Great Outdoors: Maple Syrup Season in Minnesota
DULUTH, Minn. – “You tap your trees when the crows are making their nests and earlier this morning a crow went by with its mouth full of grass or twigs or stuff like that. So obviously they’re thinking about making their nests, so that’s kind of the first sign of spring,” Farmer Doug says.
In Minnesota, March is typically the start of sap tapping season, and for people like Farmer Doug, making that sweet syrup is what this time of year is all about.
“We typically only get 7 to 10 good sap days a year, even though today would be a good sap day, it’s too early in the season, things are still too frozen and it’s going to take a couple more days. The snow has got to melt around the base of the tree a little bit so that the roots are in thawed soil for moisture to get into the roots so it’s that moisture coming up and down that we are actually chasing,” said Farmer Doug.
Typically, maple sap runs best when daytime temps are in the high 30s to mid-40s and overnight temps are below freezing. This cycle needs to continue for several days to produce a high quantity of the product.
“Well it will probably take me three days to tap all of my trees, we started Sunday and we did a couple hundred at my place, we are doing some here, this is a neighbors place, and we have another neighbors place yet to do, and when we get done we will probably have 900 or some taps,” Farmer Doug proclaims.
After the sap tapping, the collection starts. This is done with a tractor and trailer and then placed into a tank, primed to be boiled. Boiling the sap will release most of the water and leave behind the sugar and flavor. In the end, it usually takes about 40 gallons of sugar maple sap to produce one gallon of pure maple syrup.
“First syrup made of the year is usually a lighter color and I think a more delicate flavor and it gets a stronger flavor later in the season, more minerals and things are brought up,” Farmer Doug says.
Farmer Doug has been sap tapping for over 40 years, and with passion so rooted into the craft, the quality of homemade syrup is unsurpassable.
“Real maple syrup is a very distinct flavor, it’s like real strawberry jam my grandma made versus the stuff you get in a grocery store, there’s a big difference in the quality and the consistency,” Farmer Doug says.
To get a hold of this locally produced maple syrup, stop by Farmer Doug’s at the Duluth Farmers Market.
“To me it is the first of spring, we still do a few things farm-wise and this is the first one and it kind of gets me outside and motivated. I just got to keep busy and do something. I can’t sit on a couch and watch TV all year round no I need to get busy and keep active,” said Farmer Doug.
