Our season has started.  The winter this year has been almost non-existent.  We have no snow to speak of and have started making syrup aobut 2 weeks earlier than usual.   We have already made more syrup in February than ever before in my 35 years making syrup.  We will see what March brings us for weather. 

This might or might not be the result of global warming.  I will say over my career the tapping time has moved about 8 days back into February when it used to be March 1 or so.  This year we started 10 days before that (about Feb. 8, if you're now confused).  I doubt global warming will put maple syrup production out of business but it might change the time of the season beginning and ending.  I have posted some pictures of our first sap.  Notice that it looks very similar to water.  The sap is running through the mainline plastic blue hose so the hose is blue not the sap.  A common misconception is that sap comes out of the tree brown in color.  Well, the syrup is brown but the sap looks to most folks like a dead ringer for water.  In fact, it is mostly water with only about 2% sugar.  Syrup is 66% sugar so that is one reason syrup is relatively expensive.  We have to work fairly hard to get rid of all that water!

We have one tree tapped for a bucket.  It is hard to believe that millians of drips can lead to thousands of gallons of sap.

I am continually surprised by when and how much sap will flow on a particular day.  Our best sap flow ever happened after a hard freeze with no snow on the ground.  My best runs are usually what I call periods of "nasty" weather.  Days above freezing but with little sun and dreary skies.  Clear, cold nights with sunny days in the 40s do produce sap but not always the best "runs".  In the end we know something about sap flow but there is still some interesting mystery about the process.  Our vacuum system does help us produce more sap over a season but it can not produce sap in freezing weather or in extended warm spells.   It can only enhance the natural flow of sap.   

Hammering in the spout extender.

Drilling the taphole.

The spout extender tapped in.

The spile and spout extender both tapped in. Job finished.

Maple Geography and weather

For those of you who live in northeastern North America I’m not sure you realize how unique the Sugar Maple really is.  You thought you lived in a dull and boring place but read on!  While there are literally over a hundred species of maple (genus Acer) and it is thought that the genus probably originated in China and/or Japan the “hard” or sweet maple are native to only North America and in particular the northeastern quadrant of North America.  In particular, the sweet maples do not thrive much south of the Virginias or west of Minnesota.  They do, however, range north to southeastern Quebec and the Canadian maritime  provinces. 

Now you can tap the other maples and boil the sap down into syrup and sugar but the sap is not as sweet.  This is where maple weather you may dislike steps in.  The northeastern winters and springs with their violent shifts from cold to warm and Mother Nature’s constant changing of her mind in March at to whether it is still winter or early spring make for many opportunities for sap flow.  I suspect the Great Lakes have something to do with the on again off again spring as well.  The maple producing region is either around the lakes themselves or between the lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.  While sugaring can be profitable in Minnesota the season is generally shorter than in the east showing that as you head west the weather as well as the trees change.  Take solace in the fact that someone is benefiting from that on again off again weather we complain about here in the northeast. 

A story to support my point:  During the Napoleonic Wars sugar was scarce in Europe due to the British blockade of supplies from the tropics.  Numerous attempts at tapping and boiling European maples were made in Bohemia, Austria, Germany and Sweden.  While the trees were not as sweet the mild, short transition to spring in Europe simply did not provide enough sap to make the industry viable.  Europe pursued sugar beets instead.  I suspect with the vacuum systems we use today to draw sap from the tap holes that the results would be better but still not commercially viable. 

So chin up!   The winter you’ll soon be sick of makes for more maple, that “sweet nectar of spring”.

For more on that story go to

http://books.google.com/books?id=n8Gy44hrdKEC&pg=PA133&lpg=PA133&dq=napoleon+and+maple+sugar&source=bl&ots=7tfAyIvljs&sig=awcjsV92-Au4_Fc-o4ZU3EqBeOI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ujgYT8jLBKj00gGIwZW2Cw&ved=0CF8Q6AEwBg - v=onepage&q=napoleon and maple sugar&f

      winter view from our sugar house

Well, excuse me while I brag a little.  Brooklyn Brewery, a craft brewer, has come out with a Maple Porter as their winter Brewmasters Reserve.   Cedarvale Maple has supplied all the beer for this brew.  It is called Mary’s Maple Porter after my wife who was a brewmaster for 30 years while I made maple syrup (full disclosure: she now works for Brooklyn Brewery producing beer). 

Now I must admit I am not a porter fan.  I prefer a light colored lager when I drink beer.  This porter, however, is very smooth and sweet.   We have contributed syrup for two other commercial beers over our 35 years of making syrup but this is the first time a brewer has used maple syrup as sugar source for the yeast rather than just a flavoring.  The result is a very interesting brew that you might like on a cold night.  It is rather strong both in alcohol content (7.5%) and in taste so my wife calls it more of a sipping beer rather than a thirst quencher.  Even I found it very likable for a dark beer.

