Sweet on Maple

Hidden in a still maple forest, a major agricultural operation is underway without sound or movement. There’s just one giveaway — utilitarian metal buckets clinging to trees like squirrels caught red-handed.

These buckets are step one in maple sugaring, the process of extracting sap and boiling it down into maple syrup. It’s a process many associate with Quebec and Vermont, but the Lake Erie region also is rich in maple sugaring tradition and boasts dozens of maple sugaring events each year.

“It’s a connection back to the land and a connection to people,” says Ray Bonenberg, a maple producer from Pembroke, Ontario, and president of the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association. “Plus, it’s the first crop of the year, and we’re all stir-crazy to get out after a tough winter.”

At this month’s Hale Farm and Village Maple Sugar Festival in Bath, Ohio, attendees get to see the contemporary maple sugaring process from tree-to-table, and understand how early settlers learned the technique from native Americans.

Today, a spout called a spile is drilled into a maple tree, with a metal bucket affixed below. Other modern methods involve tubing attached like spider webs between trees that deposit sap in a single collection spot.

The sap that drips from the spile looks just like water. And it is — sap is only 2 percent sugar, so the water must be boiled off until only sugar remains. In fact, it takes 42 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup.

At Hale Farm, site manager Jason Klein says his 50 tapped trees produce an average of 200 to 500 gallons of sap each year, which is boiled down to the about 10 gallons that is devoured at the event’s pancake breakfast.

Maple sugaring flourishes or falters at the whims of Mother Nature.

The trees require what Ohio State University maple specialist Dr. Gary Graham calls a “freeze-thaw cycle,” a period in February and March of temperatures that drop below freezing by night and climb above during the day. A late-spring frost or summer drought can impact the following year’s maple production.

During the brutal 2014 winter, for example, “the cold temperatures held on, so the sap never got flowing,” says Graham. “It made the season start about two to three weeks later than normal and end one or two weeks later.”

Watch the maple syrup process in action, and you’ll never again reach for Aunt Jemima.

“Consumers are more aware of locally grown foods today,” says Graham. “With this, you can see exactly where your food is coming from, and people today want that.”

 
Take It!

Head to one of the many maple syrup celebrations around the lake to learn about the harvesting process and take home syrup and other other maple sugar treats.

 Feb. 28-March 15, weekends
Maple Sugaring
Carlisle Visitors Center
Learn about the history and science of one of North American’s oldest agricultural processes through hands-on activities geared for all ages. Includes talks, hikes, movies and live demonstrations. LaGrange, Ohio, 440-458-5121, metroparks.cc

 Feb. 28-March 22, weekends
Maple Sugaring Weekends
Lake Metroparks Farmpark
Take a horse-drawn wagon ride to witness the entire maple production process as sap is collected, boiled and turned into maple syrup and other products. Other activities include making maple stirs and maple-oriented crafts and sampling maple syrup and candy. Kirtland, Ohio, 440-256-2122, lakemetroparks.com

March 1
Maple Syrup Festival
John R. Homestead Park
Make syrup taffy in the snow and see syrup made the pioneer way. Harrow, Ontario, 519-738-2029, erca.org

 March 7-22, weekends
History of Maple Sugaring
Rocky River Reservation
Guided hikes on the Sugarbush Trail with naturalists who demonstrate sap collection methods of native Americans, early pioneers and modern sugar farmers. Watch sap being boiled down to maple syrup. Hikes leave every 20 minutes from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cleveland, 440-734-6660, clevelandmetroparks.com

 March 14-15, 21-22
Maple Sugar Festival
Hale Farm & Village
Historical interpreters demonstrate how early settlers learned to produce maple syrup, then explain modern harvesting and production techniques. Enjoy a pancake breakfast served with Hale Farm’s own maple syrup and purchase local maple products in the gift shop. Bath, Ohio, 330-666-3711, halefarm.org

