Get Ready for Maple Sugaring Season

A jar of maple syrup and a wooden spoon on a table

Everything is better with maple syrup. At least, that’s what you’ll hear when you ask Vermonters. What better way to solidify your love for all things maple than to learn how to make it yourself? If you only have a couple of trees nearby — say in your backyard — author Michael Farrell has some simple advice for maple sugaring and collecting the sap by the bucket.

The following is an excerpt from The Sugarmaker’s Companion by Michael Farrell. It has been adapted for the web.


When to Tap

One of the most difficult decisions you have to make from year to year in your sugaring operation is deciding when to tap. I always recommend tapping just a few trees in January and February to determine what is going on with sap flow conditions. In relatively cold areas, even when the temperatures get above freezing in January and February, the amount of sap flow can be negligible. The trees are basically frozen, and it takes an extended period of warm temperatures to induce substantial sap flow. In warmer regions where the winter isn’t as severe, optimum temperature fluctuations usually happen all winter and the trees may be producing a decent amount of sap in January and February. If you see this happening in your test trees, you’ll want to tap the rest of your sugarbush to catch the early sap runs.

How to Tap

Finding the Right Spot

The first step in tapping is to find a good spot to drill the hole. It doesn’t matter how nice a hole you drill, what type of spout you use, or what level of vacuum you are pulling if you have drilled into a bad section of the tree. To get a decent amount of high-quality sap, you need to drill into clear, white sapwood. It is important to avoid previous tapholes and the associated stain columns as well as other defects and rotten areas on the trunk. Large seams and wounds are easy to identify and avoid, but it takes a trained eye to locate old tapholes.

Drilling the Hole

Some people advocate drilling the hole directly into the tree whereas others recommend drilling at a slight upward angle. I usually try to achieve a perfectly straight hole but always err on the side of making it at a slight upward angle whenever necessary. No matter how you drill the hole, be sure to use a relatively new, clean, sharp drill bit that is intended for drilling into maple trees.

When you are pulling the drill out of the tree, always examine the shavings to make sure that they are pure white. If you get brown or dark-colored shavings, you have drilled into a bad part of the tree. Your sap yield will be negligible, and any sap that does flow may have a yellow tinge to it and impart off-flavors to your syrup.

Setting the Spout

The final step is placing the spout in the tree. It takes some practice to figure out how hard to tap on the spout to get it nice and snug without overdoing things. Not tapping in hard enough can cause the spout to be too loose, creating a vacuum leak. On the other hand, tapping too hard can potentially cause the wood to split, which in turn leads to vacuum leaks, lost sap, and increased wounding at the taphole. Most sugarmakers use regular hammers to set the spouts, but you don’t necessarily hammer the spouts in. Just a few gentle taps will usually do the trick until you hear a thumping sound. As soon as you can hear the difference, stop tapping on the spout.


Recommended Reads

Sap Moon Recipes for Sweet Treats

How-To Turn Sap and Syrup into Beer, Wine, and Liquor

 

Read The Book

The Sugarmaker's Companion

An Integrated Approach to Producing Syrup from Maple, Birch, and Walnut Trees

$25.97

Recent Articles

soil health

5 Principles of Soil Health

Wondering how to make your soil (and plants) thrive? Use these principles of soil health to properly prepare your farm or garden to grow. The following excerpt is from Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown. It has been adapted for the web. (Photography curtesy of Gabe Brown.) Prefer audio? Listen to the excerpt below from the…

Read More
maple roasted nuts

Maple Roasted Nuts: A Sweet, Seasonal Treat

Craving something sweet? These delicious maple roasted nuts are the perfect treat to help you push through those end-of-winter blues. The following is an excerpt from Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice. It has been adapted for the web. The Magic of Maple: A Rich History Following the Hunger Moon, just before the first thaw…

Read More
salsa

Mushrooms & Wild Herbs Salsa: A Refreshing Spring Recipe

Spring into the season with a fresh, wildcrafted appetizer! This recipe for mushrooms and wild herbs salsa is very adaptable, giving you freedom to use ingredients you find in your own environment. The following is an excerpt from Wildcrafted Vinegars by Pascal Baudar. It has been adapted for the web. RECIPE: Mushrooms & Wild Herbs…

Read More
permanent beds

Permanent Beds: Designing An Efficient Garden

Permanent beds are going to change your gardening game. This type of garden bed helps improve soil health, ensures crop growth, and is extremely easy to design! The following is an excerpt from The Living Soil Handbook by Jesse Frost. It has been adapted for the web. Designing Permanent Beds The term permanent beds is…

Read More
preserve

How to Preserve Seasonings: Herbs Today, Preserves Tomorrow

What do you do when you have bunches of herbs reaching maturity at the same time? Preserve them!   Preserving herbs for seasonings involves traditional techniques that use salt, oil, sugar, alcohol, vinegar, and a few other simple ingredients.  The following is an excerpt from Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning. It has been adapted…

Read More