March is tapping season, the time when sugar maple trees give up their first offering of the year,
sap that will be boiled down into syrup. This tradition stretches back centuries.
Taps are carefully placed in mature trees, allowing the clear liquid to drip into buckets. The sap
is boiled for hours over an open
fire or in a sugar shack, slowly
thickening into golden syrup. The
reward for all the effort is a true
taste of the Northwoods. A rich, smoky­ sweet syrup that signals the arrival of
spring long before the snow melts away.