Look what the trees grew over night

Yep it is that time of year. Last night I went to bed after my glorious day of church and snow shoeing, slept amazingly well, woke up and looked out the window...WHAT? That was fast. These buckets showed up everywhere in the area, literally over night. Ok, next year March 1st I'm going out to claim MY trees. Seriously I'm going to try this out.

Thanks to Wikipedia:
Traditionally, maple syrup was harvested by tapping a maple tree through the bark and into the wood phloem, then letting the sap run into a bucket, which required daily collecting. (Ok, maybe not, DAILY, do I have time for this....mmmmm, but think of the syrup!)

Vermont is the biggest U.S. producer, with 450,000 US gallons in 2007, followed by Maine with 225,000 US gallons and New York with 224,000 US gallons. (Maybe I should just make some at my friends' houses in Vermont! ;)!)

Maple syrup Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 260 kcal 1090 kJ
Carbohydrates 67.09 g - Sugars 59.53 g - Dietary fiber 0 g Fat 0.20 g Protein 0 g Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.006 mg 0% Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.01 mg 1% Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.03 mg 0% Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.036 mg 1% Vitamin B6 0.002 mg 0% Folate (Vit. B9) 0 μg 0% Vitamin C 0 mg 0% Calcium 67 mg 7% Iron 1.20 mg 10% Magnesium 14 mg 4% Phosphorus 2 mg 0% Potassium 204 mg 4% Zinc 4.16 mg 42%

Here are the nutritional facts on Maple syrup. 3.5 oz, that is about a half a glass of water... that seems like a lot of syrup. Oh well, maybe I just don't like my waffles swimming in syrup. But look at all the zinc and iron. What a lovely way to get your zinc and iron for the day! In the name of getting my minerals, I'll let my waffles swim! ;)

I'll have to let you all know what happens next year; if I get a spot in the maple monopoly!


Also, for those of you who have been anxiously waiting: the new pony has a name. We went out today for a lovely hour 20 minute ride today and it hit me. So, my mountain bike's name is Sir Issac, as in Newton, because when I got him I was working on my thesis and it was Newtonian physics I was using to figure things out, like muscle power. Well, now I think of Euler mechanics. The difference is that Leonhard Euler (pronounced 'oiler') agreed with Newton but rewrote Newtons laws (like an object stays at rest unless acted upon by an external force), which only are valid for particles, to apply to rigid bodies. So they are similar but have different application to the object defined. We derive the Euler equations of motion using the Lagrangian method, so if I am so lucky to get a cyclocross bike soon, I already have a name for him :)! So my mountain bike: Sir Issac, and my road stallion: Euler are going to be very good friends to me. See you get it, they seemingly do the same thing, the wheels go round because you push on the pedals but they have two different applications! OH yes, I am ever so clever.