Maple sugaring step two: tree tapping

If you read our Maple Blog last week, you know how to complete the first step of making maple syrup: identifying a sugar maple from other species. So, now what?

Tapping a tree at the NH Maple Experience.

To get that sweet sap out of the tree, you need to “tap” the tree. That means drilling a hole through the bark to get to the sap. Timing and technique are key when tapping trees. You want to be sure to tap when the sap is flowing in the tree – when the nights are still cold, but daytime temps rise above freezing.

Here are some notes from Rocks Estate manager Nigel Manley about proper technique for tapping sugar maple trees to collect sap:

The first year I sugared I made a couple of novice mistakes, including failing to notice the snow depth when I went out to tap the trees. The snow that year was really deep and I was using a brace and bit to drill the holes. The easiest way to use the tool is to lean against it while drilling. This I did and got 120 buckets hung on the trees. Then the weather turned nice and the sap ran through the trees.

The warmer weather also melted the deep snow. Within 2 weeks of tapping, the snow level had dropped at least 2 feet. This meant that the buckets I’d placed earlier, now brimming with heavy sap, were well above my head. In removing the buckets to collect the sap, I took a bath in cold sap more than once. The locals had a good laugh at the British greenhorn trying his best to make syrup.

Lesson learned: in snowy years, tap trees at snow level, as it makes the gathering so much easier.

Most guests to our New Hampshire Maple Experience programs ask if taking sap out of the trees hurts them. The short answer is NO. If trees are tapped responsibly, removing the sap does not harm the trees. (As a general rule a tree should be at least 10 inches in diameter before it’s tapped. Trees between 20 and 25 inches can support two taps. Trees over 25 inches in diameter can handle a maximum of three taps. You should also be sure not to tap a tree too close to tap holes from previous years – at least two feet directly above or below old holes or at least six inches to the side.)

When a tree is tapped, the tree actually walls off the hole so that bacteria cannot get in. After the hole is walled off, sap will also not flow out of the hole. That’s why it’s crucial to time tapping just right. If a sugar maker taps too early, the hole may "dry out" before the sap has much chance to run. Too late, and you’ll miss the first sap runs of the season.

Many modern sugar makers now use plastic tubing, rather than metal buckets, to collect the sap. The tubing provides a bit more leeway in the timing of tapping, as bacteria has a hard time getting into this system and the tap holes don't dry out as quickly.

To see a demonstration of tree tapping, check out our video of the process, filmed at The Rocks Estate. 

Maple sugaring step one: ID your Tree

How does a Brit, transplanted to Bethlehem, New Hampshire, figure out which trees in the northern forest will yield the sweet sap that boils down to maple syrup? Here’s Rocks Estate manager Nigel Manley’s story…

Shaggy bark + long-forgotten bucket = sugar maple!

During my first sugaring season at The Rocks, it was definitely a challenge to figure out the art of making maple syrup. I hadn’t even tasted maple syrup until I moved to the States at age 23. Coming from the UK (where there is only one native maple – the field maple), the most difficult part of maple sugaring for me was trying to figure out which trees to tap.

Branching, buds, and bark are the three keys to identifying trees in winter, when we don’t have their distinct leaf shapes to tip us off as to their species. My first maple season, I set off into the snowy late winter woods to find sugar maples – opposite branches; buds that are small, sharp and brown to reddish-brown in color; bark that can be smooth on younger trees, but is shaggy on older trees.

I quickly found out that for a novice tree seeker, it’s pretty easy to determine opposite branching (which in this region means ash, red maple, or sugar maple), but getting a good look at buds that are 20 to 40 feet above me was nearly impossible.

To compound the challenge, I was wearing snowshoes – another thing I’d never tried in the UK. As I trudged through the forest, there was plenty of tripping, falling, and sliding between glacial erratics as I searched for the seemingly elusive sugar maple. As I looked high above into the branches, struggling to see those little buds, I kept crossing the backs of my snowshoes and toppling over.

