Sunday the 17th we went to Pemberton Park for their sugaring demonstration. Pemberton Park is situated on a 262 acre 1700's estate. The 1700's house is a working museum with gardens, an orchard, and 2 out buildings recreated to period times. They also have many nature trails totaling 4 miles!
The demonstration was headed by the education director Chad Ford. We started with a movie on the process of making maple syrup in the recreated tobacco drying barn. Since the Eastern Shore doesn't have many sugar maples Chad tapped a few red maples, named after the red buds they have during the spring. Summer carried a yoke with 2 buckets with very little sap in them to the cauldron they had set up.
Chad showed us how after a couple of days of boiling the syrup had started to turn a dark brown instead of the clear sap we had just seen. He then had us taste real syrup from Vermont and fake Wal-mart brand stuff. We didn't know which was which and had to guess based upon taste, color, and texture. We all got it right! The "real stuff" was not as sticky nor as sweet as the Wal-mart brand but you could definitely taste the maple flavor!
Once the demonstration was over we went on a nature walk. It was so fun and we would have stayed longer if it hadn't of started raining. The day was well spent. The demonstration was interesting and the nature trails beautiful. I am looking forward to going again soon.....
Note: Blogger wouldn't let me post the pictures the way I wanted to so I guess this will have to do. *sigh*
-Monika
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