Sap Season. It is something I never thought about before marrying my husband. We never tapped trees when I was a kid, and therefore, never made our own Maple Syrup. However, over the past 12 years, it is something that I have grown to enjoy more than I ever imagined I would! My husband grew up making Maple Syrup with his family. They own a lot of property with Maple trees and so it was a family affair! Sometimes requiring overnights, in the woods, to keep the sap cooking! It is time consuming, for sure, but otherwise a fairly easy process! There are three main reasons I'd encourage you to try your hand at making Maple Syrup. With a few tips, on how to do it well, in a Yurt.
It's Simple, Yet Rewarding
Making Maple Syrup is as simple as collecting sap and cooking it down! Truly! We like to first cook ours over a campfire to give it a smokey flavor, and to reduce the amount of condensation that collects inside our Yurt Home. This requires an extra sifting step, but aside from that Maple Syrup is truly that simple! Don't get me wrong ... it takes TIME, and a lot of it! Your sap needs to cook down to a sweet tasting syrup, but the beauty of making your own is that you can make it as thick or as runny as you prefer! A good rule of thumb to remember is that your syrup ratio will be about 30:1. Meaning for everything 30 quarts of sap, you will get about 1 quart of syrup.
Some of your syrup consistency might depend on sap consistency. Grade A syrup has a beautiful, deep amber color, and is what is on store shelves. Depending on the consistency of the sap, though, you can get a darker syrup. This is usually considered Grade B and is used by food companies. It has a more robust flavor.
It Connects You With Nature
One of the other reasons I love Sap Season is that it connects you with nature. Our Maple trees are in the wooded area of our property, and so it allows us to "Forest Bathe" and relax a bit. Our girls can explore the woods and drink sap straight from the tap. It has been an opportunity for us to teach our girls, just one of the many, ways God provides for us in the natural world He created! Depending on how well the sap is running, you may even get a bicep workout carrying your buckets to your sap barrels or cooking area. You can't get sap without actually going out and collecting it, so take your time and really enjoy it. Which brings me to my third and final point.
It Creates Family Togetherness
What parent doesn't love a good reason to spend quality, family time with their children? Time where you aren't dealing with whining and complaining ... The act of getting out into the woods to tap trees, and then collecting sap, is one that my children love! They are excited to be outside exploring! It doesn't hurt that they also get to drink the sap before and during the process of cooking it down! And what a privilege it is to be able to teach our children a lifelong skill while also having fun together! This is our 4th annual Sap Season as a family of 5 (although my husband and I have done it before, when we tapped our Silver Maples, on our town lot). It has become a family tradition that started with Matt's Grandparents and continues on with our family, as well as Matt's brothers' families. We actually use the same cooker that Matt's Grandpa used when Matt's dad was a kid! It offers a lot of opportunities to share stories from past Sap Seasons too!
Cooking Sap and Your Yurt
I'm sure you may be asking yourselves, how might making Maple Syrup look differently if you live in a Yurt? Well, one of the biggest issues we have run into with our Yurt Home is condensation. As you might imagine, cooking sap down from a watery liquid to a syrup lets off steam. Steam creates condensation, and if I've said it before, I'll say it again ... where there is condensation, you need ventilation. Without it, you have water dripping from your Yurt ceiling, rafters, walls, and dome. You simply cannot cook anything down in your Yurt without having a way to vent steam outside! Aside from the nostalgia of cooking sap down over a campfire, it is one way to cook most of the sap down outside before finishing inside. Less time spent cooking your sap down in a cooking pot or crock pot inside, means less steam to collect everywhere in your Yurt. It also saves on electricity, or gas, AND it creates even more time to be out in nature, and connect with your loved ones!
Canning
Canning your Maple Syrup is also an extremely simple process! However, before you start canning, you'll need to move your sap from your outdoor cooker, to a large 6 quart sauce pan, or your crock pot (you will not be able to cook it all the way down in your crock pot and will eventually need to move it to a stove top pot. You will otherwise burn the bottom of your crock pot). To can, all you need are a few quart jars, a clean strainer or cheese cloth, and a measuring cup or soup ladle. Before you start filling your jars you will need to sanitize your lids by boiling them in hot water. Since your syrup is already hot from cooking it down, you simply need to pour your syrup through your clean cheese cloth or strainer, into a Mason jar. After filling your jars, wipe the rim of the jar clean of any syrup that may have dripped, and place your sanitized lid on top of the jar. Use a jar ring to close the jar lid, and place the jar on its side. The heat from the syrup will cause the lid to seal shut (you will know your jars are sealing, because you will hear the lids popping).
So whether you live in a Yurt or not; even if you live in a town, or a city ... if you have access to a few Maple trees, you have access to your own, homemade Maple Syrup! Don't let the idea of needing to have a big operation fool you! You don't need a million Maple trees, or to live out in the country. You don't even need all the gadgets, and special tools. You simply need a few Maple trees, a few taps, and a way to collect, and cook down the sap. Along with some kitchen tools you probably already have! When we lived in town we used old milk jugs! I'm pretty sure we had a few smirks and laughs as people walked by, but you know what else we had? A few quarts of our own Maple Syrup, that tasted amazing, and cost nothing but a little extra time ... time that was well spent together!
Written By: Sarah Rhody
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