I did it! I made Maple Syrup!

[Henrietta23]

I got 10 taps in the mail today!! We're going to try. The weather is warming up so if it's going to work it's going to work!!! Wish me luck.

 

[AngieChick]

You are a genius! I LOVE maple syrup.

 

[Henrietta23]

Put in two taps and the sap is dripping! I think I'm going to have to start my own thread!

 

[MichiganWoods]

Where are you guys ordering your taps from? It's nice and warm out today, and will be into most of next week. I know the sap will be good to go as I was nipping some broken branches today and then all of a sudden that tree was just oozing sap. Also... anybody got a handy guide on how to identify my maples?

I know what they look like when they've got leaves... but I've got literally tons of different trees on my property, and with all the leaves down right now I haven't got a clue what is what.

 

[Henrietta23]

I bid and won some on Ebay but you can also find a new beginners' kit if you search.
We tapped the trees around 5pm today and just got home from church to find we have collected exactly 1/2 gallon of sap. That will boil down to about 1.6 ounces of syrup at the most if I'm calculating correctly.
I haven't found a good guide to identify my trees. We just decided to take a chance with our big maple because we're sure it is a maple! We think it is a silver. It has yellow leaves in autumn. I'll be interested to see if anyone does though.

 

[MichiganWoods]

You guys are awesome. So glad this was posted. Anybody got any recipes on how to make maple candies? I vaguely recall having some of those when I was a kid. Loved 'em!

Edited to say, I need to start my own thread too. Didn't mean to hog.

 

[Henrietta23]

We've collected more than 2 gallons in 24 hours. We lost probably a half gallon because our coffee cans overflowed while we were all at school today. Annoying!!