It’s maple syrup season!
When Nanabozho, the Anishinaabe Original Man, our teacher, part man, part Manido, walked through the world, he took note of who was flourishing and who was not, of who was mindful of the Original Instructions, and who was not.
He was dismayed when he came upon villages where the gardens were not being tended, where the fishnets were not repaired and the children were not being taught the way to live. Instead of seeing piles of firewood and caches of corn, he found the people lying beneath maple trees with their mouths wide open, catching the thick, sweet syrup of the generous trees.
They had become lazy and took for granted the gifts of the Creator. They did not do their ceremonies or care for one another. He knew his responsibility, so he went to the river and dipped up many buckets of water. He poured the water straight into the maple trees to dilute the syrup.
Today, maple sap flows like a stream of water with only a trace of sweetness to remind the people both of possibility and of responsibility. And so it is that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. (From Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer)
When mid to late February arrives, maple producers get busy preparing for their annual work and harvest of this sweet treat we know as maple syrup. It is impossible to know when maple sap will begin to flow, as well as when the largest flow will occur. For instance, this winter, after a short warm spell when sap began to flow in some locations, it turned cold again in March.
When there is deep snow in the woods the people drilling the trees for maple production carry their tools and supply over the snow on snowshoes. If there is a lack of winter snow, there is sometimes fear that the lack of snow cover will speed up the thawing process and shorten the maple production season.
Generally, when warm sunny days follow cool frosty nights, the sap runs. The time for tapping the trees will vary with weather conditions. The sap will run or flow within the tree when a warm day (6 to 10 degrees C) follows a frosty, cool night (-5 to -10 C). A normal tapping season lasts from three to six weeks, but can be extended due to inconsistent weather.
Maple syrup is produced usually from the sap of sugar maple trees. Red maples produce a good, often darker syrup. Because its sap naturally has a lower sugar content, red maple sap requires much more evaporating. A study in St John N.B., determined the following average sugar concentrations for various types of maple trees: Sugar Maple – 4.5 per cent, Red Maple – 4.1 per cent, Amur Maple – 3.9 per cent, Silver Maple – 3.4 per cent, and Box Elder – 2.5 per cent.
Birch tree sap also contain 0.5 to 2 per cent sugar and the sap has a minty flavour. It is more challenging to evaporate down to syrup, as compared to maple sap, as it seems to burn more easily.
The sap that is collected during the spring is actually manufactured within the tree the previous summer. Throughout the summer months the sunlight hitting the leaves of the maple tree causes sugar to be produced. The sugar is stored in the trees and dissolved in the sap, which is collected in the spring, causing negligible
damage to the tree.
When a sugar maple tree reaches the proper size (25cm), a hole is bored into the tree to a depth of six cm (2.5 in). The tap hole can be placed anywhere on the tree, as long as it is below the branches. As the diameter of the tree increases, the number of taps on the tree can also increase. For example, a 35 to 40-cm tree could support two taps, and trees that are 50cm or greater could sustain three taps. It is recommended that no more than three taps be bored into a tree each year.
A spile (spout) made of plastic or metal is driven snugly into the tap hole. The sap drips from the spile into buckets or plastic tubing. Most large operations use plastic tubing to collect and distribute the sap to a central location, usually down-hill by gravity, or by a suction pump. Once collected, the sap is transferred to a collection tank and then fed gradually to an evaporator.
The evaporator is a large stove-like structure containing a series of pans. The sap is brought to a boil in the evaporator and excess water is boiled off, which produces the sweeter product. The evaporators can be very simple and inexpensive or very complex and expensive.
There are many small-scale producers in the province that make a relatively small amount of maple products for family use and some sales. In contrast, there are several of the larger maple producers in Colchester and Cumberland counties which utilize equipment known as reverse osmosis evaporators that cost thousands of dollars and produce a much faster and more efficient evaporation process.
It will normally take 30 to 40 litres of sugar maple sap to produce one litre of maple syrup. In comparison, a red maple takes much more sap (ie: 50 to 100 litres) to produce a litre of maple syrup. This requires an incredible amount of extra heat energy to do the necessary evaporation of water from the sap.
The sap of a maple tree produces more than just maple syrup. By varying the cooking and cooling processes it is possible to produce maple butter, maple cream and maple sugar, all yummy items.
Hopefully you will soon get the opportunity to enjoy this sweet treat!