So there you have it; Cedarvale Maple invades the Big Apple with a splash!

http://thefullpint.com/beer-news/craft-beer-news-roundup-smuttynose-ipswich-ale-four-peaks-and-brooklyn-brewery

Many people think that the maple season begins in the spring.  There are others who think that all products are harvested at the end of the growing season in the fall.  Maple syrup production is the first crop of the year and is produced from sap runs in the early spring (for us late February and March). Truth be told, however, our season starts much earlier.

We are presently hard at work, at least I think so, fixing up our tubing system for the season.   Most folks look at our tubing system with 14 miles of branch lines and over 4 miles of mainline as great time saver in collecting sap and a good way to keep sap clean as it is collected.  They are right about that but they do not realize it is feast for forest critters that like to chew on plants in the woods.  Critters in our case include squirrels, chipmunks and deer.  While they are cute they can cause major damage to a tubing system as they browse along in their everyday activities.  They chew holes in the tubing making it leak sap on the ground.  More importantly, even the smallest hole in the system lowers the vacuum we’ve artificially created with pumps and reduces our sap yield (don’t be alarmed, this vacuum sucking extra sap out of the tree does no harm to the tree).  

Over a years time these pesky neighbors can cause a lot of damage.  We need to go over every inch of line looking for leaks and then patch, cut out, or replace chewed tubing.  This means literally going down each line feeling the tubing as it slides through your hands.  If you feel any cuts or scrapes you stop and examine for holes.  Some areas where deer do not travel or where there are no nut trees present have only minimal damage but other places have more and persistent chewing,

Besides critters there is storm damage as well.  Trees fall on lines or branches break off and fall on lines or heavy snowfall buries lines.  These repairs are also made in January as we go through the system. So if you thought we were in Florida or the Caribbean when we don’t answer the phone this is what we’re doing.  For a better look at tubing go to the “Maple syrup production” section of About Maple Syrup in banner menu at the top of this webpage.       

Maple sap does make a good cold beverage and does contain vitamin c.  There is, however, no longer any vitamin c by the time it reaches syrup stage due to the cooking process.  Native Americans knew this and often chewed on Maple branches, particularly in winter, as this would avoid the fatal disease scurvy.  You probably have heard of the disease as it killed many sailors who had no access to fruits.  I doubt the natives could make the connection between scurvy and vitamin c but surely they understood the health benefits of maple sap in preventing scurvy.  I know of one written confirmation of this, which I stumbled on in the writing of a college paper on Samuel de Champlain, the great early explorer of the St. Lawrence.  He did over winter with a group of men in North America, who did become ill with scurvy over the winter.  The tribes of the area (what is now Quebec) showed the group how to chew on live maple branches.  It did the trick and many who were sick recovered and survived the winter.  The paper was written so long ago I can no longer cite the book I got the story from (but hey, it’s a blog not a college paper with a bibliography) so you’re just going to have to trust me on this.

Maple syrup does contain various trace minerals which the body requires and is low in sodium which can help lower blood pressure (they are listed in another section of this website called about maple syrup.  More important is what is not in Maple syrup.  There are no additives of any kind and no preservatives either.  Michael Pollan (http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20090323/7-rules-for-eating) has a good rule on whether a food is healthy.  If the food has more than five ingredients it probably has stuff in it you shouldn’t be eating.  Maple syrup does not even need a list of ingredients on the back as the only thing in it is; you guessed it, Maple syrup.  The same goes for all of our confections as well.  Even our sugar-coated nuts are only the nuts and maple sugar.  We do add a touch of pure butter to our Maple crackle and lollipops but that’s all.

We have from time to time been asked to supply Maple syrup for “purging” diets.  Many of these diets originate in Europe and make the rounds every few years.  I am not even going to provide a link to these as I do not think they are healthy (even though they increase syrup sales!).  Any diet that asks you to starve yourself for a number of days just to get started does not seem like a good idea.

One last point is the idea that maple sugar is easier for some diabetics to digest.  I am not aware of any scientific evidence that this is true but I would be interested in any feedback on this notion.  It strikes me that the body looks at most sugars as the same but perhaps there is more here I do not understand.      

