sweet treasure in the woods

Sugar Grove Nature Center has become one of our family's favorite places to visit to get outside.  Hiking trails, a birdwatching room, and indoor and outdoor play areas complete with a creek to stomp in all beckon us on a warm day.  In the fall, the leaves are astounding.  But in late winter, Sugar Grove's real treasure is unearthed as the days grow warmer and the sap begins to run.  Yesterday we ventured down for their homeschool class to learn more about the sugaring process.  It was one of the best "on-site" learning experiences we have ever had!

The kids spent the morning in 3 workshops that explained both historical and modern ways of tapping trees and processing maple sirup and sugar.  With very few sources of sweet foods (no sugar or even honey until the Europeans brought bees to North America), maple sugar was the only way to sweeten food when fruits like berries were not in season.

 Perhaps most fascinating was discovering how Native Americans made maple sugar.  They would heat rocks in a fire and then place them in a hollowed out log full of sap.  Without metal cooking pots, this was the only way they could get it hot enough to boil it down.  Imagine how long that process must have taken!!

In the afternoon, the kids practiced tapping trees and learned the biology of a tree from a college professor before heading out to tap one themselves. 

This isn't the best video (one for the grandparents, really!) but it does show the excitement of the kids as they worked together to learn the functions of the tree.  Rachel was chanting, "I support" as the heartwood, Josiah sucked up nutrients as a root, Micah was protecting as the bark, and the parents swayed like leaves making food (which is why it cuts off suddenly when I had to do my part.)  It was a delight to see Rachel chatting comfortably with the instructor about what she has been learning in botany this year.  And we had the best question of the year asked by one young boy: "How can you tell a girl tree from a boy tree?"  Rachel just read about that in her science book this week!!

 This job is a bit easier for the bigger kids who can really get their power behind the drill!

 The morning tappers found a slow sap run, but by afternoon things were warming up and we were excited to see it come running out of our tree as our hole was drilled.  In spite of a strange winter, this has been a good season for Sugar Grove with the amount of sirup processed and the sugar content about 1% more than usual.

The boys peered into the bucket that was already wet on the bottom with sap.

 Sugar Grove makes the point that they are not spelling sirup incorrectly.  You can only legally spell sirup with an "i" if it is 100% pure; if it is spelled with a "y" you need to double check ingredients to see if anything is added.  For our family, pure maple syrup is a very good thing.  It meant Josiah was able to taste the samples given and he sure enjoyed the sirup on his pancakes this morning!!