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Cultivate Simple 20: Sugar Me Maple

March 4th, 2013

Topic: Maple Sugaring

Maple sugaring is fun – everyone should do it at least once. Listen to find out how we sugar on a small scale and learn from a few of our mistakes. Also check out all posts from the past on the blog.
maple sugaring title slide
maple sugaring 5
maple syrup

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Blood Oranges from Trethowan Farm

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Here’s an article on using mushrooms to mitigate lead issues

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8 Comments to “Cultivate Simple 20: Sugar Me Maple”
  1. Adelina Anderson on March 4, 2013 at 7:23 am

    What a great idea! I never thought of using my weck jars for the maple syrup. Last year I was scrambling for jar lids and had to cover the jar with foil. I am feeling a bit better prepared for this year.

    Reply to Adelina Anderson's comment

  2. DebbieB on March 4, 2013 at 10:59 am

    Fascinating hearing about the sugaring process. I’ll never be able to participate in it – we might have one or two days a year when the temperature dips below freezing, some years we don’t get any. (Plus I don’t have any maple trees!) But it was very interesting to learn about anyway. Now I’ll appreciate real maple syrup even more.

    The information about charcoal and lead mitigation is very timely, thank you – we have a big problem with lead in the soil here in New Orleans (of course, from all that leaded gasoline that was used years ago and exhausted into the air and onto the ground). It’s in the playground soil and children have to be taught to keep their hands away from their mouths until they can be washed thoroughly. My husband has been concerned about growing food in such soil – the charcoal mitigation is a real possibility for us.

    Reply to DebbieB's comment

  3. Tonya on March 4, 2013 at 11:49 am

    It is a process that you learn a little more from each year. It is so neat when a new way to make something a little simpler occurs to you.
    We do ours very simply.

    Reply to Tonya's comment

  4. misti on March 4, 2013 at 12:49 pm

    LOL if I had known my question was going to be read I would have worded it a little better! Sorry for the tongue twister language!

    Reply to misti's comment

    • Mr. Chiots on March 4, 2013 at 5:05 pm

      No problem. I am terrible at reading out loud for some reason especially when I don’t ‘pre-read’ the questions.

      Reply to Mr. Chiots's comment

  5. Diana @ frontyardfoodie on March 4, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    I have two massive silver maple trees that I wish I could kill…since they shade valuable garden space on our tiny lot but I have often thought about tapping them. I’m not sure how our weather would affect it. I live in Missouri and we have the most variable weather in the country. Some days span 40 degrees….or more. I’ll have to look more into it.

    Love this sort of show. It’s basically what I want my family’s live to be all about. I hate how convenience is the name of the US game (maybe a lot of the world too). It takes away the joy of process, the pride of personal production and promotes laziness. I make EVERYTHING from scratch and grow what I can. This year thanks to your inspiration and also the inspiration of The Nearby Feast, I’m going local….completely. Thank you!

    Reply to Diana @ frontyardfoodie's comment

  6. kristin @ going country on March 4, 2013 at 9:15 pm

    We’re in the throes of sugarin’ right now. Left to our own devices, we would do it on a small scale too. But our friend that we do it with is insane and has something like 75 taps in the trees now. And he keeps putting them in.

    This looks to be a good year for the sap, though, unlike last year, so I guess we’ll just stock up this year in case next year is a bust. You never do know. And we always manage to use up whatever we make. Is there such a thing as too many pancakes? I think not.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  7. John on March 6, 2013 at 12:11 pm

    Great episode. I’m thinking of trying this next year. You mentioned honey and I remembered a question I had about it. I live in the country but I’m surrounded by woodland and fields of corn. If I were to set up a bee hive, would I be wasting my time since I know they spray round-up on the corn?

    Reply to John's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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