Maple Sugaring Day a sweet treat

Buy This Photo
Maple trees at Meesing Nature Center Tuesday morning.Pocono Record file photo

Canadians refer to the maple-flavored syrup bought in a supermarket as pole syrup. Why? Because it's as tasteless as sap extracted from a telephone pole.

The Monroe County Environmental Education Center is offering you the chance to savor the sweetness of real maple syrup.

Maple Sugaring Day will be held Saturday at the Delaware State Forest's Meesing Nature Center Sugarbush.


Maple Sugaring Day

When: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.

Also, Scouts Day from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. March 8. Registration required by Wednesday.


What to wear: Dress appropriately for the weather and for trails.

Cost: $5; $3 for age 12 and under; free for members of MCEEC

Information: 570-629-3061, mcconservation.org

"Besides a richer flavor? What other reason do you need to make your own maple syrup?" said Karen N. Boyle, environmental educator at MCEEC. "The pure maple syrup is only made from sugar maple trees that grow in the northeastern states. You can only make it in early spring when Mother Nature cooperates. The nights have to be cold and the days warm for the sap to flow."

The Maple Sugaring Day will introduce people to the production process during a one-hour tour of the sugarbush.

The history of syrup production started with the Native Americans. They would drop hot fire-heated rocks into hollowed-out logs filled with sap. The early settlers collected sap by suspending a bucket from a wooden tap, which had been pounded into the tree. They would then boil the sap down in kettles.

Visitors get to see how modern farmers use plastic tubes that run from the trees to a collection station. Next, the sap is cooked into sweet maple syrup. Forty gallons of sap are needed to make one gallon of maple syrup.

The last stop on the tour is the pancake station, where the pure finished syrup is served to the guests over freshly made pancakes.

"After 28 years observing the production of syrup, I still have no idea how many gallons we will make in any given year," Boyle said. "Some years when the weather is right, there is a lot of sap. In other years when spring comes early, there's less sap."

"The process is always improving," Boyle said. "The latest advancement involves using a reverse-osmosis filter to reduce the water in the sap. This shortens the cooking time."

A reverse-osmosis filter normally is used to purify water. In maple-syrup production, water is the impurity. The filter separates out the sugar and minerals from the sap. This can reduce the cooking time by 50 percent. While this saves fuel costs for the small farmer, the filters cost $12,000.

Parents will be happy to know that sweet-tasting maple candy is also good for their children. The syrup contains vitamin B-6, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, zinc and other minerals in trace amounts.

In addition, maple syrup is good for the environment. Since it is locally produced, there is a small carbon footprint for shipping. The estimated 92,000 gallons of maple syrup produced in Pennsylvania translates to $3.8 million.

"On Maple Sugaring Day families can enjoy spending time together," Boyle said. "They can also learn about the history and culture of our area. I'm always in awe of the Native Americans and all the work and ingenuity it took for them to make maple sugar. Despite all our technology, we still cannot produce anything better than the natural flavor of maple."

Reader Reaction