Maple sugar time!
We were in PA this weekend at my childhood home to visit my parents and celebrate my grandpa’s 95th birthday. We got into all sorts of things with cousins and aunts and uncles, but one of my favorite things we did was help my dad make maple syrup. Sometime a long time ago, when my brother and I were kids, we decided to make homemade maple syrup. We lived in the woods and had ample maple trees all around and Dad had made syrup as a kid with his dad so we were set to start tapping our trees.
Sap begins to really flow in the late winter when the days are above freezing but the nights are still cold. We usually tap trees in early to mid February and pull the taps when the trees begin to bloom (about now this year in PA). Of course, sap will flow after that but one risks taking too much from the trees I suppose. Maybe we just got too tired to go on at that point. Anyhow, to tap our trees, we would blunt the end of 1/2 inch pvc pipe, drill a hole slightly upward 1.5 or so inches into the tree and pound the tap (aka the pipe) into the hole in the tree. It sounds pretty ugly I guess, pounding a pipe into a tree, but I promise it isn’t that bad or hard on the tree.
Sap will begin to drip from the pipe almost instantly. Now when my brother and I were collecting the sap, we had 25 gallon barrels strapped to the side of the tree to collect it. Well, maybe they weren’t that big but I truly believe some were 5 gallon pails. I guess it makes sense when one has child labor to do the work. My brother and I finally unionized. It got pretty ugly there for awhile…you may have heard of the maple wars of 1983…yeah, that was us. But we won and now my dad uses 1 gallon milk jugs that he ties to the trees.
We used to save the sap (it was always cool there…like a giant refrigerator) until the weekends. Every Saturday, we would build an enormous and very hot fire and start the sap cooking. Dad had a 55 gallon drum that we set on its side. The lengthwise edge was cut off so we had a large trough in which to boil the sap. I don’t remember how much we had in a typical week but we always had the barrel very nearly full and we added more as the sap cooked down. If I recall correctly, 50-60 gallons of sap will cook down into about 1 gallon of syrup. Wood cooked syrup has a definite maple, but somewhat smokey taste that is pretty awesome. We saved it in mason jars and it typically lasted all year.
My Dad still taps a few trees each year though, now that the child labor is gone, they are closer to the house and far fewer in number. He also cooks his sap in a turkey frier over a propane flame. They used to heat the house with wood too…my brother and I chopped a powerful lot of wood growing up…funny how that changed too. Anyhow, propane fired syrup has a much more mellow taste and the maple flavor is very pleasant (and wholly unlike the artificial stuff you buy in the stores).
It was such a thrill to once again go maple sugaring and this time, to take the kids along with me. We tasted the sap, we ate some syrup, and we loved walking in the woods.
This looks like a lot of fun.
I have been told you can also get syrup from birch trees (I haven’t looked into it myself but maybe one day!)
I really enjoy reading your blog. I love seeing families that do things together. Your very inspiring.
Thanks for such a wonderful site!
Dora Renee’ Wilkerson
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You guys rock. How fun for the kids. (and for the adults too)
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How fun – this is a definite one on our list to do!
Kris
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We had fun doing it this year as well. Such a great experience for your kids!
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That’s great that your kids get to experience what you experienced when you were little.
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Very cool. We will be boiling down on Saturday, a new experience for us.
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You forgot one of the mose important things about sugaring. When the trees start to bud you must pull your taps. To use any of this sap your syrup will be sour or bitter. Dad
You are a very interesting person. You would have been a good pioneer.
Capri Kel’s last blog post..Way Back When-sday
I thought the bee posts were awesome but maple syrup? Almost makes me want to ditch the bee idea and get me a few maples… if they would grow in Texas it would be a done deal!
ROFL… I just read the comments and I see you have to listen to your dad, just like I do my mom.
What a lot of fun – and educational too!
Evil Twin’s Wife’s last blog post..More Thought Dumping
I didn’t realize how much sap it took to make syrup! And I’m beginning to see a theme: maple sugaring, bee keeping…I’m guessing you have a sweet tooth.
becca’s last blog post..First Seed Sprouts
What an interesting post, I want to try it next spring, just as an experiment using the two maples out back.
Deb’s last blog post..Way back Cousins
Woo, I’ve always wanted to do that! Thanks for showing us your journey with maple sap/syrup. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, your kids are the luckiest kids ever!
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I’m so jealous! We have been meaning to take our kids to a friend’s house whose neighbor has a maple syrup set-up in her yard for the last three years! This year my defibrillator surgery got in the way of our plans. Believe me, I would have MUCH rather been tapping Maple trees! Maybe next year!
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This is a lot of fun…and as long as you have good child labor, not too much work with a great payoff!
you should make sure that if anyone wants to cook off sap you must do it outside as the humidity will make an unbelievable mess of everything in the room (kitchen). we tried this once what a mess. Dad
Wow! I did this for a few years but never got much yield. But most of my trees were red maples so that’s probably why. Wish we had more sugar maples on our place. Great pics and process.
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This sounds so lovely! My son loves maple syrup, I find it too sweet.
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I’ve always wanted to do this-maybe someday.
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