Last week we spent the first afternoon of spring at the Arboretum, exploring the tapped maple trees there and also looking for signs of spring.
The Arb uses different equipment for tapping trees — most notable are the bright blue bags, which make it easy to see the sap inside.
They also run these hoses between taps — and use the law of gravity — to collect sap from multiple trees. The Arb collects a lot of sap. Last year, they made 111 gallons of syrup. And if you figure that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup, that means they collected nearly 4,500 gallons of sap last spring. That’s quite impressive!
Another impressive tidbit to share concerns our watch for signs of springy-ish-ness. It’s impressive how much snow has melted since our Arboretum trip two weeks before this. Remember how we couldn’t find a single bench to sit on?
And remember the magnolia tree with the nearly invisible bench?
Well, the snow is melting and the girls found multiple places to sit!
Also, the tips of the magnolia’s branches are {maybe} looking a tad bit fuzzier.
In closing, I must credit the cranberries for their bold color contributions while we await the arrival of spring flowers and all.
Thank you, cranberries. And happy spring, y’all!
Starlight Writer 