Maple Syrup

 But first, I have to talk about the weather.  WEIRD.  It’s so warm I had a T-shirt on standing outside with the dogs this morning.  AND… the wind howled all night long…gusts up to 60 miles per hour.  We’ve had a foggy mist hanging over everything.  The temps  changed in three days time from 7 degrees in the early morning hours to 60.  It’s about to get very cold again, so we’re told.

 This is the bottom of the hill where I normally show you sunsets.  You can’t even see the trees up on the hill or the firepit and adirondacks.

Anyway… the post title is Maple Syrup, because the sap from our Sugar Maples is being harvested for the first time.  A friend has decided to attempt the Maple Sugaring that is so popular in New England, and asked to tap the many maples we have around This Old House.  He also has buckets at four other residences up the road.

The sap runs for approximately six to ten weeks, starting around late January.  The consistency when you touch the sap is basically water, which surprised me.  I thought it would be thicker and sticky.

Some interesting facts about the making of Maple Syrup:
It takes 30-50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup
The sap is boiled in a large stainless steel pot or pan, preferably outdoors
so that the steam will not cause problems in the house.
 The faster the sap is boiled, the higher the quality of the syrup.
When the sap begins to thicken,  It is taken indoors to finish boiling on a stove
 where it is easier to control the heat.
The sugar content of maple syrup is so high
that it can be stored at room temperature without spoiling.
 A Gallon of maple syrup weighs 11 pounds
Tapping does no permanent damage and only 10 percent of the sap is collected each year.
Many maple trees have been tapped for 150 or more years
Usually a maple tree is at least 30 years old and 12 inches in diameter before it is tapped

*My husband loves pure maple syrup.
 Me?…I’ll take Aunt Jemima over the real stuff any day.
Go figure.

20 thoughts on “Maple Syrup”

  1. I have always thought it very, very cool, but something about PLASTIC pails and hoses is just not right.
    Some things are better off the way they used to be done. We always think we should do them BETTER, but sometimes newer isn't better at all.

  3. Hee hee…. what Nancy said.

    Love maple syrup and also love honey…. anything sweet trips my trigger, in fact I just had a bowl of oatmeal a few minutes ago with maple syrup on it! What co-inky dink.

  4. Karen – they say you learn something new every day. Thank you for today's lesson 🙂
    And yes, your tree does look like it has headphones on… wonder what it would be listening to.

  8. I'm with you Karen. Fake is good for me. Thanks for the lesson in maple syrup, very, very interesting.
    Don't you think this has been a weird winter? It's like the weather is not sure what to do with itself.
    Weirdorama!!!

  10. I used to love sugaring time. We stirred it down in big old half barrels with over a charcoal base. As soon as an adult wasn't looking we would steal a bunch away-whip it into the house and make maple sugar with it…OH SO GOOD! Great post, Karen. I love it- xo Diana

  12. I love tree water especially when it's finally syrup.
    Yesterday it was 60+ here and sunny; today it's sleeting and snowing and I'm pretty sure the sun is shining but the clouds keep me from being sure.

  14. That's amazing from 30-50 gallons sap to make a gallon of syrup! Other than Aunt Jemima, the only syrup I've been familiar with was made by my uncles over in W. Fla when I was a kid; sugar cane syrup. Oh man! Was that good. My uncle showed me when I was just maybe 3 or 4 the best way to enjoy, he'd put a scoop of butter on the plate, pour the syrup over it, mix together, then drag those big old delicious biscuits my aunt would make. Holy cow! That was something else! 🙂

    And, yesterday thought I was going to have to turn on the a/c, now I'm here with a blanket on my legs shivering. 🙂

  15. The most surprising thing to this post is that you like Aunt Jemima better than pure. That blows me away, but like you said, go figure.

    Very interesting the process you explained, I knew nothing about that.
    So, will you have bottles of pure syrup in your house made from trees on your property? THAT is cool.

  16. We regularly go to Wisconsin to a maple syrup farm (ha!). Nothing tastes as good as that real stuff.

    Now I want some on vanilla ice cream! Bad Karen! 🙂

  20. Antoher blogger wrote about getting maple syrup from her Maple tree. I wonder if my maple tree in my back yard would make sap for syrup?? Does it matter that we're in Georgia?

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