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Community Corner

Fridley Man Drills for Maple Syrup in His Backyard

Tapping his silver maple is a test run for a more ambitious project next year. Try it yourself on Saturday at Wargo Nature Center.

Ever since he was a kid growing up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Michael Moore wanted to tap maple trees to make his own maple syrup. "I would see neighbors with sap bags or sap buckets on their trees. But my parents didn't want me drilling holes in our trees," he said, smiling.

But now he's got his own place at 61st and Trinity in Fridley and there's a maple tree in his backyard. The Moores (Michael, wife Caroline, and children Ryan, 5; Calvin, 2; and Sophie, 1) have lived there for two years. Moore considered tapping the tree last year. "But the first winter, I thought about it too late," said Moore, who document various backyard adventures at the Fridley Farmer section of his blog, Stuporglue.

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), maple sap flows best when daytime temperatures are in the high 30s to mid-40s and drop below freezing overnight. In Minnesota, the sap usually runs best between March 15 and April 20.

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Moore had his tree tapped by March 7 this year. And he's already collected a couple gallons of the clear, watery slightly sweet fluid.

After a trip to a hardware store—where for less than $10 Moore purchased about six feet of drinking-water-safe ice-maker tubing and a five-gallon bucket—he drilled two holes about two to three inches deep, inserted the tubing and waited for the sap to flow.

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After the sap is collected, it is boiled down. This process evaporates the water in the sap, leaving the familiar sweet syrup. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to boil down to one gallon of maple syrup.

"This is a test run," explained Moore. "Next year I'll reach out to more people and try to collect more sap."

Experienced Hand
With any luck, Moore will find syrup success like Jon Larson of Otsego, MN, just south of Elk River. Larson is tapping his trees for the third year now. He said an article in The Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, a DNR publication, convinced him to give it a try.

"I didn't think it was possible with the trees I had—I'm tapping into silver maples. But it has worked out really well," Larson said.

Last year Larson said he collected enough sap from three or four trees to produce "a couple quarts of syrup. We still have some left from last year."

"It's really easy and we were just amazed [at the results]. It had a great caramel-y, sugary taste to it," Larson said. 

"It's a good way to get out of the house after winter," he added.

Try It at Wargo
If you're interested in experiencing maple syruping yourself, Anoka County Parks' Wargo Nature Center in Lino Lakes has held an annual Maple Syrup Madness event for at least 15 years at which visitors can participate in collecting the sap, boiling it down, and best of all, tasting the finished product. According to Wargo staff, 135 people participating in the popular event last year.

This year's Maple Syrup Madness will be held Saturday, March 19, from 2–4 p.m.

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