We’d Tap That!
Jan 28th, 2010 by We'd Tap That!
Think the urban forest can only feed us in the summer time? Think again! Not From From The Tree is pleased to announce a new project we’re launching this winter:
We’d Tap That!
Syrup in the City
While many of us know that maple syrup can come from rural sugar maple forests, it’s also true that most varieties of our urban maple trees have sweet sap which can be boiled down into tasty syrup. This winter we’re cooking up a pilot project to tap 8-10 residential maple trees and then boil down the sap in a communal Sugaring-Off party, where everyone can come watch the process, get a taste, and enjoy the delicious bounty of our urban forest.
The project is still in development so we’re looking for people and trees who can lend their support in these early stages. Folks like Gregory Alan Elliott who designed us a logo for the project. (Check out the sneak preview above!) If you’d like to get involved, we’re looking for people who can offer their trees, volunteer to be trained to tap and monitor trees, donate supplies and equipment, or contribute event materials for the Sugaring-Off party. At this point, this project has no funding support so we’re also seeking financial donations to give it a good boost in these early stages.
Tree Owners
Do you have one or more maple trees you would be interested in tapping for our project?
A small team of trained Not Far From The Tree volunteers (including a certified arborist) would visit the tree initially to assess the health of your tree, thereby ensuring that it’s in good shape to be tapped this year. If it makes it past that stage, another round of trained volunteers will put the spile in the tree and set up the harvesting system, which requires making only one small hole and has no significant affect on a healthy tree. This will happen sometime in late February, depending on your schedule and on the weather. Sap would then start flowing from your tree into the bucket, and depending on the weather could need to be emptied into a larger container up to twice a day, for several weeks.
We are setting up a system in which dedicated volunteers could come by to do some of this harvesting, but for this year’s pilot we are especially looking for tree owners who would be interested in doing a significant share of harvesting work themselves. This is a great opportunity to participate in the entire process of making syrup, without having to do the messy boiling part (that has been known to peel wallpaper in home experiments) in your kitchen!
To sign up your tree, send an email to tapthat@notfarfromthetree.org with the following information:
- Approximate diameter of your tree(s) (it has to be at least a foot wide to be able to tap it)
- Variety of maple (if you know it)
- If you have any place you could store the sap (ie: a cold basement or extra fridge/freezer space)
- Your interest level (ie: Would you be able to empty the sap twice a day, or would you want a volunteer to take care of it)
- Your Postal Code
Volunteers
Maybe you don’t have your own maple tree, but you’d still like to be part of the process? Great! We’re looking for dedicated volunteers to match up with maple owners who live close to them. After receiving training, you would go to the tree once a day for several weeks (late February/early March) to transfer the sap into a larger container and put it into storage. Have questions, or want join in on the fun? Email tapthat@notfarfromthetree.org indicating your interest and your postal code.
Supplies
We also have a list of supplies we’re collecting for this project. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated:
- 2 litre pop bottles (washed and dried) with lids (If you could start collecting these for us, we will pick them up in mid-February to sore the sap in)
- Food grade buckets (ie: no paint/chemicals etc.) with lids
- Access to walk-in or chest refridgerator/freezer space
- Any maple syrup spiles you might have lying around!
- Pancake ingredients and other party fun for the Sugaring-Off party
Please let us know at tapthat@notfarfromthetree.org if you can help us out with any of this.
We look forward to hearing from you!
P.S. Expect us to print up some t-shirts… with a name like “We’d Tap That!”, how can we resist?
This is an excellent idea and I’d love to help.
I might be able to provide a whole bunch of buckets and spiles (if they’re not being used this season).
But the real concern is how you plan to boil the sap down. I’ve done this. We had a large (maybe 3 foot by 5 foot), rectangular, stainless steel cooking pan. It goes over the heat. We used massive amounts of wood in a custom built furnace for hours, to keep the heat going.
When the sap is ready, and it’s easy to overcook, it has to be drained off and filtered before being bottled. This can easily be an overnight effort.
Have you considered the logistics?
Check the maple page of my website for more details and photos.
Hi Al,
Thanks for your comments! We are researching that very topic right now and we’d love to hear what advice you have to offer. One of our team members will be in touch very soon!
We’d Tap That! Team
I’ve been tapping trees up north for a few years now. 2L pop bottles have worked well for me because the do a great job keeping the bugs out. I’m moving away from them because of the plastic breaking down/yellowing in the sun. I’ve begun to move toward metal coffee cans because they stand up better to the elements and I can get them a whole lot easier. You can cut a little hole into the plastic lid to let the sap drip through.
If you’re looking for a large steel pan for boiling down I would try going into a local high school or middle school (with a metal shop) and ask if you can talk with whoever runs the shop. Maybe one of the students would be able to build what you need.
Atkinson maple suppliers will also do custom pans in addition the sizes that they currently offer.
Hope this helps, good luck!
Based on chapter 608 of the City of Toronto’s municipal code, which prohibits any activity that could be damaging to a tree in our parks, I am very concerned about this project. They prohibit things like tapping as city trees are usually under a lot of stress and may not recover from tapping. If park trees are considered under stress, street trees or trees on private property are likely more stressed. I believe that only forest trees in healthy environments should be tapped.
I think harvesting fruit from trees is a great idea but maple syrup is not an important food stuff that is needed by people in need – it is really a luxury item that may come at the expense of trees in an already impoverished urban forest.
If you do go ahead with this project, please respect the trees and do not over-tap them; have the tapping done by an experienced person who knows tree physiology, and train everyone working with the trees.
Hi Vik,
Thanks so much for your comment. The concerns you raise are very real. We’ve been working hard to research and address them so that our project is done with the utmost respect for Toronto’s trees. Your comment helps me realize that we have not yet made these issues known nor have we articulated the precautions that we’ll be taking to ensure the trees are respected. Thanks very much for highlighting this. We’ve since set to work making our efforts on this more public so that this can be used as an educational opportunity.
If you’d like to contribute any further, please do not hesitate to contact me at laura@notfarfromthetree.org or the volunteer organizing team at tapthat@notfarfromthetree.org.
Best,
Laura
Artistic Director – Not Far From The Tree
I have never had syrup from a Norway Maple but it sounds like an interesting project to use this species. I guess it will require a lot more boiling than for Sugar Maple which means the use of more resources to produce the same product. I understand the same is true for making Birch syrup.
Since Norway Maple is regarded as a pest species in ravines, I wonder if tapping might be considered in those locations if the trees are large enough.