 March 14-15, 21-22
Maple Madness Driving Tour
Various locations
Ohio Maple Producers Association members across the state open their doors so visitors can see behind the scenes of a working maple operation. The association offers an easy driving map to find each location. Various locations, 440-834-1415, ohiomaple.org

 March 15
Northwest Pennsylvania Association’s Taste and Tour Weekend
Various locations
Visit open houses at maple producers in five counties across northwest Pennsylvania. Check website for driving tour details. Multiple locations, 814-796-3699, pamaple.org

 March 21-21, 28-29
18th Annual Maple Weekend
Local Maple Producers
About 150 participating maple syrup producers across the state hold open houses for the public to visit and learn about maple syrup production. Maple goodies and free samples. See website for participating locations. Chautauqua County, 585-591-1190, mapleweekend.com

 April 11-12
Asbury Woods Maple Festival
Asbury Woods Nature Center
Guided tours, arts and crafts, maple-flavored foods and folk music. Erie, Pa., 814-835-5356, asburywoods.org

 April 23-26
The Geauga County Maple Festival
Multiple locations
Dozens of events over four days that include carnival rides, live music, an auction and a parade. Maple producers compete for best maple syrup, while attendees compete in pancake-eating contests, bathtub races and lumberjack competitions. Chardon, Ohio, 440-286-3007, maplefestival.com

 Bake It!

Think beyond pancakes with this recipe, shared by Heidi Fette, owner of Icing on the Lake bakery in Erie, Pennsylvania.

 Maple Oat Scones
1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
10 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

 Maple Glaze
Combine 1 tablespoon melted, unsalted butter with 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 1 tablespoon heavy cream and 1 cup of confectioners sugar in a small bowl and whisk until smooth and lump-free.

 Combine flour, oats and baking powder in a large bowl. Use a pastry blender or 2 knives to cut butter into the flour mixture until butter is the size of peas. Add the cream, syrup and egg; mix with a wooden spoon until well-combined. Stir in walnuts. Separate dough into 8 pieces and place into a scone pan. Or, if you don’t have a scone pan, pat or roll dough into a 6-inch circle and cut it into 6 or 8 wedges. Place wedges on an ungreased cookie sheet — slightly apart for crisp sides or touching for soft sides. Bake 15 to 18 minutes at 425 degrees and cool on a wire rack. Top cooled scones with the maple glaze, if desired.

 
Make It!

Producing your own maple syrup won’t save you time or money, but it will turn an ordinary March weekend into an adventure. Sap flows when daytime temperatures rise above freezing and nighttime temperatures fall below freezing.

Step 1

Gather your supplies. You’ll need a bucket with a lid, a spile and a hook. The easiest way to get them is to order a kit from tapmytrees.com. A set of three aluminum buckets costs $109.95, but will last for years and comes with everything you need.

Step 2

Find a tree. Sugar maples yield the most sap, but black, red and silver maples also will work. Choose a tree at least 12 inches in diameter.

Step 3

Drill a hole about 2 to 3 inches deep at a slight upward angle, ideally on the south side of the tree, at about 3 feet up the trunk. The spile you are using will dictate what size drill bit to use. (Most require a 5/16 or 7/16 bit.)

Step 4

Insert the spile by gently hammering it into a tree. You can now hang your bucket.

Step 5

Collect and store your sap. Depending on weather conditions, you may only see a few inches of sap (which looks like water) in a day, or your bucket may overflow. Store sap in the refrigerator until you are ready to boil.

Step 6

Boil! For small batches, a cooktop is the easiest way to go. Using the largest pot you have, begin to boil sap. Once about half the sap has boiled away, add more sap.

Step 7

Once most of the sap has boiled down, transfer to a smaller pan. Continue to boil until it begins to resemble syrup. You will know it’s ready when it begins to stick to spoons.

Step 8

Use a coffee filter to filter your syrup, which will contain a small amount of sediment, and pour into glass containers for storage.