The Clubhouse

[OldPrairieRedNeck]

For a conversation starter: anyone else try making maple syrup this spring? I tapped a few Box Alders (Manitoba Maples) this spring and the results are actually quite good! To my surprise it's being done quietly by quite a few folks around here.

[Bhughes]

First I've heard of that in Alberta. Being from pei I've seen a lot of maple farms. But never here cool.

[OldPrairieRedNeck]

Really easy to do Brodie, I understand that birch trees work just as well too. Not very many of them around here though but there are thousands of Box Alders out here. Every old farm site has rows of them.

[williame3590]

I can guzzle that stuff till the dogs come home. Made it for years but I have a cousin with a huge operation and his syrup is just outstanding. Light, medium and dark. All sap from hard maples.

Bill

[Daren71]

We helped a friend make some. He has a really nice boiler/evaporator. It has a chimney on one end and the burner at the bottom of the other. He is probably boiling about 2 gallons at a time. Filtered about 5-6 times before it is bottled. He uses about 45 gallons of sap for 10 gallons of syrup. They pull all the sap from their property, and all the firewood as well. On the weekends he is boiling all day, and shuts down about 9pm.

I have never seen this done before, very cool to see, and help out with.

Daren

[itizme]

I need pancakes now

[williame3590]

French toast for me with thick italian loaf bread, cinnamon and plenty of butter. Please don't forget the thick cut bacon as well!
Coffee made in a stove top perculator.

Bill

[Wannabe]

Really easy to do Brodie, I understand that birch trees work just as well too.

Curious as to what kind of birch? We have plenty of white birch, a few yellow and a some soft maple.

[OldPrairieRedNeck]

You tube videos show both white birch and black birch. I would try the yellow birch too just for the education.

What do you mean by soft maple? There are two names that I know of for the maples I am using and no the wood is not super hard like eastern maples. They may be the same as what we have here.

[Wannabe]

I will have to start looking for some taps and pails. Might be fun to do a couple of gallons next year.

The Manitoba maple I know, usually has a twisted grain making it hard to split. The soft maple we have is fairly straight grained and very colourful in the fall. The leaves have slightly more web than the hard maple.
The Neighbour (taps 200+ trees a year) said the soft maple works for syrup but it takes twice as much sap to produce a gallon.

But sounds like you and I would only be doing it for personal enjoyment.
Thanks for the help