Before fall was complete last year, we went and marked all of our maples in our yard and discovered about 20 more trees to tap. I'm so excited!

This week, was warm enough to start our taps. We are researching ways to improve our boiling down technique, since our Turkey fryer is not the most efficient way to get it done. Since evaporators are quite expensive, we are researching ways to build our own. But if any of you would like to donate to the Ramos Tribe Maple Syrup evaporator fund, feel free! I will supply you with some fresh maple syrup!  I will let you know later how we manage with any new ideas on evaporating. Excitement is running through my blood! There is just something wonderful about fresh pancakes with fresh maple syrup! Oh man I love this time of year!  I don't know if Keith loves it nearly as much as I do, maybe because the Honey Do list seems to grow. But he loves me and I say he does it  more out of love for his wife. 

Here are some pictures of prepping for Maple season at the Ramos house! Sniff Sniff... I can smell the Maple syrup already!!

No this is NOT a pregnancy test that a few people thought, this is a tree tap and excitement!

 Drilling

 Sap is already flowing out

 

 Oh I love this sight!

 The boys were like vultures waiting for the drops to reach their cups so they can drink up some sweet sap.

 Some trees got double taps! Double your pleasure, double the fun! Sounds like a  gum commercial but this won't be spearmint flavored.... unless I tapped the wrong type of tree.

 Our yard with all the buckets. 24 buckets.....

 I still have 12 more trees that could be tapped.  Plus a few trees that are big enough to tap twice ..... Next year I need a evaporator and a Sugar shack! Happy birthday to me???