This morning on my drive to work, I reminisced over the weekend. “What comes out of the tree, Charlie? Syrup or sap?” I asked him.
On Saturday we went to a maple tree tapping event put on by our local park district. It was rainy outside and it gave us the perfect reason to still get outside. I still remember my 4th grade field trip to learn about maple tapping. It’s one of my favorite field trip memories. The event put on by our park district was just as wonderful.
First, we sat in a room and the leader went through the process of what a tree needs to grow, how old the tree needed to be, and how big it needs to be before it can be tapped. Then she took us outside as we learned about tapping throughout time. We learned Native Americans tapped trees! I did not know that. Initially they made a simple “V” shape into the tree that naturally allowed the sap to pour out. The sap was collected in “birch baskets”. As the walking tour went on, we learned about the water/sugar ratio in sap, as well as how tapping tech has transformed over the years. At our last station, the leader carried a bucket of sap to the “sugar shack”. This is where they cooked the sap to transform it into syrup. Finally, everyone had a mini pancake with some syrup to try.
After the tour was over, there was an activity station to try out some of the tapping steps. There was a dead tree that Charlie got to drill a hole into. Then another station where he got to hammer in a spile. So fun!
I am so thankful that our park district organized this event. It was $3 a person! Can you beat that?!?
The Silver Lining 