Tapping trees for Syrup

[NH Homesteader]

We do syrup. What do you want to know? DH knows more than me but I can ask him anything I'm not sure about 😁

 

[CrealCritter]

We do syrup. What do you want to know? DH knows more than me but I can ask him anything I'm not sure about 😁

Welcome back - Q1 what are good taps for beginners like me.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Thanks! Hmm I don't even know, I keep forgetting to ask him. We just have taps from like Tractor Supply or the local feed store. I'll ask him if there's a specific kind that's better than others.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I assume you are going to use buckets to collect the sap.

 

[FarmerJamie]

I assume you are going to use buckets to collect the sap.

A lot of folks around here use bags or lots of hose lines to a central collector.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I think it is easier for beginners to use buckets to collect the sap. I have heard some interesting tales from our maple syrup supplier (friend of DH's) about working with bags and tubes. It seems you loose a lot of sap when a deer is chased through your tubing by the neighbors dog.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Good point. I often wondered how the tubing system functions when taking the wild critters into account. I like to watch the squirrels and birds hanging upside down off a tree branch sucking the sap off, or eating the sapsicles.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

For several years I've been wanting to try my hand at making syrup. On my property i have maple, birch, walnut and sycamore trees. I also have access to the Shawnee natural forest since my property backs up to the Shawnee national forest.

I know its not sap season yet but it will be coming late winter early spring and I would like to get prepared over the winter so I'm ready to go when the sap starts rising.

Book learning is OK but do we have any syrup makers on SS? I sure would like to start a conversation and learn. I have zero experience but that's never stopped me before.

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Pecan trees make a great syrup. It is so soft and nutty. It needs a little more sap than a maple, but there are more trees you have than enough.

 

[CrealCritter]

Pecan trees make a great syrup. It is so soft and nutty. It needs a little more sap than a maple, but there are more trees you have than enough.

Pecan is of the hickory tree species family. So that makes perfect sense.

 

[SS Project Manager]

For several years I've been wanting to try my hand at making syrup. On my property i have maple, birch, walnut and sycamore trees. I also have access to the Shawnee natural forest since my property backs up to the Shawnee national forest.

I know its not sap season yet but it will be coming late winter early spring and I would like to get prepared over the winter so I'm ready to go when the sap starts rising.

Book learning is OK but do we have any syrup makers on SS? I sure would like to start a conversation and learn. I have zero experience but that's never stopped me before.

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Thank you for this thread @CrealCritter, it's featured on our homepage. Have you started tree-tapping already? If so, how's it going?