Homemade Maple Syrup: Tapping the trees

Описание: Its late winter, and for the most part one of the best times of the year. Between mid February and mid March, just as the season begins to show signs of shifting, the land begins to awaken from its barren slumber. Instantly like a switch, it begins again to offer its bounty unto us, and the blessings of abundance return to all the good stewards of the land.

One of the very firsts offerings the land freely gives us is the sap of the trees. The energy and resources created and used by the trees to survive a long cold winter becomes released to our use. Could it be by design, the energy of the trees transferred to man to kick off the coming months of much hard work ahead, or maybe a sweet treat just because? However its intention, nothing could be more inviting to the new season ahead.

Reaping this delicious bounty of maple syrup may seem intimidating at first, but rest assured its one of the easiest things to do and one of the most rewarding. One only needs a few items to get started.

Hammer
Cordless screw gun or hand drill
Appropriate size drill bit
Tree taps (spiles); homemade or purchased
Food grade buckets

First thing we do after our trees are selected and the season is upon us is clean our equipment. Cleanliness is next to godliness so they say.


Drilling our holes

It is recommended to drill our holes about 3 feet from the ground , but anywhere in that vicinity works fine if you need to adjust for better convenience. Its best to drill the holes directly under the first large branches of the tree or above a big root below to get a better sap run. A sunny southern exposure is also going to get the better run so capitalizing on all these factors as best you can will be worth it. Be sure to put any new holes at least 6 inches away from the previous years tapping. You can put up to 3 taps per tree depending on the width of the trunk. Trees up to 20 inches wide should only get one while trees wider then 27 inches can get up to three.

When drilling the tree be sure to not use cheap bits. The last thing you want to do is have one break off and get stuck in the tree. You will want to use a drill bit that is a bit smaller then the spigot you are using. If the drill bit is to big your spigot will not wedge tightly in the hole and you will have problems holding the buckets for collection. After you select where you want your bucket to hang, proceed to drill a 2″ to 2 1/2″ hole into the tree. Its best to drill the hole in an upward angle to better facilitate the drainage of the sap through the spigot.

Once all the wood debris is cleared from the hole, gently tap the spigot firmly into the hole and within seconds if the sap is already running it should be dripping nicely. Quickly hang your food grade bucket and let the sap collecting begin. From this point you will want to check your buckets as often as you can. We use 4 gallon buckets so we check once in the morning and once in the evening for most of the duration. When the conditions are perfect for great runs we add another check mid day. You will need to figure out what works best for you and your bucket sizing because if you don’t collect often enough you will find your full bucket fell off and dumped everywhere.

Thanks for watching!