nichepoetryandprose

poetry and prose about place

Posts Tagged ‘cold night

maple syrup ups and downs

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It may be a short maple syrup season this year.  The weather has not been cooperative.  In order for the sap to run, warm days are great, but the nights need to be cold.  When the temperatures fall below zero, the sap in the tree runs from the crown to the roots.  When the day is warm and sunny, the sap runs back up to the canopy.  If there is no cold night, no sap. 
So far we have collected about 40 liters of sap from our 10 trees and I have 3 bottles (each 500 ml or two cups) of lovely dark syrup!  This compares to 136 liters of sap last year on the same date, from 12 trees.

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Cold night, warm day

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Icicles build

from the spile

sweet sickles of sap

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© Jane Tims 2012