Good Maple Sugar Weather This Year: Maybe at Least One Agricultural Gamble Will Pay Off

Spring is here! Yesterday Sophie and her Dad went down to St-Pie, the small town the Bousquets are from, to help out with the sugaring off. The sap has been running for a good ten days now, and syrup production was in full swing.

The sugar bush belongs to one of her uncles, now in his 70s. He was in charge, but he was assisted by relations of all ages. Among them was a grandson, now 16, who has been dreaming of becoming a dairy farmer since he was 6, and who now is trying to learn all he can about maple syrup so he can carry on the tradition.

Sugaring off requires days with temperatures above freezing but nights when it freezes well. The forecast for the next few days calls for just that kind of weather so perhaps it will be a good year. Tant mieux, particularly because a couple of years ago Sophie's uncle only had one day of good flow since the temperatures jumped from really frigid to balmy almost overnight.

Ah farming! You've got to be a gambler to get involved, and all the rest of us are endebted to you too.