I have been making syrup and meeting with the public about syrup for 34 years. I swear I have heard every possible story about backyard sugar making possible. They were a youngster.... there was tons of sap...they burned cords and cords of wood... it cost a fortune in gas on the barbeque... they ruined the stove top in the kitchen... the wallpaper was steamed off the wall... they fell asleep (sometimes on their own sometimes with the help of beer and wine) and the whole thing boiled over... there was hardly anything left when they got to syrup stage... it tasted sooo good! Variations on the theme include sections on the design of their "evaporator" which might include barrels sliced in half, old milk gathering equipment, or something they welded together from suspect parts. There also might be a sequel on what happened when they tried to make sugar. My complaint (only to my family) was that I had heard it all and it was too much like having to spend a whole evening looking at someone else's pictures of their vacation to some not too exotic spot.

Well, I confess I missed the point! The story is not about the process, but rather the result and the culture that goes with it. I have learned that I should be more appreciative of backyard sugar makers. They usually make a small amount of a product that tastes pretty good so they want more. They realize how much work it is to make this product and so they often come in subsequent years to buy syrup and they never complain about price!

A second part of this is that these hobbyists are celebrating a part of northeastern North American culture that is unique to this part of the world. Like shrimp in the Gulf or olives in the Mediterranean this practice had gone on hundreds of years and is now embedded in our culture. Backyard sugar making is really a cultural experience that I should be encouraging rather than complaining about. When we say "us" to describe ourselves sugaring is part of that.

So if you have a backyard or home sugaring story to tell me... go ahead ... I now get it and want to hear all about it! We're part of the same club.

At this point I am dismissed as being flip to the customer (generally not a good way to make a sale) or I am the “expert” who isn’t.  Truth be told, there is no one answer for everyone.  No species of evergreen supplies all the features that people are looking for in a Christmas tree.  It is rather like whether you like red wine or white wine; a matter of taste.

            The traditional tree is a Balsam fir.  It is a fine “smeller” and has soft needles that don’t prick your fingers.  It does have a very narrow and taller shape that is good if you want to preserve floor space in the room where it is placed but not so good if you like a bushier, more imposing tree.  Firs also have softer branches so they can droop a little if you really like to pour on the decorations.  A Fraser fir helps here as it has somewhat sturdier branches but still does not prick your fingers.  I don’t think it has as much aroma as a Balsam but some others would disagree.   Douglas fir also has sturdier branches, but also like a Fraser it is not quite as thick in the branches as the Balsam. Douglas fir definitely does not have as grand an aroma as balsam. 

Now on the other side of the coin are the spruces.  White Spruce is a good Christmas tree with very sturdy branches so you can add huge ornaments to your heart’s content without making the tree droopy and sad.  Spruces do not smell as much as firs but they do grow wider at the bottom so they can make a real statement when displayed in a larger room or one with higher ceilings.   There are several other spruces that would also have the same characteristics.

Now to the final question that everyone is rightly worried about.  Will the tree hold its needles?  All the species above will do well if the tree is reasonably fresh and not beset with any diseases.  Fresh does not mean cut in October and then shipped to your state for resale.  I suspect that is why real trees are not as popular in places where there are not growers (as well as the prices!).  I don’t expect you to know tree diseases but trees are a lot like people in that if they look sick they probably are sick.  Don’t be alarmed by a few dead needles in the center of the tree as long as they are near the base.  All trees shed a few interior needles particularly near the ground.  Be alarmed if the tree has no interior needles. 

We can’t guarantee that you won’t bring any “critters” home with your tree but we can sure try to help there.  I always look for nests in trees in the summer when we trim.  We always go after wasp nests and anthills but generally leave bird nests, as they could be part of the tree’s appeal.  Remember, the tree exists in nature and things sometimes move in undetected.  I always shake the tree vigorously for a minute or so before I bail it to shake out stuff that you might not want to take home with you.  I suggest you do that again before you bring the tree inside.

I haven’t even talked about pines but I suspect many already have learned more than they ever wanted to know on this subject.  I put some pictures of the needles of some species below to help you identify them in the field.  More next time.

 Balsam Fir                                                                   Fraser Fir

White Spruce                                                              Eastern White Pine

            I like to think our overall effect on the planet is positive or to go back to my analogy that we dirty the dishes and then clean up the kitchen after dinner leaving things as we found them.  For instance we grow Christmas trees and Maple trees.  These 200 plus acres of woods sequester tons of carbon each year helping reduce greenhouse gases, however, we do burn wood and use electricity to make maple syrup so we put some carbon back into the air.  When we burn wood we are using a renewable resource so that is sustainable but our containers and plastic tubing for collecting sap are made from oil which is technically not renewable.  We do recycle our plastic tubing and so the plastic is repurposed when we are done with it (after 10 years or so).   Real Christmas trees also help in that they reduce the sales of plastic Christmas trees which are not renewable.

