sugar maple

[hugh]

I have a number of maples. My wife claims some are sugar maples and wants to go in for making maple syrup . They have started really dark red leaves this fall. But before potentailly poisioning myslef next spring is there any other way of checking. That is other than feeding my wife the syrup from her alleged sugar maples and waiting for 24 hours.

[opabinia51]

Not being an expert on the subject myself I will direct you to this website:

https://www.massmaple.org/treeID.html

from watching a few programs on the subject, I do believe that you need a lot of trees to get any appreciable amount of sap though. But, good luck! If they are sugar maples, be sure and let us know how your syrup turns out.

[hugh]

According to the webb site you kindly provided they can all be ‘tapped’. So she will probably tap every tree in the vicinity. Thanks for your help.

[grandpasrose]

Yes, they need to be tapped in the spring, just when the sap is running in from the roots to the branches for spring. A bucket is placed under this tap to catch the sap, and this is what the syrup is made from. It is actually amazing how much sap comes from one tree.
We have neighbours here who do the same thing, only with birch trees, and they make a wonderful birch syrup! Good luck on your new experiment!
VAL

[hugh]

Many thanks we also have birches!

[The Helpful Gardener]

The red color you mention gives me pause. Most sugars are yellow to an orangey red in fall; hard reds make me think of swamp (also known as red) maple. Poisoning is not an issue; good flavor is.

Got any leaf images? (easy I.d.)

HG

[opabinia51]

I believe that you have to boil the sap down as well. Am I correct? I'm sure that there are a plethora of websites out there on the subject of making maple syrup.

Wow, with maples and birch your wife will have a lot of collecting to do! You guys might even start up a little home grown business. Have fun!

Be sure to let us know how it turns out.

[grandpasrose]

Oh yeah Opa, gathering the sap is just the very first step in making syrup! Like anything else that's good, it takes some work!!
VAL

[opabinia51]

Just like gardening

I'll be up at 5 tomorrow morning (if not earlier) to collect seaweed for my garden.

[Grey]

We also have sugar maples in our yard - but I never thought of tapping them for syrup. Hmmmm....
Guess I have all winter to mull it over.

Ours are supposed to turn yellow, according to the neighbors. We'll know in about a month for sure I guess!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Yep, Yellow is the usual color for sugars, so I wouldn't be suprised...

HG

[opabinia51]

HOW TO MAKE MAPLE SYRUP:


https://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/PDFpubs/7036.pdf

https://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/pennsylvania/a/maple_syrup_3.htm

[frogesque]

Or, you can indulge yourself with some [url=https://scorpius.spaceports.com/~goodwine/maplewine.htm]home brewed maple wine[/url]

[The Helpful Gardener]

The Helpful Gardener neither condones or decries the imbibing of alcholic beverages. He can, however, be swayed from that position with bribes of homemade wine or beer...

HG

[opabinia51]

I here that in Quebec and Ontario, they also make Maple Brandy. Don't have a recipe but, that could be another idea. Unfortunately, we can't buy it out here in BC because of the fact that for some reason, our government won't allow the good stuff to be sold here.

Anyway, I think that maple brandy would be wonderful. (Though, I've yet to try it.)

[grandpasrose]

My father makes the most wonderful smoked salmon when he gets back from his sojourns on the ocean, and his main ingredient is Maple Syrup! There are many, many uses for it, beside pancakes!.
VAL

[Grey]

Ohh that sounds yummy!
I just used our leftover salmon in an Italian dish last night. Turned out pretty good - always know if the DH takes seconds! lol.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Funny how gardeners plant fetishes are directly linked either to their libidos or their appetites...

Here's a passionate bit on the sugar maple from an earlier expert (Donald Culross Peattie from his classic A Natural History of Trees)

"The most magnificent display of color in all the kingdiom of plants is the autumnal foliage of the trees of North America. Over them all, over the clear light of the Aspens and the Mountain Ash, over the leaping flames of Sumac, over the war-paint of the many oaks (guess this IS old), rise the colors of one tree---the Sugar Maple---in the shout of a great army. Clearest yellow, richest crimson, tumultuous scarlet, or brilliant orange---the foliage of Sugar maple at once outdoes and unifies all the rest. It is like the mighty marching melody that rides upon the crest of some symphonic weltering sea and, with its crying song, gives meaning to all the calculated dissonance of the orchestra."

Thanks to Wild Bill Cullina for bringing this ebullient, effusive eloquence (called for some flowery praise) to our attentions in his Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines, the ONLY book on the subject...

Also of note in that description is that while yellow is the primary, it need not be the only color of the sugar maple (althought the tendency remains, and usually will vary within one tree, so ALL red still makes me think red maple).

HG

[Grey]

Great info!
and:

Funny how gardeners plant fetishes are directly linked either to their libidos or their appetites...

HG

Yes, yes they are. I like fresh tomatoes, eggplant, all fresh herbs... and I mostly cook Italian. lol. Growing garlic and onions are my next experiment here in GA. Shouldn't be too hard.

[grandpasrose]

Grey - onions and garlic I grow a tremendous amount of, and THE most important key I have found is water, water, water, and lots of warmth!

So Scott, if we didn't always eventually revolve around to food, why are we growing these gardens again?
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

I am only recently a food gardener; I have been a sensual gardener for decades (easy to see where my mind goes )

Scott

[Grey]

I'm both a sensual gardener and a veggie gardener. Does that just make me balanced?
And right now, there is nothing sensual about my yard! UGH. Sometimes I miss my yard in FL... I had things going where I wanted them, and my flower gardens were just starting to look so lovely. Oh well.

[grandpasrose]

Oh Grey, I am glad you straightened that out - I was getting worried about where Scott was headed!!
I'm with you, I do it all, flowers, veggies, orchards (apples, pears, plums), fruit (grapes, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, saskatoons) I think that makes me pretty rounded!
I guess I can tell my sweetie I have a sensual side now!!
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

We aim for a balanced presentation here...

Scott

[grandpasrose]

I guess it's all a matter of perspective in the end.!

Hey Hugh, I bet you never dreamed you simple question about whether you had sugar maples would end up here !!
VAL

[Grey]

I guess it's all a matter of perspective in the end.!

Hey Hugh, I bet you never dreamed you simple question about whether you had sugar maples would end up here !!
VAL

It has wandered pretty far from Sugar Maples now, hasn't it?

[The Helpful Gardener]

Sugar is a food, food is sensual...

No, in my twisted mind we are still right on topic...

Thoughts Hugh? (if you have not left the building... )

HG

[grandpasrose]

He probably rolled his eyes and gave up on us long ago!!!
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

Just like my family!

[grandpasrose]

Yours too?
VAL

[Grey]

Wow... mine gave up too.
Actually, so did my husband's.
They decided we are a little too different... but they stay friendly anyway.