MONTEREY — Shelley Thomas’ preschool class at Highland Elementary School is full of smart kids. These youngsters offer you clear directions on how to make maple syrup this year.
Chances are pretty good these youngsters know a lot more about maple trees and sugar water than most of their peers in Virginia.
After all, you can’t live in Highland County without picking up a bit of maple knowledge! Here’s what they say:
• Poke a hole in the tree. Put bucket on tree. Water comes out of the tree. We eat it! Put it on waffles and eat it! I love maple donuts!
~ Aiden, age 4
• First, find a maple tree. It looks like your hand and it’s that tall (puts both hands up in the air). Put a hole in the tree with a ham it. Put water in the hole. Put the water in the oven for five more minutes. Then it’s maple syrup! Make some pancakes, put syrup on it, put butter on it. I eat just one pancake. Charlie eats one pancake, Daddy eats one pancake, Mommy eats one pancake, Richie eats two!
~ Atlee, age 4
• Go in the woods and find a maple tree. It smells sweet. You shoot the gun and make a hole. Then we call the people to come to get an M&M. A squirrel comes out of the tree. You scare him away. He likes the sugar water because it’s yummy! You hang the bucket on the tree. Take the bucket to the barn. Put it on the stove for two minutes. Get it really hot! Put the maple syrup on ice cream. Yummy!
~ Aubrey, age 4
• My parents tell me it’s a maple tree. Drill a hole in the maple tree with a drill. Mommy makes the hole. Use a bucket to put the maple syrup in. Mommy makes three pancakes and I eat it!
~ Bonnie Jean, age 4
• Go find a maple tree down at the river. My Daddy drills the hole and then Daddy puts the sugar water in the bucket. He puts the buckets on a trailer. We got a lot of buckets! I can’t remember how much buckets. My daddy does the bowl over the fire. Then you get some wood, Then you make a fire and then boil and boil. We cook it every day for hours and hours. We are going to do one more day of it next time. We are going to the Maple Festival. Daddy’s getting his truck fixed. Mommy makes seven forty pancakes for me! I eat seven hundred gallons of maple syrup! I like to move, put my finger on the syrup and eat it.
~ Colt, age 4
• Look for line ’em up trees. I cut the tree down, make a tiny hole and then drink it in my mouth. Then make maple water and it tastes like maple syrup. And my daddy caught a mushroom fish and a syrup cake for my Mommy. I like to eat maple doughnuts, maple cupcakes, maple gummy treats and maple ice cream is my favorite! I don’t like maple cotton candy! Maple cotton candy and maple syrup make me hiccup! My mommy has a waffle maker. She makes five waffles for William and Calvin. Just five! Mommy and Daddy eat maple ice cream for breakfast. My mommy says I can’t eat ice cream for breakfast!
~ Jesse, age 4
• Put a bucket on the tree, a maple syrup tree. Make a hole in the tree with a drill. First, we put a bucket on a tree and the water sips into the bucket. Close the lid so it won’t spill. Put it inside. My mom does that. We heat it in the microwave for five seconds. We make ice cream and pour the maple syrup on the ice cream. We put it on bread.
~ Junior, age 5
• Go find a maple tree at my house. It has syrup. Drill a hole in the tree with a screwdriver. Hang a red bucket on the tree. When the bucket gets full of sap, I drink it. It tastes good! Put the sap in the microwave for two minutes. Now you have maple syrup! My daddy makes two pancakes. Pour maple syrup on pancakes. My mommy likes pancakes. My daddy doesn’t like maple syrup. There is only one pancake left. My daddy eats with no maple syrup. He puts salsa on it.
~ Lali, age 5
• You find a maple tree on the street. I know it’s a maple tree ‘cause I asked ‘em. Drill a hole with a screwdriver. Hang the bucket on the tree. The sugar water drips in the bucket. It takes forever! When it’s full, you dump it in the bucket. Pour it out in the sink. You put water and flour in the tub. You stir it for four minutes. Pour in hot water. Stir it around a lot! We eat it with a spoon. Pour it on the two pancakes. My momma makes two pancakes. Put the extra, extra syrup on your lips for lip gloss!
~ Layla, age 4
• Find a maple tree outside. It’s really tall. Drill a hole with a drill. Hang the bucket on the tree. Get the sugar water. Take the sugar water to the barn. Build a fire and get the sugar hot. It gets hot in one minute. My mom makes two pancakes. Put the maple syrup on pancakes. Put the maple syrup in the refrigerator so it can get cold.
~ Leah, age 5
• Look for a maple syrup tree outside. You know it is a maple tree ‘cause it has maple syrup inside of it. Put a hole in it with a tool. Hang a bucket for maple syrup.
~ Lenny, age 4
• Go right outside and find a tree. I don’t know how you know it’s a maple tree. I guess you ask it! Make a hole with a drill. At night, it’s in the ground. It comes up in the morning. The water spouts. You drip the water in the bucket. When it’s full, you dump it in the ground. It has bugs in it! Put the water in the microwave for I don’t know how long! Put the maple syrup in a jar. Mommy makes five pancakes. I dump maple syrup on my pancakes. I give maple syrup to my friends.
~ Ryder, age 4
• Go in the woods with nobody, just me and my dad. You know it’s a maple tree ‘cause it smells like gummy bears. I use a gun to make a hole in the tree. Make it one hundred feet up the tree. Hang the bucket on a spout. Sugar water comes out of the hole and goes in the bucket. When it is full, you put it in another bucket. Put them in Mommy’s kitchen. Build a fire. Then boil it for one hundred days. Then it’s maple syrup! Mommy makes one hundred pancakes. Pour maple syrup all over the pancake! I eat all of them! Chickens hate maple syrup because it makes them sticky and they die!
~ Scott, age 4