Sugar Shack

The first sign of spring this year comes not from a flower but from the sugar bush. Temperatures above zero degrees during the day and below zero degrees at night are a good sign the sap is flowing.

The sugar bush waiting to be tapped

I'm lucky enough to be able to contribute to a small, family-run maple syrup operation every spring. My contribution is modest—wash a few buckets, rinse a few lids, tap a few trees, keep an eye on the dog—but the reward is significant: as many bottles of delicious, pure maple syrup as I can carry home.

Buckets ready to collect the sap

No matter the number of years the family has been doing this, the first tap and the first drop of sap are always a delight to experience. After yet another year of pandemic restrictions that forced us to stick close to home, being in nature for the annual tapping felt especially freeing.

Sap drips from a spile

The start of this year's maple syrup operation inspired the following poem. It doesn't follow any particular rhyme or pattern. It simply tries to capture the experience of walking into the sugar bush; of preparing the equipment needed to tap the trees, to collect the sap, and to boil it down; and, after a long, slow boil, enjoying the resulting maple syrup. 

Sugar Shack

Down the forest path
beyond the frozen pond
where the bullfrogs
soon will croak their summer song

Across the crooked bridge
over the cold swollen creek
trickles of snowmelt
run fast and deep

Crunch of ice underfoot
crack of a dying season
the woodland is aroused
with a purpose and a reason

Red maples tower in the bush
white trilliums sleep at their feet
Springtime’s gift is waiting
to flow so pure and sweet

Swing open the doors
of the sugar shack
Wash the buckets
rinse the lids
count the hooks
Look to the trees
drill and hammer in hand
Look to the sun
for warmth
Tap the spile gently
until the sap spills
Collect the elixir
from pails overfilled
Let sticky smoke rise
from the midnight boil
Morning’s reward
ready to taste
a thanks for your sugary toil

The sugar shack and sap bucket

From the sugar bush, here's wishing you all a sweet spring.

Happy Gardening!