Thursday, February 24, 2011

Maple Syrup...part one

Last fall, the brilliant leaves of my neighbor's sugar maples caught my eye.  They looked like they were on fire.  To tell you the truth, these three trees drive me nuts.  
They shade one side of our house making it impossible to grow anything shy of hostas on that side.  
So when life threw lemons at me, I chose to make lemonade...

I got  the courage one day (while handing off another dozen eggs free of charge) to ask my neighbor if we could tap her sugar maples. 
 "Those are sugar maples?  They don't look too sweet to me."  
We discussed the leaf color and shape, at which point she said that it was fine by her.  

We got an email on Monday about a maple sugaring class being held at the local nature center for a local home school group.  Would we like to tag along?  But of course...

In my camera's infinite wisdom, it decided to malfunction yet again, so I only got one picture, and not of the process...
We learned all about trees, maples, and sap.
They even told a story about how the maple came to be tapped.
Tree selection (must be over 35 inches at 52 inches height and of the maple variety.)
Materials (drill, gallon milk container, nail, straw.)
When (freezing nights, warm days...before buds appear.)

So now that we have that info...just wait to see what we do.
That is, if the neighbors are still okay with it.

8 comments:

  1. Wow, that is super cool. Now those trees will give you something other than shade and hostas. Cant wait to see what you do with them.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts on gratitude. Such blessings we all have.

    :)Lisa

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  2. Well that is cool. I will be anxious to see how it all goes.

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  3. I have always wanted to tap a tree and make maple syrup. The clss sounds like a lot of fun. All I have here are red maples so I guess I'll just have to settle for shade. Have fun.
    Warmly,
    Tracey

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  4. I was amazed to learn that you can tap trees other than sugar maple such as birch or walnut...research will really pay off in this area...

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  5. wow how exciting! Good luck with it!

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  6. How fun. I hope you let us follow along as you tap the tree.

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  7. Oh how interesting! I'd love to see what you get out of those trees.

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  8. my brother in law taps the trees in his suburban neighborhood--all the neighbors love donating their trees to the cause....

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Thanks for visiting with us girls...put your feet up and stay for a while.