Twisted Tree Farm and Nursery
www.twisted-tree.net
Dale Hodgins wrote:Silver maple can survive quite wet conditions. They are a much more useful tree than willow. Some are high in sugar.
Planted 150 silver maples seedlings that I grew from seed collected from some very large local trees in a low wet area on my farm last year. I hope I live long enough to tap them. If not maybe the kids will. Hope to grow several hundred more seedlings this year.
Scott H.
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Living in Anjou , France,
For the many not for the few
http://www.permies.com/t/80/31583/projects/Permie-Pennies-France#330873
David Livingston wrote:Anyone know any good sites telling you how to tap the sap ? I was reading that you can tap walnut sap and I was going to give it a try but I have never done this before any one any suggestions ?
I like the idea as I will get two harvests a year from the trees ! Stacking or what !
David
Living in Anjou , France,
For the many not for the few
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David Livingston wrote:Thanks for that . George
Unfortunetly a couple of problems
Firstly I only have one tree big enough another is that I have no where to buy a tap .
Any suggestions folks of what I could use instead ?
I think I will put this plan on the back burner for next year and try to buy a tap in the mean time .
David
Living in Anjou , France,
For the many not for the few
http://www.permies.com/t/80/31583/projects/Permie-Pennies-France#330873
David Livingston wrote:Hi Dale
This is me here
https://permies.com/t/31583/projects/Permie-Pennies-France
England is not that good climate wise for Walnuts but France is . Yesterday I was in the Orchard and I noticed that some of the Walnut trees I had cut down as they were too close to the apple and pear espelliers, the stumps were covered in sap so I think it worth a go . I have about a dozen trees about 6 to 9 inches across and one big daddy of them all about 18 inch across .
I was thinking of carving taps from elder as it hollows out easy . Cut the bark off hollow out jobs a good'n . Elder wood must have some use !
No one I know of makes maple syrup here in France although we have lots of maple , even some huge buggers 75m+ this could be my niche ! So lets keep it quiet![]()
Seriously I see it takes a lot of effort and heat to make this syrup , its strictly as home deal only if I can get it to work .
David
Living in Anjou , France,
For the many not for the few
http://www.permies.com/t/80/31583/projects/Permie-Pennies-France#330873
Living in Anjou , France,
For the many not for the few
http://www.permies.com/t/80/31583/projects/Permie-Pennies-France#330873
David Livingston wrote:Thanks for that . George
Unfortunetly a couple of problems
Firstly I only have one tree big enough another is that I have no where to buy a tap .
Any suggestions folks of what I could use instead ?
I think I will put this plan on the back burner for next year and try to buy a tap in the mean time .
David
Vic Johanson
"I must Create a System, or be enslaved by another Man's"--William Blake
"...specialization is for insects." - Lazarus Long
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Bill Erickson wrote:
I understand you need to plug the hole once the sap has finished its run to prevent critters and disease from getting in. But next season it is just pull the plug, tap your spile in and wait for the goodness to flow. If you aren't up to it this season, this summer and fall are good times to tap the trees, make some plugs and build your spiles for next spring.
Fred Tyler wrote:<snip a cool entrepreneurial endeavor>
If you want to get a good sap flow, the hole should be made at the beginning of the syruping season (late Feb to early March). Some of the massive operations have to tap so many trees they start drilling holes as early as January. Towards the end of the season as the weather warms fungi, bacteria, and yeasts interact with the sap inside to form a gummy substance that blocks further sap flow. So, if you tap too early you may miss some of the late flows. At the end of the season, the hole you've drilled for your spile should be left [b]open after removing your spile. Nothing we could put in the hole can be guaranteed to be sterile and is more likely to be a source of disease.[/b] A healthy tree should close the hole within two years. The trees i've tapped in Minnesota healed within one growing season. When you drill your new hole make sure it is at least 6" laterally from a past hole and at least 4" vertically. Over the years you will work your way around the tree with holes. The most productive taps are on the south side of the tree above a big root or below a big branch. Because of this, you may not want to stray too far, but if we concentrate our holes in too small of an area our flow will be reduced trying to get sap through scar tissue and damaged xylem and the tree may have a hard time trying to heal our damage. If you are putting a hole directly above or below a past hole, it should not be within 2ft. By limiting the number of taps (see chart in link below) and moving them yearly a tree can stay healthy and be tapped for many generations. We use 5/16" stainless steel spiles (the smaller size helps the tree heal faster). They are easy to sterilize (boiling) before use, and easy to clean after use. If you are going to use homemade wood taps, i would not recommend that they be reused, as they can harbor diseases that could infect the tree.
I would also caution against making the syrup indoors. Unless you are doing a very small amount this could have disastrous results. The average gallon of maple syrup started out as 40 gallons of sap. That means you will have 39 gallons of water vapor in your house. Your drywall will soak this moisture out of the air and can get moldy. If you have wall paper, it can start to peel off.
Besides the Tapmytrees link in a previous post, a good resource is Maple Syrup Production for the Beginner from Cornell.
"...specialization is for insects." - Lazarus Long
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