Alison Anderson - How to Make Maple Syrup: From Gathering Sap to Marketing Your Own Syrup. A Storey BASICS® Title

The Forest Crop Law (FCL) program, part of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, encourages long-term sustainable management of private woodlands. In exchange for participating in FCL, landowners pay reduced property taxes.

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a voluntary USDA and Farm Service Agency (FSA) based program. This program, available to agricultural landowners, encourages members to use portions of their land to further conservation efforts. Participants in CRP are provided with yearly compensation.

We created this guide as a quick reference for beginning syrup makers. We want to encourage those interested in syrup making to tap their maples, so that the legacy and art of this rustic tradition will continue well into the future.

Weve included what we believe to be the easiest and most straightforward methods for harvesting and cooking sap and for filtering and bottling finished syrup. There are many variations in the way you can gather sap and make syrup, and innovations are constantly improving the maple industry, but the information in this guide is a good place to start.

We hope you find this guide helpful and that you have continued success in syrup making!

The maple syrup industry has evolved greatly since Native Americans discovered how to make pure maple syrup. Vast improvements have been made in sap collecting and cooking methods and syrup-making equipment. The basic process remains the same, however: Boil sap to evaporate water and make sweet, pure maple syrup.

It is generally agreed that Native North Americans were the first to make maple syrup. Various legends describe how maple syrup was discovered:

The sap-sicle. The branch of the maple tree broke during the late winter and sap flowed out of it. The dripping sap froze into an icicle. The repeated thawing and freezing of the sap-sickle concentrated the sugars and made the icicle unusually sweet. A Native American tasted the icicle. He or she noticed that the liquid had a distinct sweetness to it and deduced that it had come from inside the tree, rather than from melting snow.

Hatchet job. Another legend involves a Native American hunter who, when he arrived home from an unsuccessful hunt, threw his hatchet at a maple tree. The hatchet stuck in the tree and created a wound. The sap that flowed from the wound in the tree collected in a cooking container that the hunters wife had placed on the ground beneath the tree. The next day the hunters wife mistakenly thought her husband had filled her container with water and she began to cook with it. When they tasted their meal, they discovered that it was sweet! After examining the tree and discovering the sap flowing from it, they realized what had happened.

Substitution. A woman was cooking supper for her husband. When she became distracted by her quillwork, her boiling pot went dry. She did not have time to melt snow so she poured in some maple sap that she had collected for drinking. Their meal had a delicious sweetness to it. Her husband enjoyed the meal so much, it is said that he licked the pot clean!