Maple Syrup in SWVA How To Make Maple Syrup From Your Own Back Yard

Alternative Forestry Products There are many alternative forestry products in Virginia Name a few Grape Vines Tipping of Pines and Boxwoods Maple Syrup Ginseng Blackberries, Raspberries Mushrooms Cherries

Maple Syrup - Origin Maple syrup was invented by the Native Americans You can tap many different trees, not just maple Red Maple, Silver Maple, Sugar Maple and Norway Maple But also Boxelder, Elm and Birch Need to tap the tree with the highest sugar content – Sugar Maple

Maple Syrup Trees Silver Maple Sugar Maple

Maple Syrup - Trees Norway Maple Red Maple

Maple Syrup How I became intrigued When do you tap? Early spring when the temperatures at night are at or below freezing and the daytime temperatures are degrees consistently Around here, that’s mid` February to early March

Maple Syrup - Tapping You need to tap for about three weeks but do not start until the temperatures consistently are above freezing every day and below freezing every night If you continue to tap after this time, the sap will turn cloudy and sour What does good sap look like? Nearly as clear as water

Maple Syrup - Equipment What will you need? Taps Spile Driver Sap Buckets Large storage container Cordless drill and a 7/16” drill bit Evaporator or large pot to boil sap Maple syrup bottles to bottle the syrup

Maple Syrup - Equipment Strainer, Candy thermometer Filter How do you tap? Mark your drill bit at 2 1/2” -2 ¾”with tape to make sure you don’t drill too far into the tree!

Maple Syrup - Tapping Drill 2 ½” to 2 ¾ “ in the tree at a slight upward angle to facilitate dripping of the sap

Maple Syrup - Tapping Tap the spile driver with a hammer into the hole and attach a sap bucket or milk jug Don’t tap too hard!

Maple Syrup - Tapping Remove spile driver and watch the sap flow!

Maple Syrup - Tapping Attach bucket immediately and collect sap daily!

Maple Syrup Collecting Sap

Maple Syrup - Facts Minimum size tree you can tap – 10” in diameter Trees larger than 18” in diameter can have two taps One 16” maple will produce 10 gallons of sap and a quart of syrup in a typical year. How many gallons of sap does it take to make one gallon of syrup? 42

Maple Syrup - Equipment Empty sap buckets in a large holding container (while filtering). Store in a cool place and cover the holding container to prevent any evaporation and bacteria from forming.

Maple Syrup - Facts Need to tap approximately 3-4 feet off the ground to the side of the prevailing wind, so your buckets won’t blow off the tree Trees that were tapped the previous year need to be tapped 6” horizontally and 6” vertically from the tap from the previous year When you tap the tree initially you will have to empty your buckets or jugs twice the first day – the tree is full of sap!

Maple Syrup - Facts Which state has the most syrup production? Vermont Sugar Maples are notoriously found in higher elevations and in New England Shelf life of maple syrup is about 6 months in the refrigerator and two years in the freezer Why would you want to keep it for 2 years?

Maple Syrup – Large Scale Vacuum tubes are used in big production maple syrup producers. It sucks the sap out of the tree all the way to giant holding containers. There are tubes running all through the forest.

Maple Syrup Tapping any tree other than a sugar maple will make you boil or evaporate longer to get your syrup What would happen if you tapped a wild cherry tree? ? What about an apple tree or peach tree or pear tree?

Maple Syrup - Evaporation Boiling/Evaporating Takes a long time Operations up north Sap turns to syrup at 219 degrees Do not boil past 219 degrees Also it will turn to taffy or harden like hard candy Must filter twice to get rid of the niter

Kitchen Boiling You can boil on your own stove! Boils at about a gallon per hour The cooking oil is to prevent from boiling over

Maple Syrup - Evaporators Large Evaporator Small Evaporator

Maple Syrup - Facilities Sugar House for larger scale operations

Maple Syrup - Facilities Large Evaporator in Sugar House

Maple Syrup – Boiling Down and Finishing After you boil your sap down to syrup you need to filter it while you put it in containers (felt or wool filters) Finishing syrup is a delicate art that can be messed up quite easily

Maple Syrup –Boiling Down and Finishing Once you pour the finished syrup in bottles, tip the bottle over to purify the lid. As long as the temperature is still hot, (180 degrees or over) it will purify the lid of the bottle

Maple Syrup -Grading Maple Syrup is graded according to color and flavor Pure maple syrup is graded according to Federal USDA regulations

Maple Syrup - Grading The grades are: US Grade A Light Amber, US Grade A Medium Amber, US Grade A Dark Amber, and US Grade B. The lighter the color, the higher the grade

Maple Syrup - Events There are two main Maple Syrup Festivals in Virginia White Top Mountain (Last full weekend in March every year) Highland County (Usually the second and third weekends of March every year)