The retired physician is reminded of his Hippocratic Oath

Spring and sap running go hand-in-hand

By Matt Bewley (Contact) | The Daily Journal
Published Thursday, March 22, 2007

There’s something special about the taste of maple syrup taken straight from the tree, boiled down and poured onto your morning waffle. Marguerite and Budd Andrews have been making maple syrup for 25 years in the woods north of Erhard, and Tuesday had a group of guests with the Otter Tail County Historical Museum out to participate in the primitive, but wholly satisfying process. They came from all over the county, big folks and little, to get a taste of the maple syrup they helped make. They made soup and heated waffles over the fire. The kids were busy making walking sticks and spiles, the wooden taps used to draw the sap from the maple trees. “I thought it was pretty fun,” Perham fifth-grader Megan McCrary said. “It was kind of hard, doing the part where the sap comes out.” All around were coffee cans hanging underneath the spiles on the trees, ready to catch the sap. Of course, Budd said, not all maple trees are ready to let their sap run when you want it. “We have to talk to the trees and tell them what a good job they were doing,” he said. “If that doesn’t work, Dave (Ellison) said he has a chain-saw we can point at them.” Sweet-talk or threats, it’s still up to the trees, in the end. “We’ve had years when we’ve gotten 28 quarts on a Tuesday,” Marguerite said, “and others when we’ve gotten 26 quarts in seven weeks.” The sap gathered by Tuesday’s group was poured into a large rectangular pan over an open fire and brought to a low boil to reduce it down. “There are about two gallons in there,” Marguerite said. “It will boil down into about three quarts.” The smoke smelled sweet and woody and everyone stood around it in the forest, enjoying each other’s company while the fruits of their labor simmered. When it was finally time, the syrup was poured off into a milk can. They had to scrape the bottom of the pan. “This is maple syrup the way the Indians used to make it,” Marguerite said. Smiles spread across the faces of those gathered, satisfied with the day’s work.