Jim's uncle and aunt, Lester and Freeda Eichler, ran a sugar camp during their farming days. Both are now deceased, but their work will not easily be forgotten in our family history because of the oil painting pictured above. Hazel Iiams, also deceased, painted Lester and Freeda at their sugar camp in the middle 1960's. Dina, their little black dog, is also in the pictures. I'll be writing more about the family sugar operation at a later date. I am mentioning it today because this afternoon Jim and I are visiting another local sugar camp for a story that I am working on for the Galion Inquirer.
Steve Erlsten and his brothers run a large maple business, and sell their products at the local farmers markets. Today is tapping day and I want to be there to take pictures. This means bundling up in my warmest clothes and probably popping back into my car to warm up fingers.
The great thing that I like about my life is that most days are spontaneous. I *had* planned a nice, cozy warm day inside sewing. A simple phone call, "we are tapping the trees near the sugar house", changed all that.
So, off I go, out into the frozen blue yonder, camera loaded and ready for action!
Here's a question for you...have you ever tasted real, pure maple syrup? If not, I highly recommend it. It is healthier than maple-flavored corn syrup and because it's flavor is so rich, less is needed. It's the real deal.
Marcheta *gettin' real
We enjoy Quebec-harvested maple syrup, and always take a can to Kiwi friends in New Zealand every time we visit them.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see pix of your outing today, Cheta.
~Phill
Yes, we in North America are blessed to have such a rich treat available to us.
DeleteI'll bet that your Kiwi friends appreciate the sweet bottles of syrup that you bring to them, Phill :)
According to a statistic page, Quebec produces more maple syrup than all of the Canadian provences and the U.S. combined.
The state of Vermont is the leading state in the U.S.A. for maple syrup production.
But Ohio has lots of maple trees, too, so we are very lucky to have locally made maple syrup.