Walnut Syrup Part Two

So here are the photos of the final straining and jarring up of the walnut syrup. Usually, we strain as the sap comes in the house before it goes to boil, but this time we were working with frozen chunks, so straining came after it was syrup.

It is more jelly like than maple syrup, but sweeter. Not so much walnut flavour as the boil smell hinted at (you know, making my house smell like German Chocolate Cake....), more of a plain sweet. This may be because it was very early sap (see the light colour). Early maple is like this too, the later sap is darker and more maple-y.

We got just shy of 1 quart. Not bad for 4 stock pots of sap, actually. This is just the beginning of sugar season, friends. The new cold snap and deep freeze means y'all have plenty of time to order supplies and get your own syrup made this year. So easy. So very worth it.

Three trees in your yard? That can provide 2 gallons of syrup and that's enough for my whole family for a year AND sugar my coffee every morning. That's a pretty amazing thing that even an urban homesteader can do.

Still need convincing? Ok. Here: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5602/2
Does your coffee sweetener have iron, magnesium, calcium, and potassium and like 5+ more minerals that you might take a multivitamin to get? No?

Seriously. SERIOUSLY. GO TAP YOUR TREES.

Oh and this. Make this and dream of summer.

Walnut Syrup

Walnut sap is/was flowing. What do you do with walnut sap? Ah, good question.

Turns out, the same thing you do with maple sap.....boil it to syrup! Oh my house smells so good right now, like German Chocolate cake. Sugaring season is my favourite part of winter/spring on the farm and almost makes the cold bearable. Maybe we are all just sugar drunk on sap, though.

Some observations and questions though.
1) little gelly blobs keep forming in the sap/syrup boil. I searched online to find out what this is and only found another sugarer asking the same question. Anyone know?
2) This sap seems to take longer to boil down.
3) They are flowing earlier than the maples. This may be a way to maximise our syrup and better tell when the maples will start flowing?
4) Our walls are NOT sticky. Not even a little bit. Nor is the underside of the shelf above the boil or the back of the stove.  Our windows are not even fogging up.
5) If you use bags instead of buckets, remember to collect before nightfall and don't let it freeze in the bags. Destruction happens.

Maple Tapping Part Two, Let's TAP This.

Supplies. Temp outside for flow needs to be above freezing during the day, below freezing (33 degrees F) at night. These are the days that sap flows. The warmer and sunnier the day, the faster the flow. We can sometimes get 3 full buckets from one tree in a day when it is 60 degrees in daylight and freezing overnight. Thank you Iowa! Flow starts today!

Read here for getting supplies ready.

This is the diameter of the trees nearest our home that are suitable for tapping.  If a tree has more than a 21" diameter, it will support 2 taps, which we've done in a few places.

These are the leaf buddings. When the tree buds out for real, the sap takes on a really, really bad taste, called bud taint. Sap will keep flowing, but you DO NOT want this sap to contaminate your syrup boil. It smells fine as sap too, but when boiled down is tastes like dead mouse smells. NOT KIDDING. So, trust me, pay attention to these buds as the tapping time goes along. We usually get about two weeks of flow.

The leaf buds are also the best way to identify maple species in winter time.  I'll do another post on that in the future.

 This is so easy, our nine year old can do it. Chad is helping though.  Drill the hole at a good height for you to reach, a few inches away from last years taps, and about 2-3 " deep.  Be sure to tilt up so the sap runs out.  Best place to drill is the south side of the tree under a big branch - south side warms up fastest, sap will be moving to the branch.

 This is a good bore hole.

This is the spile.

 Push it in with your fingers.

Hammer it. Lightly on the flat part, not the end of the spout.

 These hooks were put on by the folks who mailed them backwards from how I like them, so I had to take it out and re-orient the hook.  If using a bag you can leave the hook off entirely.

Perfect.

 Hang bucket, attach lid.

 Ta da!

 Or hang the bag. It doesn't need a lid (and is WAY cheaper!)

Bonus picture: this tree? Glorious maple that it is, it is a bad choice for tapping. First, part of it is rotten and actually smashed down and broke things. Second, ALL sap from it is tainted. Gross. Any of it will ruin the pot of syrup. The taint tastes like Ritz crackers with a chaser of spoiled Brussels sprouts.

Tap Tap Tap Tap! Maple Tapping Getting the Equipment Ready

Locate and wash all the parts. We have managed to lose parts every year.

Charge cordless drill.

These are spiles. You can use these with food grade buckets or with the sap bags. We are useing some of both this year to test the bags - they are a lot cheaper.  

These are the bag holders.

Slide the bag on and fold over.

Open it and smooth.

Slide the top part over.

Chad weight tested it because I was unsure the bag would hold.

Position the spile. This pic is just so you know how it works - the bag holder will hang off of the ridge on the top of the spile. You keep it off until after the tap is in the tree. Here is an inside shot. Stay tuned for part two. I am blogging from my phone on a cross country bus!

Here is part two!