The occasion was Maple Syrup Fest 2008. With above freezing temperatures during the day and chilly nights, the sap is a-runnin' from the maples. The Center grounds were filled with families as Arch, his son Ma., The Dulcinea, M., and I entered. Things were set up rather nicely as various stations were set up around the grounds with each demonstrating a different aspect of maple syrup making. As you can see above, one station showed how holes were drilled into trees. With that being done, a tap was inserted.
As the kids learned, sap doesn't take particularly sweet. Or much like anything, for that matter. With these old fashioned metal taps, one would hang a bucket from it to collect the sap. Once your buckets were full, you'd get a young girl to haul the buckets back to your house, as shown above. The sap would be poured into some kind of tub which sat atop a fire, not unlike this one:
Now, when I helped my old man do this up north, there was generally a lot of snow on the ground and beer involved. But, this being down south and a family event, neither were present. The kindly woman tending to the fire let people sample sap which had been boiling for about 20 minutes. It was noticeably darker than the stuff straight from the tree and a hint of sweetness had developed.
A pioneer cabin was also there.
You can see The D peering inside when she should have been washing my delicates on the washing boards just outside of the frame here. A poor pioneer women is she. We never did wander inside the cabin as there was a constant line of people. Instead we wandered into the Nature Center proper.
It was like being in a lodge up in Hayward. At one table, a woman administered the Maple Syrup Taste Test which involved trying to distinguish maple syrup from "pancake syrup", i.e. – artificially flavored corn syrup. Not to brag, but I passed the test with flying colors. I was hoping to have the kids take the test but they had already stopped at the How Sweet It Is! station and procured some ice cream with maple syrup on top. Although M is not my son, I do feel responsibility for him and want to make sure he grows up to be a man of refined tastes who doesn't use Aunt Jemima and instead supports the maple syrup producers of his home state.
Here is a demonstration of the sap/syrup at different stages of the process. Not a great photo, admittedly, but the color differences were pronounced as were, the kids found out, the specific gravities.
Although I'd tapped trees, lugged around give gallon buckets of sap, and watched it boil for hours in previous years, I did learn a few things at the Fest, including the grades of maple syrup. Normally when I buy the stuff at the store, I look for where it's produced. Only Wisconsin for me. Nothing personal against the producers in, say, Vermont, but they'll have to pry the Wisconsin syrup from cold dead hands. Having said this, here's a listing of the various grades of maple syrup from a Vermont Maple Syrup page:
"Vermont Fancy"
----Light Amber color, delicate maple bouquet
Delightfully mild maple flavor, excellent on ice cream or on foods which permit its subtle flavor to be appreciated.
"Grade A Medium Amber"
Medium Amber color, pronounced maple bouquet
Characteristic maple flavor; popular for table and all around use.
"Grade A Dark Amber"
Dark Amber color, robust maple bouquet
Heartier maple flavor; also very popular for table and all around use.
"Grade B"
The strongest and darkest table grade maple syrup
Some people prefer this syrup for the table and its stronger maple flavor makes it the best grade for cooking.
Something else I learned was that Wisconsin is the fourth largest producer of maple syrup in the U.S. with Vermont at #1 followed by Maine and New York. Looking at the literature on production in this country, I had to wonder how long it would last. With global warming, how long will it be before Douglas County is the last spot in Wisconsin with maples producing syrup? It'll be up to the Canadians to supply us. We must not allow a maple syrup gap!!
Wandering outside again, we headed for the trails which led us to a pond.
The kids were having fun running in the mud while I just enjoyed being away from buildings and traffic. Off the trails, we hit station #5 which was about building a tree. A woman explained the various layers of the tree: bark, phloem, cambium, xylem, and heartwood. Volunteers were recruited for the demonstration.
With that we headed home. And now I vow to make pancakes this weekend for a pre-film fest breakfast. (And the batter will have a touch of my new favorite sweetener – barley malt – in it.)
Postlude:
If you're a Monty Python fan, you can identify a larch. But can you identify a black maple? If not, head to this handy maple tree identification page.
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