1. Maple sap is a
sweet, water like liquid that is collected from the maple trees.
2. Rock Maples make the best sugarmaples.
3. A high concentration of sugarmaples is called a sugarbush.
4. The building that the maple syrup is produced is called a
sugarhouse.
5. The person who makes the maple syrup is called a sugarmaker.
6. Native Americans were the first sugarmakers and they taught the
Europeans all about the process.
7. Native Americans and the first pioneers made maple sugar because it
was easier for them to store.
8. Forty gallons of sap is gathered to make one gallon of maple syrup.
9. Maple sugar is made by boiling the syrup longer, to reduce the
water content and then stirring until a sugar is formed.
10. Maple candy and maple cream are made of pure maple syrup. The
difference is in the temperature the syrup is boiled, the cooling
process and the stirring process.
11. The evaporator is the machine used today to boil away (or
evaporate) the water from the sap, leaving the rich, sweet maple
syrup.
12. All maple syrup regardless of it's grade is boiled to a density
(or thickness) of 32.0 on the Baume scale. That temperature is 7
degrees above the boiling point of water.
13. In Vermont, there are four grades of maple syrup that you can
purchase: Fancy, Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Dark Amber and Grade B.
14. A maple tree should be about 40 years old or 8 inches in diameter
to be tapped.
15. The sap "runs" when the temperatures fall below freezing at night
and then thaws during the day. The freezing point is 32 degrees F.
16. Sugarmakers are always experimenting and looking for new ideas to
take better care of the trees in their sugarbush.
17. The trees release their sap in the springtime (March to April)
when they start to wake up from the long winter's nap.
18. Maple sap is what the tree uses to make buds.
19. When the trees have made buds, the time to sugar has stopped. The
syrup will become very bitter to taste.
20. During the summer the trees make starch which is stored and turned
to sugar.
21. Some sugarmakers still use buckets, but new, plastic tubing has
allowed sugarmakers to tap trees that are difficult to visit each day
that the sap runs.
22. When the sugarmaker sees sugarmaking weather coming in the next
week, he taps his trees.
23. Trees are tapped by drilling a hole and inserting a spout to catch
the sap in a bucket or pipeline. The spout is carefully tapped into
the hole with a small hammer.
24. A new tap hole must be made each year.
25. Healthy trees heal old tap wounds within three years and have
large crowns of branches and leaves during the summer.
26. Sugarmakers often walk their sugarwoods looking for signs of
disease and determining the health of the trees.
27. For several months before the sap flows sugarmakers work in the
woods every day, clearing branches off maple pipelines and roads that
will be used during the sugaring season or repairing damage to their
pipelines caused by the woodland animals.
28. After the maple season the sugarmaker spends many hours in the
sugarhouse cleaning all the equipment so it will be in good repair for
the next year.
29. If a sap run is long, a sugarmaker will work through the night and
until morning making maple syrup.
30. Maple sap must be kept cold and processed right away to make the
best quality maple syrup.
31. Vermont makes more maple syrup than any other state.
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