If winter is winding down, the sap must be flowing and it`s maple syrup time again. Americans may have gone gaga over arugula and radicchio, but there are some traditions that can ride out any trend.
Last year when River Trail Nature Center in Northbrook held its annual maple syrup festival, 9,000 people came out for the first Sunday, and the second Sunday more than 12,000 showed up to watch the trees being tapped, the sap being carried by ox and cart from the sugar bush to the sugar shack, and to eat pancakes with real maple syrup.
Many people there and at other demonstrations found the information they needed to tap their own trees. Some nature centers even sell the metal spiles that are stuck in the tree to let the sap drip out.
But Nan Buckardt, naturalist at the Edward L. Ryerson Conservation Area in Deerfield, says, ”You don`t need fancy equipment. All you need to do is drill a hole into the tree so it`s an inch to an inch and a half deep, stick one end of some plastic tubing in to bring the sap out and put the other end in a clean milk jug on the ground.” She says the most important thing to remember is to keep the container closed so debris doesn`t get in.
Dick Wason, naturalist at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, agrees that the process is a simple one. ”It`s wounding a tree by boring a hole in it, but it has never been shown to have a detrimental effect on the tree,” he says.
For the second year, the Morton Arboretum will be offering demonstrations to show people how to tap trees in their own back yards. It`s safe to tap trees now.
Wason says the interest in back-yard production has been growing. ”Out here in suburbia,” he says, ”there are a growing number of subdivisions where soft maple trees were planted as instant landscaping and through the years they`ve grown and become tappable.”
The sap we turn into maple syrup is food for the tree as well. ”It`s loaded with carbohydrates made the previous summer in the sunshine that are now being returned to the top of the tree to be used to develop new foliage,” says Wason.
In its natural state as it drips from the tree it has nothing to distinguish itself. ”When it comes out of the tree it looks like water and tastes like water,” says Buckardt. The explanation for that is simple. Buckardt says sap is only about 4 percent sugar and is 96 percent water.
Getting to the essence takes hours of boiling to evaporate the water, with 40 quarts of sap needed to make 1 quart of syrup. The process used to be more than just time-consuming. ”It`s very tedious,” says park ranger John Thornburg, referring to the method that the Indians used that will be demonstrated at Indiana Dunes Natural Lake Shore. Because the Indians had no metal pots that they could put directly on a flame, they put the sap in hollowed-out logs, heated up rocks and threw them in to bring it to a boil.
The demonstration will also show the pioneer method for making maple syrup. ”They used a series of eight or nine kettles and as the sap boiled down they would transfer it to successively smaller pots,” Thornburg says.
Making maple syrup at home today is not without its hazards. ”If you`re doing large quantities, it`s recommended that you do it outdoors,” says Betsy Irwin, environmental educator at the Lincoln Memorial Garden and Nature Center in Springfield. ”There`s a lot of steam, so it might make the wallpaper start to peel and they also say it makes your walls a little sticky.”
But tapping a tree or two in your own back yard, no matter how easy and economical, belies part of the pleasure of the maple syrup season, which is to get outside and stalk the woods to see if there isn`t some suspicion of spring in the air. Wason says maple syrup is symbolic of the turn of the seasons even though the change isn`t visible.
”It takes quite a while of this upward flow of sap before it causes the buds to burst and the leaves to form, so it`s a sequestered, hidden sign of spring; but the minute you tap a hole in the tree it`s very obvious that it`s going on.”
Following are some maple syrup festivals in the Chicago area:
Edward L. Ryerson Conservation Area, 21950 Riverwoods Rd., Deerfield; 1-3 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday in March except March 8; demonstrations and tastings; 50 cents for Lake County residents, $1 for nonresidents; call for reservations; 948-7750.
Funk`s Grove, Exit 154 (Funk`s Grove/Shirley) off Int. Hwy. 55; season continues through March, but call in advance to see if farm is operating on day you want to visit; 309-874-3220. (Syrup can also be purchased by mail order, Box 41, Shirley, Ill. 61772.)
Indiana Dunes National Lake Shore, Chellberg Farm, on Mineral Springs Road approximately 3 miles west of Ind. Hwy. 49, near Porter, Ind.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. March 7-8, 14-15; one-hour tours beginning every 15-20 minutes include demonstration of how the Indians, the pioneers and the Chellbergs made maple syrup; free; 219-926-7561.
Kline Creek Farm, on Country Farm Road one-half mile north of Geneva Road, West Chicago; noon to 5 p.m. March 14; Du Page County Forest Preserve naturalists and volunteers will demonstrate tapping-to-syrup process; also, sampling of maple syrup, truck- and horse-pulled hay rides, quilting and other craft demonstrations, tours of 19th Century farm buildings; free, but 50 cent donation requested for hay rides; 790-4900.
Lincoln Memorial Garden and Nature Center, 2301 E. Lake Dr., Springfield; 1-4 p.m. weekends through March 15; demonstration of tapping, collecting and boiling sap; 1-4 p.m. March 8, Festival Day with folk music, refreshments and nature walks; free; 217-529-1111.
Morton Arboretum, Ill. Hwy. 53 and the East-West Tollway, Lisle; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. March 8 and 15; demonstrations on how to tap your own maple trees, film, tour and tasting; tickets on first-come, first-served basis at the Visitor Center from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on day of activity; $1 per person, $3 gate entry fee; 969-5682.
North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski Rd., Chicago; March 29, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. pancake brunch, $4 per person; 10 a.m.-4 p.m., sap boil down and demonstration of pioneer crafts, free; 583-8970.
Pilcher Park Nature Center, U.S. Hwy. 30 in Gougar (near Joliet), one-fourth mile north of railroad tracks; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. March 7 and 8, 14 and 15, 21 and 22, 28; demonstration of making of maple syrup, free; 8 a.m.-1 p.m. March 29, pancake breakfast, $3 adults, $2.50 children; 815-726-2207.
River Trail Nature Center, 3120 N. Milwaukee Ave., Northbrook; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. March 29 and April 5; demonstration of gathering sap in the sugar bush and then sap hauled by ox and cart to the sugar shack, slide program, demonstration of pioneer crafts, free; 9 a.m. until food runs out (usually about 2 p.m.), pancake breakfast, under $4; 824-8360.
Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary, on Schaumburg Road one-half mile west of Meacham Road, Schaumburg; Sugar Bush Fair, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. March 15, pancake brunch 8 a.m.-3 p.m. in log cabin, $3 adults, $2 children (available in advance at nature center); also, demonstrations of modern and old-time maple syrup production; tours available to school and scout groups through March;
980-2147.
