It's a little known fact that the Keebler elves earn pocket money making maple syrup when things are slow at the cracker factory. Why else do you suppose they live in that hollow maple tree?
Lots of Northern New Englanders' also make extra income "sugaring". Having made a few gallons, I can tell you it's not easy money. Consider all the accoutrements required to go into production. You'll need maple trees to provide the sap. You'll also need a sugarhouse (i.e.: some place to hide while you boil 40 gallons of sap to yield each gallon of syrup). There's entertainment value in having all that water vapor billowing out of the sugarhouse. From time to time, a tourist from the Midwest will run up yelling, "Your barn's on fire! Your barn's on fire!"
Now, how will you get the sap to the sugarhouse, by carrying buckets? These days, the trees are piped together using plastic tubing. No kidding. The tubing terminates at the sugarhouse which had better be downhill from the trees. If not, the backflow will cause the trees to swell and explode, spraying sap all over the county and frightening away the bears.
You'll also need lots of wood for fuel. Just because you have maple trees doesn't mean you have fire wood. The irony is that cutting the maple trees for fuel reduces your volume of sap. It's getting complicated, isn't it? Sure you want to know more?
You'll also need an arch (fancy talk for a woodstove) and a boiling pan. The boiling pans are not the same as the ones in your kitchen. These look like a 4 X 8 foot mouse maze designed to evaporate the water as the sap runs from the start end to the finish end of the pan. The sap that runs from the trees should not be confused with the sap that runs back and forth feeding the woodstove.
Once the weather warms up so that below freezing nights alternate with above freezing days, the sap starts running. As they say, "You have to make hay while the sun shines," or something like that. The point is that when the sap runs, you make syrup. That's all you'll do, day and night, so don't plan on time to make a beer run to the grocery - you'll be too busy. Sure you want to get involved with this?
Don't forget the other necessities, many of which you already have around the house. If not, there'll be additional startup costs: chain saw ($200); pickup truck ($15,000); fancy cans and jugs to store the syrup ($375); first aid supplies ($50); lots of first aid supplies ($150); beer ($200); ambulance and emergency room fees ($3,500).
There, that should just about do it. However, by my calculations, figuring on the selling price of $35 per gallon and given the average annual production for a "hobbyist," you'll be way ahead by buying your genuine maple syrup from one of New England many maple producers, or shopping online. Cheaper, yes, but not nearly as exciting.
Bio: Tony Lolli is a writer and outdoor guide from East Burke, VT, who almost always finds his way home. E-mail: tonylolli@yahoo.com.
