The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
MAPLE SEASON BEGINS
Several Northeastern Ohio communities celebrate the start of the syrupy season.
“We tap about 1,100 taps on 900 trees. We usually get anywhere from 300 to 400 gallons of syrup a year, depending on the season.” — Any McGovern, event manager
The process of tapping for maple syrup involves various steps. One of the first is finding the right time of year for tapping. When cold nights are coupled up with relatively warm days, maple sap flows freely.
If weather forecasts are correct, the upcoming cold spell will be followed by a week with temperatures in the 40s, good tapping weather for Northeast Ohio maple producers.
But creating maple syrup isn’t as simple as hammering a tap into a tree trunk. In fact, by producing it the old-fashioned way, it takes 40 gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of syrup.
Despite freezing temperatures, some local communities spent the weekend making
syrup and participating in ceremony, to celebrate the coming maple season.
Farmpark Maple Sugaring Weekend
From March 2-3, Lake Metroparks invited the public to Farmpark in Kirtland, where maple producers were making syrup, candy and more. Experts shared their process with visitors, discussing topics such as tapping, types of syrup and how to make it.
“We tap about 1,100 taps on 900 trees,” explained Any McGovern, Farmpark event manager. “We usually get anywhere from 300 to 400 gallons of syrup a year, depending on the season.
“You need warm days and cold nights... During the warm days, the sap will start rising up the trees and on cold nights, it will freeze.”
McGovern also said that once the sap reaches a tree’s buds, the buds will open and maple season will be over.
“This weekend we’re actually letting them (visitors) tap real maple trees,” McGovern said. “And next weekend, they’ll be gathering samples of the trees with the buckets.”
His process for creating maple syrup involves complex, commercial equipment inside Farmpark’s Woodland Center. There, syrup is also used to make food, such as candy and stirs.
Valerie Reinhardt, Farmpark horticulture manager, uses a traditional method of creating syrup. Over a wood fire built inside of a converted oil drum, she demonstrated how to boil maple sap and create syrup.
Reinhardt explains how she ladles cold sap and puts it into a preheat pan, where it will eventually transition into a separate pan that maintains a rolling boil. The sap is essentially sugar water before it’s boiled down to syrup.
“Depending upon how good I am at managing the fire, keeping the fire up and keeping it boiling, I’ve gotten as much as a half-gallon in that time period (about 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.),” Reinhardt said, concerning her syrup production. She added that on Saturday, she produced a quart of syrup.
“The faster it’s boiling... the more water I’m losing,” Reinhardt explained. “So the idea is, I’m trying to boil off a lot of water. It takes 40 gallons of sap for one gallon of syrup. And that’s an average.”
During the weekend, Visitors could enjoy petting barnyard animals, pony rides, syrup samples and syrup-infused food. Some of Farmpark’s maple syrup is also featured at J& J Café.
The Maple Sugaring Weekends are scheduled to continue March 9-10.
90th Geauga County Maple Festival Tappin’ Sunday
To kick off the 90th year of the Geauga County Maple Festival, Chardon hosted “Tappin’ Sunday”, where community members joined a local maple producer to tap a tree in Chardon Square.
Dave and Pam Patterson, owners of Patterson Fruit Farm and maple producers, were honored with tapping the tree next to the city’s Heritage House.
Maple Festival President Bob Freeman mentioned that Dave and Pam Patterson were inducted into the Maple Syrup Hall of Fame this year.
“It’s amazing that this festival started 90 years ago, with some dream to start maple and talk about maple and sell maple,” Freeman said, “and still continuing on at 90 years later, it’s kind of cool.”
With help from the Maple Festival’s Princess Divinity Owens and Prince Jacen Auth, Dave Patterson drilled into the tree on Chardon Square, inserted a tap and placed the bucket on it. The bucket was painted with a design to commemorate the 90th year of the festival.
The Pattersons said that it was there first time at “Tappin’ Sunday”, although they actively participate in the festival.
“We do the judging for the maple contest and for the candy,” Dave said. “We set up the whole judging contest, and for like 20 years, we’ve set up the display booth up here for the syrup candy contest.
“(It’s) kind of a unique event,” Dave said. He mentioned that he was excited for the opportunity, despite not knowing what to expect.
“This is a nice honor,” Pam added.
Before and during the tapping, maple syrup was for sale in the Heritage House, along with 90-yearanniversary balloons, maple hot dogs, maple stirs and more.
The 2019 Geauga County Maple Festival is set to take place April 25-28.