Sugaring retrospective 2024

Making maple syrup from our silver maples in the winter that wasn’t.

Tap the trees , collect the sap , boil the sap , finish the syrup

2024 sugaring by the numbers

• 6 days from tap day to boil day
• 4 hours to boil and finish
  • Warming inside started at 10:20 a.m.
  • Syrup processing was done at 2:30 p.m.
• 5 cups of syrup, in jars and ready, which matches 2023 ratios of sap to syrup

Review

Boy howdy. What a dumb non-winter winter it was. Zero stars.

I heard many folks tapped their trees in January. We figured we missed our chance and decided to skip it this year. But we had a change of heart when we discovered a dwindling supply of syrup in our cellar and a free weekend.

Boiling seems feels like it will be a lot of work, but once you get started it isn’t bad. And what else are you gonna do on an early spring day when you can’t garden or play? It’s a good excuse to hang outside and get a little vitamin D.

Tap the trees

On February 25, we tapped both silver maples. One spile each. We collected sap for only three days. Daytime high temps were right: 45, 52, and 41 degrees F. Nighttime lows were not ideal: 37, 30, 39 degrees F.

Tapping notes:

• Tap above a large root or below a branch. No problems with this, no snow.
• Timing was ok, not perfect.
• See original tapping notes.

Collect the sap

From Sunday to Tuesday, we collected 7.5 gallons and called it.

Collecting notes:

• Two buckets.
• We stored the covered buckets in a cold garage until we had time to boil.
• See original collecting notes.

Boil the sap

March 3 was a good weather day. Sunny and breezy, but not enough to blow out the burners.

Boiling notes:

• Three propane burners.
• See original boiling process and notes.

Finish the syrup

As always, we used a water bath canner and processed the syrup for 5 minutes.

Finishing notes:

• See original finishing notes

ta-da! finished jars of syrup

Cocktail recipe: Trees Knees

A mapley version of a Bees Knees. I can’t take credit for the name. I love it so I’m using it.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces gin (I suggest Vikre Boreal Cedar Gin or Norseman Norseman Strength Gin)
• 3/4 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 3/4 ounce maple syrup

Steps

1. Add the gin, syrup, and lemon juice into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
2. Strain into a chilled rocks glass over ice or a chilled coupe if you’re fancy.
3. Optional. Garnish with a lemon twist.

scene from sugaring 2024

References

“The Lost Winter of 2022-23” - MN DNR

“How to Make Your Own Maple Syrup” - Lauren Arcuri, for detailed steps and more information

Photos by Charity Fretty