Apparently, falling over in deep snow had an effect, as I soon had a revelation: the easiest way to find a sugar maple in a sugar orchard (which contains several species of trees) is to look for the tree trunks that have holes drilled into them from previous sugaring seasons. (Rarely, there's even a sap bucket left behind, as in the photo above.) One caveat to this technique is that it only works if you’re in a sugar orchard that has been tapped previously by a knowledgeable sugar maker.

At the New Hampshire MapleExperience, we teach visitors how to identify sugar maple trees – and we do it from the comfort and safety of a horse-drawn wagon. No snowshoes, no tipping over into the snow, just pure fun as we pick out ash, red maple, sugar maple, and New Hampshire’s state tree, the white birch, from the forests around the farm.

Did you know…. There are over 100 species of maple tree in the world (and seven in New Hampshire), and syrup is made primarily from the sap of the sugar maple. Other species, like the red maple and boxelder, may be tapped to make syrup, but the sap of the sugar maple contains the highest sugar content – roughly 2 percent – and produces a lighter and more flavorful syrup.

Keep your eyes on our Maple Blog for more about sugaring and the New Hampshire Maple Experience, from tapping trees and maple cooking demos to what happens in the sugar house and our interactive Maple Museum.

NH Maple Experience returns in March!

The New Hampshire Maple Experience will return to The Rocks Estate this spring, bringing with it all the tradition, sweetness, and fun of maple sugaring season! Dates for this year's Maple Experience are March 16, 23-24, 30- 31, and April 6.

The Experience includes an interactive step-by-step demonstration of crafting maple syrup – complete with a visit to the onsite sugar house – as well as a horse-drawn carriage ride through the historic Rocks Estate and a syrup tasting with the traditional pairing of sour pickle and homemade donut.

“Parents looking for kid-friendly events often bring their children to the Maple Experience, and inevitably the whole family ends up learning a lot about maple sugaring – and everyone has a great time,” said Nigel Manley, longtime Rocks Estate manager. “We keep the Maple Experience fresh by adding new features each season.”

Other highlights of the Maple Experience include a visit to the interactive maple museum and education center; the "Taste of New Hampshire Maple," featuring local chefs demonstrating how to make their favorite maple recipes; a relay race where participants are timed on how long it takes to fill a 10-gallon container (enough sugar maple sap to make one quart of syrup); and tasty treats from Kingdom Kernels Kettle Corn.

Reservations for the Maple Experience tours are highly recommended, but walk-ins are welcome on a space available basis. For more details, please visit our online calendar. To learn how to turn your Maple Experience into a weekend-long adventure, complete with a stay at one of our partnering inns or hotels, check out our Maple Experience Vacation Package.

See you this spring at The Rocks!

The sugar maple's gift to autumn: crisp color

The springtime gift of the sugar maple tree is the sap used to make maple syrup and sugar. In autumn, the sugar maple offers another gift: crisp color that stretches from golden yellow to brilliant red and paints the hillsides like a calico quilt.

There is, perhaps, no more splendid time to visit The Rocks Estate and the New Hampshire Maple Experience than during the color explosion of autumn. The Maple Museum is open through Columbus Day for self-guided tours that will bring visitors into a landscape of color to the museum and sugar house, contained in one of many carefully restored historic buildings at The Rocks.

Guided maple tours are also available to bus groups and those looking for a personalized experiential tour. 

As always, our trails are open daily, from dawn to dusk, for visitors to meander and explore. Smart phone users may enjoy the Mobile Tour of The Rocks Estate, which uses QR codes to share the property’s history, modern day forest conservation and management efforts, and information about the varieties of Christmas trees grown on the farm.

Speaking of Christmas trees… tag-your-own Christmas tree season runs weekends at The Rocks from September 22^nd - October 22^nd. Take in the fall foliage as you search for and mark your own perfect Christmas tree, which you’ll be able to collect and pay for beginning November 17^th, when The Rocks officially opens for the Christmas tree season. The two holiday shops will also be open at The Rocks during tag-your-own weekends.

So, whether you want to get an early start on your holiday shopping, are interested in learning more about the age-old tradition of maple sugaring, or just want to take in the unbeatable scenery of The Rocks Estate in autumn, we hope you’ll visit us this season!