Honey and Maple Syrup

[abies]

Fun to read about. I've heard some people are maple syruping here which normally doesn't happen for another 1-1.5 months from now.

I've helped with syruping before but not very extensively, nothing but pretty old-timey equipment.

A couple of years ago we bought some black walnut syrup which was surprising to me to find; it was pretty tasty, a fruitier, tarter syrup than maple. I also usually have birch syrup around, which is kind of molasses-y in taste.

 

[DrStrange]

That’s quite a set up. I’m not going to try and sell anything. It’s mainly for personal use and to give as gifts.

I tested my syrup with a hydrometer and it’s actually heavy, so more concentrated than I thought it would be. That’s better than light syrup as far as I’m concerned.

He had buckets set up and was getting 3 gallons a year,
enough for himself a to make a few gifts.
But his mrs. figured they had enough trees to really make a lot.

His nightmare is that his wife might find a buyer for their last gallon,
and he'll have to buy Canadian for himself.

 

[Whisky]

Fun to read about. I've heard some people are maple syruping here which normally doesn't happen for another 1-1.5 months from now.

I've helped with syruping before but not very extensively, nothing but pretty old-timey equipment.

A couple of years ago we bought some black walnut syrup which was surprising to me to find; it was pretty tasty, a fruitier, tarter syrup than maple. I also usually have birch syrup around, which is kind of molasses-y in taste.

Here in the Indy area season is usually mid Feb to mid Mar. I tapped my trees early just because of the weather we were having.

I have a few huge Black Walnut trees on my property and have considered tapping them. The issue is they’re about 80gal of sap to 1gal of syrup and that may be more than I want to take on. I’ve heard you can sell a gallon of Black Walnut syrup for $2-300 because it’s rare compared to Maple syrup.

 

[Doc4]

80gal of sap to 1gal of syrup

sell a gallon of Black Walnut syrup for $2-300

$400 worth of firewood to boil it down from sap to syrup!

 

[Whisky]

Second boil of the year. This may be this year’s last due to the weather. We keep getting 3-4 days with weather that’s great for sap collection followed by 3-4 days when it’s so warm the sap doesn’t flow. I’m averaging about 5gal of sap per week out of 3 trees which makes about 12oz of syrup. I’m borderline on whether it’s worth my time to keep trying this year or just wait until next year, tap more trees, and hope for better weather.

 

[Frito Ray]

Looks like a fun project.

Never done it myself be heard that lighter syrups are made with early sap and dark syrups are better with later sap.

 

[Whisky]

The fruits of my labor. It’s a little darker this time but tastes the same.

 

[Whisky]

3rd boil of the year. This will be the last. I’m hoping to get about 50oz, total, of syrup this year. Next year I’m going to tap 10 more trees.

 

[Frito Ray]

Will you give tapping your walnuts a try next year?

I wonder if combining maple and walnut saps would create something palatable?

 

[Whisky]

Will you give tapping your walnuts a try next year?

I wonder if combining maple and walnut saps would create something palatable?

Maybe, we haven’t really decided yet. We have 2 massive Black walnut trees that we could easily hand 4 taps in, but it might not be worth it for the small yield we’d get out of it.

 

[Whisky]

From left to right earliest to latest production. I’d read that the syrup gets darker the later in the season. I guess it’s true. These are 12oz bottles, I have a few 4oz Mason jars full as well. Roughly 50-55oz total this year.

 

[Barley]

Great read! I grew up in Canada and we had about 8 big maple trees in our yard. We tapped them every year and stored the sap in rubber trash cans. I'm sure they were not food safe. We then filtered the sap through cheese cloth before boiling down the sap on our stove. The extra heat in the house was welcomed. Good luck and happy eating!

 

[FarmerTan]

A sap hydrometer is next on my list. My wife is already rolling her eyes at my new “hobby.” At least the season only last 2-3 weeks. I’ve got at least 15 more maple trees on my property I can tap, so I’ll probably go a little bigger next year and finish some of the syrup over a fire.

Lol, I was the one rolling my eyes at my spouse!

She grew up keeping bees, then got into it while homeskooling our only begotten.

Never tried maple syrup, but lots of trees on the homestead, so we've been blessed by other folks' efforts in that regard.

Sounds like your kids have some good parents there my friend! Lol, I think our son has forgiven us for all the "life lessons" he didn't learn in publik skool!

 

[Whisky]

Hives are out, just waiting on the bees. Others that have ordered from this company have received word that their bees are ready, so I’m expecting to get mine within the next week or 2.