our students and staff traveled "down the road a piece" tuesday to the orebed sugar shack.
i think the taste for maple sugar is something not everyone has, but oh, for me walking into the sugar house was far better than an ice cream shop. or candy store. jeff was a superior host.
and this is his evaporator! i don't even know if it's called that because it's so high tech. the last sugar operation i visited was wood fired and rustic. this is an organic operation, even the filtering system containing diatomaceous earth and cotton paper is screened to insure it's organic.
and afterwards we got samples... little cups of maple syrup, maple sugar candy, muffins and cookies made with maple, maple "chips" (little candy chips). our kids enjoyed jeff, asked lots of questions, and sampled the goodies.
a huge thank you to jeff, for the visit, and the excellent sampling that we all enjoyed.
we traveled through amish country, and these are corn stooks, not very well photographed.
and sunset, when the wind was blowing and the rain spat, this was the back meadow. a gift.
corn stooks. i like those.
ReplyDeletei am noticing how student look the same everywhere. and i do love maple anything....
What a bizarre contraption. Nothing like my grandfather's old fashioned wood-fired evaporator and his carefully constructed shack with ventilation gaps between the planking. (I think I have photos somewhere - I'll have to dig those out someday.) How I miss that sweet steam!
ReplyDeleteI suppose if this new-fangled thing makes real maple syrup, I can cope with it. :) Please tell Courtney that we miss her over at the Arts Council!
it was a bit steamy and smelled lovely! jeff's operation is certified organic, no hot dogs boiled in the sap (thank god).
ReplyDeletei'm with Jude
ReplyDeletecorn stooks are magic
so is
the thought of maple syrup
great field trip.........my school is too cheap for that......field trips used to be the best times for us in elementary school..........
ReplyDeleteahh--our program is very expensive, but one of the perks is we have a bus and a driver/aide. and jeff required NO fee!
ReplyDelete