Temperature: 40 degrees
Skies cloudy.
It's the annual Maple Syrup Festival at Brady's Run Park. Vendors selling every imaginable variation of maple syrup set up shop on the usually vacant green space between the river and lake. Hundreds of people crowd around the stalls and wait in line for the famous pancake breakfast. Country Johnny sings covers of old country western songs to a tent filled with almost no one. A group of Revolutionary and Civil War reenactors show off their costumes and antique guns. Truly, there's something here for everyone.
As I make my way to the Sugar Shack, I pop a maple syrup sucker in my mouth. Sugary sweetness floods my taste buds.
Who needs high fructose corn syrup when you've got this stuff?
The Sugar Shack is smaller than I expected. Most of its interior is filled with a large steel vat, where the maple sugar is boiled into syrup.
Inside, Paul Farkas, a member of the Beaver County Conservation District, greets me. I have a page of questions about the maple syrup process. Paul has years of experience and a wealth of knowledge. I furiously scribble down his answers in my notebook.
Paul explains the maple trees need warm days and cold nights for the sap to develop properly. If the temperatures are too warm or too cold, this can harm the tree's sap, and the tapping process. Because of these conditions, the maple syrup season is rather short and after a couple of weeks, the trees cease to produce the sap used for syrup. "When the maple sugar turns a milky, cloudy color, that's mother nature's way of saying this sap is for the trees now," Paul says. "That stuff stinks something fierce, and that's a fact."
Paul and his crew only tap trees that are at least 9 inches in diameter. For the health of the tree, it's important not to over tap or to use the same tap hole year after year. In the close quarters of the Sugar Shack, Paul pauses for a moment. His weathered face crinkles into a smile. "I used to stomp around these woods in two feet of snow to make sure the taps were working and the sap was flowing." The park's tap system utilizes gravity for the sugar to drain out of the tree and into the collecting basins. Once enough sap is gathered, it's taken to the Sugar Shack and is boiled to become denser and sweeter. The result is the maple syrup many people know and love.
While the process of transforming maple sugar to maple syrup isn't difficult, it takes 26 gallons of maple sugar to make just 1 gallon of maple syrup. Commercial growers, use a mechanism that Paul describes as a "vacuum" that sucks the sap directly from the trees. It's a quicker, more effective way to gather maple sugar. However, it's clear that Paul doesn't think too highly of this approach and views the maple trees as more than just containers to be emptied. "Every tree has a unique personality. The amount of sap and the rate of sap flow is different for each tree." Paul seems to view the maple sugar as a gift from the trees.
I purchase a quart of Brady's Run maple syrup, eager to appreciate this gift myself.
While reading your entry, my mouth was watering-- especially after seeing the photo of the maple syrup sucker! I liked the way you set the scene with your initial description of the country band and war reenactors. I also enjoyed your interview with Paul. This was a fun and effective way to share information. Your photos were wonderful too. I have never seen the tapping process before. Your entry really piqued my curiosity!
ReplyDeleteDitto Karen -- I'm eagerly eyeing my bottle of maple syrup on the kitchen shelf. Really terrific way to place yourself within a landscape different from the one you normally interact with in this journal. Taking the time to talk with Paul was a wonderful way to introduce another "character" into your piece, as well. Send some maple lollipops my way!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post but couldn't help but think of the barbarity that goes into the idea of taping a tree for sap ... its like collecting a being's blood. That thought occurred after reading about your conversation with Paul and him telling you how the syrup process works. I really enjoyed the details and the interaction you captured with this piece.
ReplyDeleteI have learned so much from your observations and curiosity in this entry. I'm utterly fascinated by this practice, which, the more I think about it, seems a bit odd. I appreciate this different perspective on this place.
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