The Sweet Life
Source: Greenfield Recorder 2-23-2018
It’s maple syrup season, but we are more likely to see little hoses (called lines in the vernacular) snaking through the snowy woodlands than tin buckets hanging off the maple trees. Maple sugaring has changed over the years and I got to see the whole process at Sunrise Farm in Colrain.
The Lively family, mom and dad Marilyn and Rocky, with sons Erik and Jordan welcomed me to the steam-filled room in the sugar house, where the maple sap had nearly completed its transformation into sweet syrup. Rocky then ushered me to the top of the three-level space. This room, at the same level as the woodshed, holds a day’s worth of wood chips that have been harvested in late fall. The chips are sent down a chute that slowly and regularly feeds the furnace that heats the steam condenser on the bottom level.