In a previous post, I noted how maple sap flows through tubes into a large tank for holding until it can be pumped into a mobile tank for transport to the evaporator. The same holds true of trees tapped off site. Williams Farm taps trees on neighbouring properties like the Sugar Ridge Retreat Centre which has a good woodlot.
Five years ago, I had the privilege of accompanying John and a buddy of his on a midnight run to Sugar Ridge. For a couple weeks in March, you are the sap’s bitch. If a tank is full, you empty it immediately because you can’t collect any more sap while the tank is full. If it’s midnight, you do it at midnight.
John and his buddy drove out on the tractor. I followed behind in their pickup truck. I’m a city boy, so what do I know about pickup trucks? It felt to me like I was in that opening scene from Jurassic Park, the one where they take delivery of the velociraptors. The site was pitch dark except for the lights from the tractor and the pickup truck. There was a lot of noise from the idling engine and from the pump transferring sap into the mobile tank. The ground was beginning to thaw and it was muddy in places. In fact, I nearly got the pickup truck stuck in the mud and worried I might replay the scene where Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) tries to winch his way out of a jam and ends up getting poisonous spit in his eyes.
Referring to my notes about the evening, I see that I had to work fast. I barely had time to set up my tripod and get off a few exposures before they were done. A testament to their efficiency, I suppose. We went back to the farm and, parking alongside the barn, pumped the sap into a tank that sits above the evaporator. Unlike Jurassic Park, nothing snatched us into the tank and devoured our arm. Maple syrup production doesn’t come with those kinds of risks.
