FarmingHome + HearthHomesteadingPreservationTrees

Making Maple Syrup

When the moon is full and Spring is in the air...

We’re blessed to be making Maple Syrup for our first season on our new homestead during the ‘Maple Moon’ and wanted to share more about how we’re tapping in to this timeless Northwoods tradition

How YOU can join this sweet revival…

Tools + Materials

Process

  1. Wait until the nights are below freezing and the days are above freezing
  2. Find trees that are at least 12″ diameter
  3. Ask permission from Tree, make an offering – be creative and authentic, trees respect that
  4. Drill a hole slightly smaller than Spile size into tree at slight upward angle ~ 2-3″ deep – only 1 to 2 taps per tree
  5. Insert Spile into the tree, tap gently w/ hammer
  6. Attach collecting container(s) or setup hose to bucket system
  7. Collect sap as needed & have a sweet taste, it’s incredible! Store in cold (up to 3 days) until you can process it
  8. Process sap in evaporation pan/pot outdoors and evaporate over heat till it thickens, skim foam as needed
  9. Transfer to finishing pot over more controllable heat source if needed and heat sap to no more than ~ 219 F, then it becomes syrup
  10. Filter as you pour into glass bottles or jars that won’t crack from heat
  11. Bottle, label & enjoy with your friends!

It’s really that simple…and once you tap you never go back!

About the Trees

You can tap many types of trees for sweet sap to make syrup & sugar with – BUT that being said Sugar Maple & Black Maple give some of the highest sugar content and longest yields. A good rule of thumb is about 40 gallons sap = 1 gallon syrup.

In a good season, you can expect to collect about 15 – 20 gallons of sap per tree – enough to make at least 2 quarts of Maple Syrup and maybe more!

  • Sugar Maple
  • Black Maple
  • Norway Maple
  • Red Maple
  • Silver Maple
  • Boxelder
  • Black Walnut
  • Birch
Tree Identification >

Resilient Maple Sugaring

Cultivating ‘Roots of Resilience’
 in five areas of life
Health  |  Home  |  Nature  |  Community  |  Livelihood

Health + Wellness

Nourishment – Nourished by the tree medicine – trace minerals, antioxidants & natural sugar without artificial preservatives (look it up!)

Movement – Good exercise for your body collecting and carrying heavy sap by hand

Spirit – healing daily rhythm of connecting with the forest and the land

Home + Hearth

Craft – Making something valuable like syrup makes you feel empowered

Cook – Making natural maple syrup encourages cooking more natural foods

Repair/Reuse – Using reusable materials & tools you can fix so you don’t create more waste and pollution in this process

Nature + Stewardship

Living – Spending time outdoors in the fresh air and with the trees

Growing – Plant some new Maples for the next generations to tap and some trees as firewood to use as renewable fuel for processing syrup

Tending – Observe, learn and tend the trees to keep them healthy

Community + Village

Volunteer – Work trade/volunteer to help on a maple syrup farm or regional park

Collaborate – Invite your friends, family and neighbors over to share a tasting or be a part of the process

Teach – Teach others how to do this process and care for the forest and keep this tradition alive

Livelihood + Investment

Work – Get paid to do this work from others, sell/trade extra on the side or start your own enterprise as farming, processing, materials supply etc…

Time – Spend your time on activities that produce something valuable to you – syrup takes time, but the taste and journey to make it is worth it to us

Improvement & Innovation – Brainstorm how you can improve this process or how you approach it differently

Not quite ready to make your own?

‘Green’ Option – Stop buying and eating the fake stuff – you know which ones I mean…get the REAL deal from the store, ideally local if available

‘Sustainable’ Option – Source your syrup from an incredible LOCAL producer in your neck of the woods crafting REAL Maple Syrup – and so many other beautiful real foods – please BUY DIRECT and buy in bulk – support the hands that feed you – it’s win-win and our farmers & producers need the love!

‘Resilient + Regenerative’ Option – Find a workshop or volunteer at a farm or park to do this with others – so you can learn to do it yourself next year and produce a little bit more for yourself and your family – and/or trade for it with something you make and/or help plant some Maple trees for the future generations who will need trees to tap – connect with others in your area or community this season and host a potluck

Thanks for being here, I hope we can be Permaculture friends...

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