Maple Syrup Making Time: Christmas Presents

Monday, January 2, 2012

Christmas Presents

Sweet Presents!

Every year I say that when I'm in the heat of making maple syrup I'll buy my 35 little jars and make them up so they are ready. Every year I don't do it. Maybe this year will be different.

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New - Search through my blog archives! Looking for information on tapping trees, boiling sap, grading and canning syrup? Looking for a recipe? Try the "Search This Blog" bar above! It works great.

You can click on the pictures to enlarge them!

Go back to the 2008 entries for step by step how it's all done. Includes quite a few video clips as well as photos.

Visit my other blogs:
Fiber blog- http://ladybugspinning.blogspot.com/
Garden blog - http://mainegarden2009.blogspot.com/

Visit: Maine Maple Syrup Producers Association website:
http://www.mainemapleproducers.com/

Also visit the Bacon Farm page. They are up the road from us and run a large and wonderful maple syrup business. I buy many of my maple jars as well as other maple tapping supplies from them.
http://www.baconfarmmaple.com/

Another supplier I often buy from is Suga Country suppliers out in Vassalboro. I like to get my pails there because they are slightly used and come from a large Canadian maple syrup producer. They are a lot cheaper than new buckets.
http://www.sugacountryproducts.com/

Welcome to Maple Syrup Time in Maine!

Up for a good story? Well we all like a good story so here's one that is probably as much myth as anything, but it's still a good story. How did we first figure out that maple sap gives us delicious maple syrup? Legend has it that way back when and during an early spring month a Native American chief, in disgust, threw his tomahawk at a tree. The tree happened to be a maple tree. A clear liquid began to flow from the tree's wound. The chief's wife just happened to have a container sitting under the tree. And the clear liquid, sap, flowed into the container. The wife needed water to boil some venison (deer meat) so used the container full of what she thought was water. The meat and liquid used to cook the meat tasted so wonderful and sweet! They wondered where the wonderful taste came from so they retraced their steps trying to figure the source of the delicious liquid. They realized the sweet taste came from the "water" that ran from the wound of the tree. And well the rest has become history.

Did you know that Valentines Day is the official beginning of maple syrup season in Maine?

Maine is the second largest producer of maple syrup in the country.
Guess who is the first. The answer is Vermont. Maine is second. Can you guess what country is the first in maple syrup production? I'll give you a hint....think maple leaf!

How many gallons of sap does it take to make a gallon of syrup? Yes, 200 gallons of sap needs to be boiled down to make 5 gallons of syrup! So that means 40 gallons of sap = 1 gallon of finished syrup.

The circumference of a sugar maple tree should be at least _____ inches before it is tapped. Yes, the answer is 31" around. So before you tap, get out your tape measure and measure around that wonderful maple tree. But first be sure it's a sugar maple!

Truth or Myth? ....You go to the cupboard, grab your delicious Maine maple syrup, go to pour some over those yummy pancakes you just cooked and notice some mold floating on top! It is safe to scoop the mold off, discard the mold, and use the remaining maple syrup. I have read that yes, you can just scoop it off and use the rest of the syrup! ......2 years later.....
Now I just read that you have to throw the syrup away!! I will contact the county extension to ask them and update you all.

When does the sap stop flowing signaling the end of maple season? When the buds on the trees begin to open and when there is little difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures.

As the days get longer and warmer the sap of trees starts to flow again. You could make syrup from other maple trees too but it wouldn't be as sweet as syrup from Sugar Maple trees (Acer saccharum). I've read that Beech tree sap has more sugar than other maple trees but less than Sugar Maples. According to our Forest Trees of Maine booklet Sugar Maples are found all throughout Maine. Maple trees are wonderful shade trees and make rock hard furniture. Our new cabinets are made out of maple. I love maple trees! During fall foliage you can spot a maple tree a mile away; they are the ones with the beautiful orangey/red color leaves.

Maple Syrup Making Time

Monday, January 2, 2012

Christmas Presents

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