It suddenly dawned on me that it’s maple-sap season. We have a Norway maple in the yard: our only tree. Maple syrup usually comes from sugar maples but last year I figured what the heck, let’s tap that baby. I started later than you’re supposed to but still collected many gallons of sap, which I then attempted to boil into syrup.

Spile in Tree (Click to Enlarge)

I lit a fire in the yard and boiled the sap in a big pan, but after hours of waiting I made a fatal mistake. Finished syrup, you see, doesn’t look like the thick refrigerated syrup when it’s boiling. Imagine, for instance, boiling wax and waiting for it to look like a candle. That was me. I kept waiting for the sap to thicken up, and when it finally did and I removed it from the heat, the syrup immediately foamed and cooled into a solid mass of unbreakable sugar, like ancient coral, that I couldn’t remove from the pan. I had to chuck the whole thing away and start over, and by that time the tree had just about stopped flowing.

I did manage to collect enough for a minor second attempt and stopped boiling at the proper time…when the sap just begins clinging to a spoon. The finished syrup was light and candy-sweet and worth the effort, and this year I’m ready to boil more.

Ready to Collect

Sap begins to flow in February and March. The key time is when the temperature is below freezing at night and above freezing during the day, which basically describes the entire month of January this season. I bought a new metal tap-spout, called a spile, and a new collection bucket. (Last year I had a flimsy plastic spile and tupperware.) This morning I drilled a 5/16″ hole into the southern side of the tree, as recommended, and hung the bucket. The sap isn’t running yet; when it is, the liquid flows immediately upon drilling. It looks like water. Whenever it starts to run, I’ll gather the collected sap in bottles and keep it in the fridge until I’m ready to boil.

You need a lot of sap. The ratio of sap to finished syrup is approximately 40:1, so 10 gallons of sap makes 1 quart of syrup.

Tap My Trees is a great resource. They have supplies, too, but I got an excellent deal on the bucket and spile at our local Agway.