It's time for Maple Syrup

Hello Galaxy,

Guess what time of year it is? Yep, it's maple tapping season.

To collect maple sap, it has to be the right time of year, which is about now. The best sap flows when temperatures are below freezing at night and warming up to above 40 degrees during the day.

First, let me say that a little preparation goes a long, long, long way.  

Wood Pecker Holes

A few years ago, we tapped anything that looked remotely like a maple tree. The result was a funky mapley-tasting syrup that wasn't half-bad, which made it only half-good. Who knows what we were pouring onto our pancakes. To repent of our wayward tapping habit, we went out into the woods the next fall and searched for actual maple trees. We marked them with orange tape. One tree had rows of woodpecker holes at several different heights. I learned something important from this--if a bird likes it, it's a good tree. You wouldn't believe how much sap flowed from it --it was amazing! It was like a fountain of sugary wonder--my taste buds are crying with happiness as I type this.  

One year, our spiels drained into open buckets subject to the elements and critters. The next year, we ordered 5 new spiels with hoses. At first, I was annoyed that my husband wanted to spend extra money on this. I'm the cheapest person I know and I saw this as waste since we had 6 perfectly good spiels and our tapping operation was just fine. I now know the folly of my ways. Instead of the sap water brimming with leaves, twigs, floating dead bugs, it is pure. I should've gotten on board with this sooner since I am not a fan of proteins that are not cheese, nuts or eggs. You guessed it, I'm never going to be that person that relishes the idea of eating fried grasshoppers or chocolate coated worms. 

So here are some facts for making your own syrup. Did you know that you can tap trees other than just maple? You may not get the same taste, but it will still be good. Some tapping varieties are box elder, walnut, birch, sycamore, poplar and hickory. However, not all saps are created equal--some may be a tad bitter, some will take more sap to make the same amount you would get from a maple tree and the list goes on.  

Spiel with Hose

   
It's an easy process to tap a tree. Find a tree that is between 10 and 20 inches in diameter. Drill a hole about 2 inches into the tree with a drill bit that is the same size as your spiel. Tap the spiel gently into the tree with a rubber mallet. Hang your bucket off the spiel and wait for it to fill. It may take a while. It probably won't flow like it did in the Hunger Games—when they drove the spiel into the tree and sap miraculously poured out. It may take a few days depending on the tree or even longer. 

Don't be discouraged that it takes 50 to 60 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup--it's worth it. Once you have a good amount, put it on the stove and boil it down. If you have endless of amounts of energy (like the heat from a wood stove) or someone else pays your gas, electric, or propane bill for your kitchen stove, you're in luck. I happen to heat with a wood and I'm unapologetic about having the opportunity to make syrup when I can--there has to be some pay off to having to shove wood into that metal monster day and night 5 months of the year.  


Anyway, once you have your syrup--enjoy. I put syrup on pretty much everything. I add it to my wheat bread dough, my cereal, ice cream and baked beans. I believe there is no such thing as too much maple syrup.  

Peace Peeps,
Broke Girl