Yesterday, 22 litres of sap were boiled down to produce this…
We had pancakes for supper.😋
About 100 litres more to boil.
Maple Sap Boil Down
Category: Foraging
Maple Sap Collection – Day 3
Checked the maple sap buckets today and they were full. I commandeered cider containers that were destined for another project and collected 30 litres.
I think I’ll need to invest in more (and larger) containers.
Maple Sap Collection – Day 1
It’s spring and I’ve decided to try my hand at making maple syrup. I borrowed unused buckets and spiles (taps) from my neighbour. After the buckets and spiles were cleaned, I drilled five maples, inserted the spiles and hung the buckets.
Dripping started immediately.
Wild Grapes
Before leaving New Brunswick 24 years ago, I don’t recall seeing wild grapes. While clearing trees and scrub on CA’s property over the past summer, I found many large vines growing. I considered them a nuisance, as they were strangling the trees and difficult to pull out. When the clusters of fruit started appearing, I realized what they were.
In early September, we spent an evening harvesting wild grapes from an accessible patch.
After the grapes were cleaned and sorted , CA made a small batch of delicious jelly.
She also started the fermentation process for vinegar (left) and wine (right).
The wine did not turn out well. (We may try again next year.)
However, we were rewarded with a 750 ml jar of a very nice vinegar.
Check out the Forager | Chef‘s instructions for making vinegar from fruit scraps.
Looking forward, we will do some research on how we might to ‘train’ the vines to produce a more accessible harvest.