Maple Sugaring in MN

Must be spring, because the saps are running.
Wild River State Park has a wonderful program where you can learn about Maple Syrup and Maple Sugar and how it gets to our tables.
The North Metro Chapter of the MN Wings headed out Sunday.








We watched the evaporation process and learned that the temperature needs to be 7 degrees over boiling. In Minnesota that would be 219, but it would be different in the mountains. It needs to be monitored constantly to prevent burning and to keep the fires burning.








Then we visited a hobby Sugar Shack. A wonderful family had started with a 4-H project and now had their very own sugar shack. I couldn't get any pictures inside because the humidity was so high and my camera fogged up completely.

They use propane to heat the sap. The sap is only 2 to 3 percent sugar and needs to be boiled down. It takes 30 to 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.
When I stepped into the building, I couldn't breathe. The humidity was SO high!
We then headed over to Linda's house and ate pancakes and waffles with SYRUP and bacon and ham fried in SYRUP and then topped it off with ice cream with SYRUP.
Then it started to rain (you know, that MN fluffy rain) and we thought we should head home.
What a day! It was great!