Comments on: Urban tree tapping

By: glenn

glenn — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:25:16 +0000

twi may concern

To tap you need a maple tree (look under the tree for maple leaves and helicopter seeds) a 7/16 ‘ drill bit with a cordless drill, and a spile (the little spigot you insert in the hole), a bucket and a lid from any country hardware or co-op store’

Tap the spile firmly in the hole, hang the bucket and lid and gather the sap daily between the last week in feb to the first week in april

Keep adding and boiling the sap in a stock kettle until it reduces to syrup so that the mixture flakes when dripped from the side of a teaspoon

Don’t worry about the tree…. it will heal itself by the next season

hgd

By: steve green

steve green — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:37:57 +0000

Great interview and great job! Way To Go!!!

By: Bridey

Bridey — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:36:02 +0000

Jason,

You could try Atkinson Maple Syrup supplies. It’s just north of Barrie on Highway 11, in Guthrie. atkinsonmaple.com

I think this is an amazing idea, provided people use proper means to tap the trees! Never knew you could tap a Norway!

By: Jason Latremoille

Jason Latremoille — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:43:40 +0000

Hi Laura,
I think this is a great idea! I appreciate the lively discussion. And let’s not forget that one can tap birch trees too! The syrup isn’t as sweet but one can also drink the sap as is as with maples. From my research, which included emails back and forth with a birch sap facility in Northern Ontario, one needs to keep in mind that sap is generally not very stable, i.e. it can be prone to mould, etc. This is because before it is boiled it is still alive, essentially it is the trees’ blood (seriously!). The boiling and I imagine the increased sugar content (sugar is a preservative) that comes with boiling make the sap more stable.
Apparently First Nations people used to drink maple and birch saps as is as Spring elixirs. And, when they boiled the sap down, they generally boiled them until they got maple sugar (i.e., a solid). This is because it’s a lot easier to store and transport maple sugar cakes than syrup.
Lastly, it might be a challenge to get taps for the trees in the city? If you find out where to get some, please let me know:)
Jason

By: roscoe

roscoe — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:03:53 +0000

I live a block or two away and neighbours of mine across the street have been tapping their tree every year for the past 7 or 8. The problem with that is that they use the same bore holes and they tap the same tree year after year, which is not how it should be done and weakens the tree. Look into the right way to do it before experimenting!
Also, boiling down the sap inside your home, while conserving the energy expended to some extent, will also result in a steamy sweet bath pervading every iota of your abode; think of sticky dust on the top of your bookself, in your linen cupboard, inviting bugs to feast on your ceiling fan all summer long….
We tapped our Norway Maple one year and got 2 gallons of sap which we boiled down to about 2 cups of syrup. Seriously.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:27:20 +0000

I did this several years ago on my largest silver maple tree. We got lots of sap (which can be drunk as is) and boiled some down that became a very light syrup.

Large operations are more efficient in that they apparently now do a reverse osmosis process to reduce the water content before boiling. But home boiling is fine in early Spring as the energy goes to heating the home.

I did notice that the tree produced less leaves that year, so it definitely was taxed somewhat.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:56:24 +0000

it is a good idea as long as people have the knowledge of how to tap trees properly- not all tress should be tapped for the same amount of it sugar otherwise the tree itself will lose proper regenerative value.
Its pretty well common sense- the smaller the tree the less taps, the bigger the more (I think the most you can put is about 3-6 taps?)
about 40 litres of sap makes 1 litre of maple syrup! it would be fun to see neighborhoods band together!!!

By: Melissa Yu

Melissa Yu — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:40:57 +0000

I personally think this is an amazing idea.

I would love to have someone come into my neighbourhood to help me identify which trees are what so I could approach neighbours. I am fairly sure that people in my neighbourhood would be more than willing to allow us to collect from their trees.

Horray!

By: Natalie Zend

Natalie Zend — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:38:05 +0000

Laura,

I’m amazed to see this article! I have been meaning to write you for the past few weeks suggesting you tap urban maples, and just this I morning thought about you again! As they say, great minds think alike. I think this is a rock-on fabulous idea.

The city is chock-full of maples that could be usefully harvested for Toronto maple syrup! I personally have one, and my mother (of the apricot tree) has one, which we would gleefully offer up. One consideration is that most of these trees seem to be on city property. I wonder if you could even strike up a deal of some kind with the city (eg they supply buckets and other equipment, you organize volunteer labour)…

I look forward to tapping my tree!

Please keep us posted.

warmly,
Natalie Zend

By: Colin

Colin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:37:00 +0000

You can do ours!