Because we don’t really have a lot to do around here, we’ve decided to see if we can squeeze a few drops of maple sugar from our big leaf maple trees! [Curious about tapping west coast maples? Here’s a good link with lots of information.)
T. got all excited about the prospect of making our own syrup, so off he went to gather supplies – spiles, tubing, and wine bladders (from a local You Brew wine shop).
It was so easy to get holes drilled and everything set up I can’t believe that every maple tree in the area hasn’t been tapped! The ease of sap collection is likely to be offset by the lengthy process that lies ahead… The ratio of sap to syrup is about 40:1 so we have a lot of boiling ahead of us! Stay tuned…
darkcreekfarmdotcom 
very cool! 🙂
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We are pretty excited and can’t wait to try the syrup!
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now if only we had a money tree that could be tapped the same way 🙂
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Let me know if you find one!!
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Interesting! I’ll be curious to hear how this venture turns out. 🙂
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Me, too!
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“Because we don’t really have a lot to do around here,…” makes me laugh.
I watched Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs visit a Vermont maple sugar farm. He got the job of cleaning ash out from under the big boilers. They burned wood for heat. To collect sap, they ran hoses down the hillsides to a large horse water tank instead of collecting many bags from many trees. The tank was on a cart so it could be hauled into the boiling shed.
I hope your project works. I am going to do a smaller one soon. I want to cook down some chili peppers into a hot sauce. Gotta get some idea of a recipe for starters.
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The tank on wheels is a great idea! Good luck with your hot sauce!
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It should be pretty easy. Flavoring is the challenge. And, the hotness. I like it hot.
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Well! And I felt ambitious to make applesauce today! 🙂
One thing I can count on: this blog ALWAYS has something interesting to say. I really look forward to it. THANKS.
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Thanks, Melanie! This is a project I’m really excited about – I just LOVE maple syrup! (Almost as much as I love apple sauce… enjoy!)
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I’ve always wondered how the syrup from the big leaf maple would turn out. Good luck! Like Jim, I laughed at the opening line :).
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You can come over for a tasting!! I must confess when T suggested a new project I was a bit dubious, but then my sweet tooth spoke up and that was that!
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“…that said, we understand sap flows even less than we understand teenagers”…ROFL. My kind of people :). Great link, thanks.
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I loved that line!
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I just recently boiled down my first batch of big leaf maple syrup! I have another batch ready to boil as well. Its fantastically delicious. what I did was super basic. I drilled my holes and didn’t even have taps, just inserted tubing directly into the holes. I used 5 gallon pails to collect the sap. i’m now tapping 7 trees total and i’m hoping to do many more than that next year…
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Wow – that’s an even easier set up than ours! We are totally sold on the syrup – weird how more people aren’t doing it already….
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