Today we read a very informational book, "Sugaring Season, Making Maple Syrup" by Diane Burns. It took us step by step of the process of making syrup. Later today we will walk around our property (depending on how we all feel, we've been sick) and identify the trees around our house. I know we have at least 3 maple trees.
The temperature plays a very important part in getting the best quality sap from the trees. The best days are between March and April, you can also get sap in September and October. The fall sap is not as sweet.
Steps to making maple syrup: A lot of my information came from the Cornell website on maple syrup production.
- locate and measure your maple tree. Use a tree identification book if you are unsure of what a sugar maple looks like. A tree needs to be at least 31 1/2 inches around before you can tap it. This will save on damaging the tree.
- tap your tree using a drill, tap, hammer, bucket. Drill a hole about the size of a man's thumb, gently use the hammer to put the tap into the hole, place the bucket under the tap. A normal tap will produce about 10 gallons of sap per season.
- Once collected the sap needs to be cooked down into syrup. This is something you need to watch very closely. From my research I've learned that you can do it on the grill outdoors. Which is what we may do if our trees are big enough. The boiling will bring any impurities to the surface that you can skim off. Watch it VERY closely at this point so it does not boil over.
For anyone living in New York State here is the website for the Maple Events. This website has a lot of information on maple syrup and one of my favorite things...RECIPES!
Tomorrow we will read another book and do some more mini books for our scrapbooks. Have a sweet day.
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