Sapping {Part Two}

| Pearl

Hello, friends!

I hope you are all having a lovely week! Today, I bring you the next part in my tapping trees series. If you missed part one, you can check it out right here.

(This post is shorter than usual to due to some internet problems. That is also why this post is out on Monday instead of Friday. )

Once we tap the trees, we have to do multiple rounds of collecting each week. We usually go up two-three times a week and bring buckets of sap down.

We first run around checking buckets in our main grove and seeing which ones have sap in them. Zekey is over heading over to check buckets in this picture.

Once we check the buckets, we bring new (empty) buckets over and pull the full buckets off the trees.

Then, we pour the sap into an empty bucket.

Once it’s in, we put a lid on it and carry it over to the Ranger. (Before we had our Ranger, we would carry all the buckets down the hill.)

From there, we load up the buckets and repeat with each of the trees.

One evening, we went collecting right as the sun was setting, it was so pretty! I love how the sun is shining through the trees here.

And also, this one! All the pine-trees make it even more beautiful. ❤

Once we’re done with the collecting, we drive all the buckets down in the Ranger and bring them into the mudroom, where we have our Reverse Osmosis (RO) set up. And for this part, we have a video! It’s not the greatest, but you get the picture from watching it. So here it is!

Did you enjoy the video? I hope it was interesting and made sense. =D The reverse osmosis process removes about half of the water from the sap. Typically in reverse osmosis one would want to keep the clear freshwater, but in our case, we want to keep the sweet more concentrated sap instead.

After we run it through the RO, we bring it back outside to the boiler. The sap sits in a large pan (about 3 feet by 3 feet and 12 inches deep) on top of the stove. We boil the sap so it lets out steam for the sugar content to increase and the water content to decrease. It takes about 35-40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.

It takes a LOT of wood, so dad and the twins were splitting it while we were boiling.

We keep adding sap to the boiler as it boils to continue the process of removing water. We boiled for about 13 hours to boil around 80 gallons of sap into about 4 gallons of syrup. (The RO removed the first 80 gallons of water for us.)

And we’re going to stop there! In the next post in this series, I’ll share the bottling and finishing process, as well as the sign-up for the giveaway. Expect that in the next two or three weeks!

What’s your favorite thing to put syrup on? Do you have any questions about the process?

Thank you so much for reading, friends, and have a wonderful day!

28 thoughts on “Sapping {Part Two}”

  3. We do the whole tapping process, but we live on 1/3 acre, so we only get to tap 8 trees…. I think its so interesting how you were able to get so much water out by the filtering…. We just get out the big pot, and boil it down.
    The video made tons of sense!

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  4. This is a very interesting post! Thank you! The video is really cool, and those pictures of the sun shining through the trees are so pretty ❤
    My family has some friends that make maple syrup as well!

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  5. Your writing is wonderful! I enjoyed sap 1&2. Getting syrup is a big job. It is so cool to see the whole family helping. I enjoyed the video. I felt like I was right there experiencing sapping! 😊The only syrup I like is the real syrup, not the stuff with all the addituves in it. I like syrup on blueberry pancakes. I also put a little syrup in sweet potato pie.

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    1. Thank you, Ms. Vicky! ❤ It really is – I'm glad! I know, it's so nice to be able to make our own too. I've never had it sweet potato pie. but
      it sounds delicious. =D

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  7. I enjoyed seeing the process! The video was fun and I liked all the pictures! Syrup on pancakes is great. 🙂 I thought it was kind of you to ask how we’re doing in your newsletter and I’m doing well and am blessed! Hope the same is true for you and your family.

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  8. Well, I thought I posted, then I lost it. I enjoyed seeing the process! The video was nice and I liked all the pictures. Syrup is great on pancakes! 🙂 It was kind of you to ask in your newsletter how we’re doing, and I’m doing well and am blessed! I hope the same is true for you and your family.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Ah, that’s strange – It’s happened to me a few times though. Ooh, yes, and waffles too. I’m glad to hear that. ❤ And yes, we're all doing well, thank you. ❤ 😀

      Liked by 1 person

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  10. Maple syrup season- is MY FAVORITE!

    Syrup is best in coffee btw.

    Your edits on the video were cool!

    ❤️

    Like

    Reply
  14. Pingback: Monthly Review: March 2022 – The Homeschooled Girl
  15. Pingback: Sapping {Part three} + the Giveaway – The Homeschooled Girl

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