Spring

With temperatures above freezing at night, and daytime temperatures in the 50s and 60s, the sap stops running and the official sugaring season is over. The buds on the trees are coming soon, the smells of fresh plant growth fill the air. And while the sugaring season is technically over, the clean-up process has yet to begin. Everything must be washed: gathering tanks, pumps and other equipment in the woods, boiling pans, and miles and miles of tubing. The tubing is washed with pressurized water, and it's a huge relief when that sticky job is done. Other equipment, pans, and tools must be cleaned and stored for next year.

By this time, mud season has set it. Mud season is aptly named, as this is when dirt roads and paths become practically impassable, especially those traversed by motorized vehicles. The mud is characteristic to the northeast, where the ground is deeply frozen, and thaws from the top down as the air temperature rises. Often parking and walking the half mile to our house is more convenient than digging or pulling a bottomed out car from the muddy ruts.Sugarhouse clean-up continues, and it's never to early to begin preparing for next year's season. The driveway must be grated, the lawn mowed, garden beds turned over, and seedlings started in the greenhouse. Everything is turning green; new life is all around us.