The days have suddenly become warm and sunny and the nights are frosty -- the perfect conditions for tree sap to start running and just what many rural people have been waiting for... time to start tapping their trees. A true sign that winter is over.
Tapping trees and dealing with the sap can be formidable work -- I've helped with the annual tapping at Camphill Village Nottawasaga -- but I decided that I just want to drink the sap, not evaporate it into syrup. The syrup I can buy later at Camphill -- they started tapping their trees last week.
This morning I collected everything that I needed: a drill, a bucket, a hammer, and an antique spigot that I had bought last fall as a curiosity. Just drilling the hole resulted in an immediate rush of sap and with the installed spigot the sap neatly drops into the pail.
My pail is admittedly improvised -- I'm worried that it might give way from the weight of the sap once it becomes full. No protective lid either, as there would be on a proper bucket. I will go back this evening to bring it home.
