Forget “surf’s up.” The call around Chicago now is “the sap is running,” because March means maple tree tapping time at several forest preserves and parks, including the Forest Preserve of DuPage County’s Kline Creek Farm in Winfield.
The farm’s maple syrup demonstrations end today, a last chance to see sugary sap coming out of the trees, watch the boiling process that results in syrup and pick up tidbits such as why March is usually the best time to tap a tree and how you can try this at home.
When to tap depends upon the weather, according to Forest Preserve naturalist Keith McClow, who says he is hopeful that the sap will be flowing.
“In late winter, when the weather starts to warm up during the day, the tree expands and the sap starts coming up,” he said. “When it gets colder at night, the tree contracts and the sap starts down. It’s like a pump.”
How to tap is also important.
“It does not hurt the tree if you do it right,” McClow said, adding that visitors will receive information to help them to do it at home and can practice on a dead tree at the farm during the sugaring event.
– Maple syrup demonstrations at Kline Creek Farm on County Farm Road in the Forest Preserve of DuPage County’s Timber Ridge Forest Preserve (between Geneva and St. Charles Roads) in Winfield run from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today. There is no charge. Call 630-876-5900.
– A maple syrup demonstration will also he held today at the Joliet Park District’s Pilcher Park Nature Center on U.S. Highway 30 and Gougar Road on the east side of Joliet adjacent to Higinbotham Woods (just west of Interstate Highway 80 and Francis Road). Hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for demonstrations and 8 a.m. to noon for pancakes. Demonstrations are free. The pancake breakfast, which includes a beverage, is $5 for adults and $3.50 for children 12 and under. Call 815-741-7277 for more information.
