There is a movement afoot in Somerville to make syrup from under-utilized area maple trees. We were part of the effort to collect the sap this weekend.
Kristi and I were joined by our pals Sarah Garlington and Ryan Gray. Working together - and probably thanks to the skills afforded us by so many liberal arts degrees - we managed to collect about eight gallons of sap from seven trees.
It’s a totally cool project. The trees we tapped were on the Tufts campus (and the sap was returned to the Growing Center on the other side of town). But there must be, we figured, hordes of other maple trees all over the city that go untapped. I realize, of course, that what’s made will represent only a fraction of the maple syrup needed to keep a city the size of Boston running for the year. But so what?
For those of you who don’t know, please allow me, a Vermonter, to tell you a bit about the process. We Vermonters cry maple syrup tears.
Actually, I’m sure I’ll sound like a complete moron to anyone who truly understands how it works. And actually, I’m technically from Long Island, where maple syrup is actually made from corn. Basically, tapped trees will “run” when the days are warm but the nights remain cold. The sap is rising in the tree, Sarah said, as the tree prepares to bud up and leaf out. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.
There will be a boil down at the Growing Center in Somerville on March 13 + 14.