Longer and longer it becomes daylight. Getting hotter and brighter the sun shines. Louder and louder chirping birds outside the window. Louder rings drops from the roofs, and, despite the freezing temperatures at night, the air becomes saturated with different smells inherent in the coming Spring. It is beyond words, it must feel. Outside the city, all of these feelings change the time of year seem especially bright.
In the first days of March I pull out of the “forest” Cabinet special “tackle” waiting for their hour for the whole year. It is a small steel gimlet Soviet time release, and several soft tubes from aquarium filter. Because soon the season will start collecting birch SAP. Lovingly stroking a gimlet, mentally asking him to wait a little longer. And memory helpful hint memories of thirty years ago. When the gimlet we went with my mom for the same juice in the woods. Only when winter has come to the Moscow region on the “schedule” and went too in time, especially without stopping; the season of gathering the juice would begin in early March. Cost the snow to turn black and “sit” and around the trees to form a melt, we went with tin cans and put postawski first into the snow. Remember how rare and slowly dripped the first transparent sweet drops from the tube into the container, as in a week birch drops gathered momentum, and in the midst of the “season” the cans were filled literally overnight. But all the time of the collection then lasted four weeks, sometimes more.
In recent decades the natural calendar as ridiculous moved almost a month in advance, the winters were mild, protracted spring. And now the first postawski according to my notes it is reasonable to set no earlier than the last week of March. Previously, just not dripping. If at all only to the Annunciation of the SAP flow begins. But goes fast, as if making up for lost time. Two weeks and all. Then have burst the buds and young green herbs eloquently announces the completion of SAP flow. And then only remains to close up holes from gimlet. I usually put them in a small wooden copic.
In the past tin cans that were replaced by plastic bottles and plastic bottles, but the gimlet and the tubes are a success so far. Of course, they don’t collect the juice on an industrial scale, as, for example, makes it a relative of mine in the village in the next area. There are billet gallons for future use. In birch wooden wedge is driven in, it fills the bucket, and by the end of the season is filled sorokametrovoy can. “What about birch?” — always ask this question sister. “Normally the birch, and every year she collected,” she says.
Well, the village people has its own idea of the norm of production, and we have ours. I don’t have industrial scale, and in densely populated suburbs it’s important not only to recruit a couple of two-liter bottles of spring vitamin, for myself, but also not to ruin the trees, and successfully hide from prying curious eyes of their postawski. In the forest-then our many walks. Of course, I was absolutely do not mind drinking the juice of soldiers from neighboring parts, is clearly running AWOL on the environment, but not for every dysfunctional contingent of my hunt for juice. Tried it once, masked, and after fifty meters he saw “scum village”. So now we approach the question of choosing the place more seriously. Gonna go over the intended area, look for traces of human activity, see if there are any grills near abandoned or left with an eye to the future picnic, and only then begin their “ministering”. The gimlet drilled in the birch the hole, inches four or five deep, insert the tube, make sure the juice is dripping and he, a tube is lowered into baklazhko and masked by the surrounding landscape. Or branches, or snow, if there is, or bark with dried spruce that fell near, or dry branches. Now deadwood a lot, so a disguise is easy. Bottle for you can secure with tape or fasten logs to insure that fell. You can use not only the tube, but tin and staples, which are also cut at an angle in the birch. But I prefer with tubes, used. At one time I put about three or four pastamusik volume one and a half — two liters. More do not see sense: and noticeable can be, and do not want the product for nothing was missing. I don’t use, and instead of compote. Leave for two or three days, depending on the intensity of SAP flow. As a rule, at first the bottles are recruited slowly, night frosts slow things down. And by the middle of April to check and collect the “harvest” can in principle — put in the evening, remove in the morning.
If the first postawski was acting in the snow, I only thawed the ground.
I had a chance to collect the juice and in Karelia. There this easier. Even masking is not necessary. Put on the road to posluh the evening and in the morning go with current and you already full bottle. An order of magnitude more people there dripping.
And how much bliss, when the resort early in the morning in her sacred place and remove the sample directly from the birch. It seems that this first juice is filled with some magical action that will give strength and energy throughout your body. And in that moment when you Wake up after a long winter and with all your being, feel that Spring is here now, just came!
