| Sweet Hollow Maple Farm |
| 582 Holcomb Hollow Rd Shinglehouse, PA 16748 (814)697-6658 |
Be sure to check out their website www.sweethollowmaplefarm.com
Tis the season right now to take a little trip to a Sugar Shack. Most producers are happy to show their skills and we have quite a few in our area, big or small they all have one thing in common. Their love for producing maple syrup. It's tedious work that requires long hours of watching it boil to just the right point to be its best. Some still use buckets to gather the sap, that's a lot of walking and carrying because it takes about 90 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. This is where the "old farmer's" walk comes in. Never carry one bucket at a time. It's less of a struggle to carry one in each hand, besides it evens you out so as not to walk lopsided, so the old farmer always would say. Others have started using the line method that all drains into one tank. Still the lines have to be run and connected together which is also a lot of walking. Some still use wood to cook it down. That also means cutting,hauling and stacking it early enough in the year to be well seasoned. Seasoned wood makes for a hotter burn. Some have started using gas.
Tis the season right now to take a little trip to a Sugar Shack. Most producers are happy to show their skills and we have quite a few in our area, big or small they all have one thing in common. Their love for producing maple syrup. It's tedious work that requires long hours of watching it boil to just the right point to be its best. Some still use buckets to gather the sap, that's a lot of walking and carrying because it takes about 90 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. This is where the "old farmer's" walk comes in. Never carry one bucket at a time. It's less of a struggle to carry one in each hand, besides it evens you out so as not to walk lopsided, so the old farmer always would say. Others have started using the line method that all drains into one tank. Still the lines have to be run and connected together which is also a lot of walking. Some still use wood to cook it down. That also means cutting,hauling and stacking it early enough in the year to be well seasoned. Seasoned wood makes for a hotter burn. Some have started using gas.
Of course like gardeners, farmers, boaters and bikers the maple producers all hope for a good season which means the sap runs plentiful. They say cold nights and warm sunny days are helpful for a good season.
Saturday Kent, Amber, Dick and I went to a very nice family's Sugar Shack to watch them unload sap, boil it and fill jugs. If you have never stood in the midst of sap steam you are missing out on a delicious experience! I compare it to inhaling maple syrup! That steam should be bottled and used for air freshener.
Matt and Kelly have two young sons and live in a beautiful quiet valley. Just them, as in the driveway is a dead end. How wonderful and what a panoramic view.
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| There they are! So much fun visiting with them. |
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| That delicious smelling maple syrup steam. |
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| The maple syrup is ready to be drawn and put in jugs. Matt very carefully watched for the final moment. |
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| Kelly was ready to start filling jugs. Great couple and great team work. |
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| Look who's holding the warm gallon of maple syrup? Oh yeah, he paid for it ;) |
Here is a poem by Robert Frost, one of my favorite authors.
| Evening In A Sugar Orchard |
From where I lingered in a lull in March outside the sugar-house one night for choice, I called the fireman with a careful voice And bade him leave the pan and stoke the arch: 'O fireman, give the fire another stoke, And send more sparks up chimney with the smoke.' I thought a few might tangle, as they did, Among bare maple boughs, and in the rare Hill atmosphere not cease to glow, And so be added to the moon up there. The moon, though slight, was moon enough to show On every tree a bucket with a lid, And on black ground a bear-skin rug of snow. The sparks made no attempt to be the moon. They were content to figure in the trees As Leo, Orion, and the Pleiades. And that was what the boughs were full of soon. |
Robert Frost "Hey Cheryl, what's for supper". A meal in a pie, Shepherd's Pie that is. My version: 1 lb ground chuck fried, mix 1 can of tomato soup and what seasonings you like. Pour into the bottom of a baked pie shell. 2 cups of green beans on top or whatever veggie you like. Spread leftover whipped potatoes on top and bake at 375 till warmed through. That's it! Too busy today and like I always say, "you don't like it, go to the neighbors and eat" ;) Pass it On ♥  |