            While I could go on a while I was just trying to show that producing a product is not either all good or all bad.  To assess whether you should buy or use that product from an environmental standpoint is a complicated business.  For just sustainability you need to consider the net effect  of the whole process not just a part of the process.  I think we get a passing grade here as I think we contribute more than we take away from the environment.

            Christmas trees are a fine example of how consumers sometimes do not look at the whole environmental picture for a product.  People will tell you that artificial trees are better for the environment because no trees are cut down.  The whole picture shows you that Christmas trees are a crop and that land devoted to them is always growing trees so cutting one down doesn’t reduce the number of trees in the world as they are simply replanted.  Besides Christmas trees sequester carbon while they grow while artificial trees use up oil to produce the plastic to make the tree. 

            The take away here is that branding something as good or bad for the environment is a tricky business so be careful when you call something environmentally friendly or evil.  I enclose a picture of our trees busily sequestering carbon.

It all started my last year of college when it became apparent I would have to do something besides going to school.  I was an economics major so starting in business was a natural but the business most people associated with my major was banking or corporate America which did not interest me.  Graduate school did not look attractive as I had been in school so many years already.  I liked the outdoors and had done a good bit of camping in my teen years but that was a hobby not a career.  What to do?

I had read alot of politics as I had taken a lot of political science and in doing so I came across some old writings of a far left professor by the name of Scott Nearing.  His writings, it turned out, were so far to the left that he had lost his job in academia at the University of  Pennsylvania.  He then bounced around radical politics for a decade or more before winding up with his wife Helen in rural Vermont on a farm.   Now don't get discouraged; this is where we get back to maple.  The Nearings created a lifestyle in Vermont that we would call "living off the grid" today.  No electricity, growing almost all the food they ate, cutting wood for their heat and building their own house stone by stone.  For cash, they would produce maple syrup and maple candies.

Now, in the 1970s we called their lifestyle "back to the land".  It was the heyday of the Mother Earth News and the Whole Earth Catalog.  It was the early days of organic foods.  Their ideas fit right in to what I, and many, were into in those days.  To crown it off, the Nearings wrote that they only worked on their farm half a day and spent the other half on their writings.  That sealed the deal for me!  I would only have to work half a day to get by.  I was off.

i convinced my father to let me tap trees on parts of a farm he had acquired but didn't use for anything else.  I later would have to buy that farm (and work the other half of the day to do that).  I found an old sugarmaker who wanted to quit who sold me all his equipment including an evaporator.   I borrowed some money and built a sugar house.  In February of 1977 we made our first maple syrup.

It was in late March of that year that I saw the failure of my logic.  I had spent months putting up tubing to collect sap and soon I would have to take it all down and clean it (which was the practice at the time).  My evaporator only produced 2.5 gallons of syrup an hour so there were countless hours of boiling.  What was worse is it ate a full cord of wood every 8 hours.  It took more than 8 hours to cut that full cord of wood.  It was clear that this half day thing just wasn't working out.  To top it off my politics were not nearly radical enough to write about.

I did, however like the outdoor work.  There also was a lot of business in making and selling maple syrup.  Besides, here was a product you could produce and really stand behind.  I decided to stick with it.  The rest, as they say, is history.

An old timer once gave me some good advice.  If you find a job applicant who has made maple syrup with any regularity you should hire them.  Making maple syrup is too much work for the lazy.  Anyone who has made syrup for awhile must be a good worker.  He had a point.

Anyone who is interested in the writings of Helen and Scott Nearing should read The Maple Sugar Book  for starters.  It is much more than just a 'how to" manual; full of good history, etc.

As for the Nearings..... they continued to write and support far left causes but sold their Vermont farm to have it become part of a ski resort.  They moved to Maine and continued their lifestyle, but this time grew blueberries as a cash crop.

By way of introduction I am Karl Wiles and have been producing pure maple syrup for 34 years now.  Over the coming months we will try to share recipes, tidbits about what we are doing on our tree farm, and musings about anything else that might be interesting to someone else.  If there is anything you want to hear about just comment.

Our business is trees.  We grow Christmas trees for sale here on the farm and we make maple syrup and all manner of pure maple confections.  I enclose a picture of the farm only to show the beautiful fall colors.  Our farm is approx. 265 acres with most being woods.  It is not like a normal farm as we have no animals and we raise no crops that are harvested in the fall. 

My tidbit for this writing is about strange and wonderful uses for maple.  In the Wall Street Journal of Sept. 24-25 is an article on food used in massage.   Yes, you guessed it.  Maple syrup is one of the primary ingredients in a exfoliant used at the Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid, New York (mirrorlakeinn.com).   Apparently maple sugar of various roughnesses also helps smooth the skin!