North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[mIEKAL aND <qazingulaza@gmail.com>]

Since I'm in an endless boxelder eradication project, the last few
years I've just cut whole limbs off box elders during syrup season and
hung a bucket from the remaining stump.  Later in the year I cut the
rest of the tree down.

~mIEKAL



On Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 5:47 PM, Mark Lee <mark.lee.phd@gmail.com> wrote:
> I don't have a sugar maple, but this year I have plans for tapping some of
> my trees for their sap. Something to do while waiting for the orchard to
> wake up.
> I have been researching alternatives to sugar maple...
> English Walnut - I have read that walnut trees can be tapped, and the sap
> can be boiled down into a syrup. It takes about 2 gallons to make a cup of
> syrup. That is a sap:syrup ratio of 32:1. You could also drink the sap
> directly or ferment it in the style of birch beer. Here is a link to a
> video tapping a related species. Place one tap on the sunny side of the
> tree for trees up to 1 foot diameter, 2 taps for larger trees.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-whVH8QwzFo
> Silver birch - These trees are weeds that spring up around my yard. Here is
> a three part video that demonstrates how to tap a birch tree.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0rX_uKE3SU - drilling the hole, placing the
> tap and bucket
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW5k48i-0LM - filling a bottle
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY5Noz5Gdzw - removing the tap, plugging the
> hole
> Alternative maple trees - This video has some comments about Euell Gibbons
> sampling the various maple species:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXSsrGZg6ps
> "Euell Gibbons, in his book 'Stalking the Good Life' rated syrups produced
> by different species of Maple tree by his personal taste. Acer saccharum,
> Acer nigrum (Sugar Maples) came in first for taste. In second place for
> taste was Acer plataneides (Norway Maple). In third place was Acer negundo
> (Common Box Elder). In fourth place was the Acer rubrum (Red Maple, or
> Swamp Maple). In last place is Acer saccarinum (Silver Maple). Silver Maple
> syrup tastes almost identical to Corn Syrup. Box Elder syrup tastes more
> like traditional Maple syrup, but with a bit of a tang taste to it. I may
> have over-cooked the Box Elder syrup just a touch, giving it a carmelized
> candy flavor that the Silver Maple syrup didn't have. Boiling down a liter
> of Silver Maple sap gives about 1.5 ounces of syrup. Boiling down a liter
> of Box Elder sap gives about .75 ounces of syrup. The Silver Maple sap
> makes about twice as much syrup per liter as does the Box Elder sap .The
> Box Elder and the Silver Maple, like all Maple trees, can easily be
> identified by their helicopter seeds. The Silver Maples out back here of
> the house have shed all their helicopters over the winter, but the Box
> Elders still have clusters of helicopter seeds that haven't fallen yet. It
> is best to boil the sap down in shallow pans under low heat. Deep pots
> don't work as well. 40 gallons of sap will typically make about a gallon of
> syrup. Unless you honestly want to steam the wall paper off your walls,
> only a pint or so of Maple syrup should be made over a kitchen stove.
> Boiling off 39 gallons of water in your house will make the sheet rock
> soggy."
> Sycamore - This video is from England. I like this guy's accent.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S2ij1c8VQI
> He is in his best survivalist mode while a church bell rings in the
> background and his cell phone rings in his pocket. Funny.
> Grape - Not a tree, but...
> http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/vb/archive/index.php/t-24711.html
> "We also used to cut Wild grape vines in the spring (for making wreaths),
> they have a lot of sap. I cut some that were flowing with sap, harvested
> the sap and boiled it down. It had a great sweet grapey flavor."
> -Mark,Seattle
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