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Doreen
Pendgracs |
Lifestyle Samples: TAPPING
INTO YOUR BACKYARD RESOURCES© If you have any maple trees on your property, you're likely to have an untapped resource right within reach! By simply "tapping" into your backyard maples, you, too, can begin harvesting your own maple syrup. Ken Fosty is an Extension Officer with the Manitoba Forestry Association. He says the trend for home harvesting of maple syrup is really catching on, as people look for a purer, healthier lifestyle, and ways to teach their children a 'back to the earth' philosophy. "Quebec is still the leader by far, for production of maple syrup in Canada, but smaller amounts are being produced everywhere you can find maple trees. "To my knowledge, that includes everywhere but B.C. and Alberta," says Fosty. Sugar maples are found in abundance, east of Manitoba throughout the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Forest Region. Manitoba and Saskatchewan have smaller quantities of maple trees, but of a different variety -- the Manitoba maple, also known to yield excellent maple syrup. To tap your maple tree, all you need is a 7/16-inch drill bit, and a tap or 'spout' and pail for each taphole. A large tree can be tapped in several spots, but remember to select a solid spot in the trunk for each tap. Avoid areas where the tree has been damaged, or directly below knotholes or dead branches. Drill each hole approximately two inches (or five centimetres) deep, slanting slightly upward. Insert a tap into the hole, tapping it gently into place. Attach a pail onto the spout to collect the sap, but be sure to cover it, to prevent rain, snow, debris, or wildlife from getting into the precious raw sap. Fosty says maple trees have an internal chronometer. "They're genetically equipped not to wake up too early. Therefore mild weather won't fool the trees into producing sap before the first real spring thaw," he said. Sap generally begins flowing by the end of March, when daytime temperatures are above freezing, but nighttime temperatures still dip below the freezing mark. Once the flow of sap begins, each taphole can produce anywhere from 1-10 litres of sap per day, so be sure to check your pails regularly to avoid any overflow. You'll need plastic covered pails to store the sap, a fine mesh screen or cheesecloth to filter the raw sap, and a large pan in which to boil the sap. Think it's worth it to go to all that trouble, knowing that it will take close to 43 litres of sap to make a single litre of syrup? You'll get your answer, as soon as you taste that first bite of homemade pancakes served with homegrown maple syrup! More information and supplies can be obtained from Atkinson Maple Syrup Supplies in Barrie, Ontario; Small Bros. Maple Syrup Equipment and Supplies in Dunham, Quebec; Bob Gass of Maple Syrup of Manitoba Inc. in McCreary, Manitoba; or by calling your provincial Forestry or Woodlot Associations.
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