Maple syrup sap suckers 2008!

Well, there are normally 4 seasons in a year but we have many more than that here in northwestern Wisconsin! There is Winter, Sapping season, Spring, Planting season, Haying season, Summer, Threshing season, Harvest, Fall, Coon hunting season and Deer hunting season. Here, our friends lent us their kids during Sapping season in March 2008. It takes a lot of hands to tap the trees, string the line, put up buckets or bags, and then collect the sap. We use a team of horses to get in and out of the woods simply because it gets pretty muddy and tough going with a tractor or other equipment. Been doin it like this since 1987, when my husband and I met and broke in his team of quarterhorses for the job. Since then, we have switched to Belgian drafts...much easier for them to pull the heavy load of sap out of the woods!