West Bend, Wi – The story of covering the Schmidt family as they tapped Maple trees on Sunday took a turn when a text arrived saying, “wear snowpants.” Turns out, you’re actually part of the team tapping 86 trees on a Sunday afternoon. Buckle in as we follow Deanna, Roger, Vanessa, Rodee, and Harley as they hit the woods to start the Maple syrup season.
The weather was cooperative, sunny and in the low 40s. Almost a little damp as everyone, dressed in winter boots, hats, and hoodies climbed in the UTV and headed through the snowy field to the dense stand of trees on the far south side of the farm.
“I need a hammer,” said Rodee who was eager to start pounding the small metal spiles into place. A wooden croque mallet would do the trick. Roger was armed with the drill. “The hole has to be about 2-inches deep, so I put some duct tape on the end of the bit as a marker,” he said.
Deanna and Vanessa were in charge of gathering and hanging the blue plastic bags and white buckets.
The quiet woods was soon filled with the whirr of the drill, pounding of the hammer, grunts from Rodee, shouts of “hammer boy,” and the swooshing sound of snowpants on the run.
It was a full afternoon that included some excitement, Harley lost his red bandana, Rodee lost his gloves, we found a mysterious trail of blood, and the drill bit jumped out of the drill when no one was looking and that forced the ladies to spend about 15 minutes in conversation as a new one was shuttled back from the barn.
A wonderful afternoon with 86 trees tapped and bags/buckets hung and some hot pizza for a lunch time reward.
Now, to wait. For the sap to flow temperatures have to be below freezing at night and above freezing during the day.
Good times. How was your season Maple tree tapping? Have a story to share – send it to judy@washingtoncountyinsider.com
