Rookie82
Gold Member
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2014
- Messages
- 2,407
Most definitely. I am the 5th generation in my family to do this. In my area 150 years ago, every family were farmers. Everyone had livestock and crops and gardens and just got along by providing for themselves as much as possible, and maybe make a few extra dollars along the way. Almost every long-time family in the area can trace back that their made maple syrup.
In those days, early spring is a slow time of year for farmers. Too early to start working the ground, and all the animals are kept in the barn. So it worked out that for 3 weeks everyone would tap their maple trees and make syrup, or boil it all the way until it was pure sugar.
My great great grandfather wrote that he would make 20 gallons of syrup per year to supply his own family, with 10 gallons of that boiled down all the way until it was pure maple sugar. And that quantity was enough to keep the family with sugar for baking for 12 months. At that time, cane sugar was rare and expensive, so most families just went without it. Some of the trees he was collecting sap from in the late 1800's are trees I am still getting maple sap out of today. And he even planted a few saplings back then, that I am now hanging buckets on.
Sadly, things have changed a lot in the past 50 years. There used to be over 200 syrup makers in our area, now there is maybe 30. It is just too much work and too expensive, and not much profit in it. Back in the old days it was common for a family to have 8+ kids, and so there was a lot of help. Not the case any longer, and often kids grow up and move away.
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She was having nothing but manual.
