February 27th, 2011

Tomorrow we tap the trees – it’s maple syrup time!!  Both the Laurel Creek and Camp Heidelberg OEECs run maple syrup programs for grades 1, 3 and 6 classes.

Waterloo County, with our Mennonite and agricultural heritage, has the distinction of having more maple syrup producers than anywhere else in the world.  Just drive the rural roads around the area some warm spring weekend and you’ll see smoke plumes rising from many of the farm woodlots as sap from the sugar maple tree is condensed into sweet maple syrup.

Sap from the tree is clear – it looks like water, as it is only 2-3% sugar.  Maple syrup must be 66% sugar so we boil down anywhere from 30 to 80 litres of sap to make a litre of syrup.  While the sap is  dripping slowly into buckets and syrup is being stirred in the pans , spring unfolds in the forest.  We anticipate the return – in a predictable order – of many of our migratory birds from red-winged blackbirds (soon!!) to wood ducks and warblers.  Dormant butterflies emerge from the leaf litter,  tiny spring beauty flowers bloom at the base of south-facing tree trunks, and the aroma (odour?) of wild wild leek floats in the air.

After our tapping is complete, we’ll need to wait for Mother Nature to dish up a few warm sunny days, each followed by cold, clear nights to get our first run of sap.  Then its fresh syrup on pancakes for breakfast and on ice cream before bed.

Follow our progress with tweets from @outdoor_ed

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