Reply #29: Well, I made 20 some quarts of maple syrup in 2009.

[Denninmi]

I gave most of that away to various relatives and friends. It cost me nothing except for the price of my canning lids and bands, which is minimal since I buy those on clearance every year at the end of the season. It was a tremendous amount of work, but I really enjoyed spending all of those crisp March evenings outside under the stars boiling sap in a big open pan over a wood fire. Alas, this past year, we had an incredibly SHORT season due to the weather, and I only got 4 quarts. But, it will be sap time again in about 3 months, maybe even a little less, and I've been stockpiling fire wood all summer for it.