Trying out new things has been a theme I have found myself living by now for several years.   Tapping maple trees at Steinthal was never something I imaged for my family, but so far it has been successful endeavor!  While we are really only doing it only for the fun and novelty, we have been able to enjoy a few good pancake breakfasts over the last couple of weekends!    It also gives us a great excuse for being outdoors, although we rarely need that kind of excuse.  The hardest part was identifying the trees, but we actually thought ahead, did our research and tagged the sugar maple trees late last summer so we knew where to find them early this spring.   The spiles were a gift and while we once tapped a red maple by accident, the learning curve is shallow enough that we have learned from our embarrassing mistake and now are tapping the correct species.     The syrup we have made so far has been excellent!   
A sap bucket hanging on a recently tapped sugar maple tree at Steinthal

Buckets and bags full of sap in the woods at Steinthal