Guaranteed sweetness

On Saturday morning, the silver maple that I planted in the side yard some twenty-three years ago got tapped for the first time. I’m not sure what made me think to ask whether a silver maple could yield maple syrup and the question could have easily come in the form of a regret: “I really wish that I had planted a sugar maple instead of the silver one.”

Nonetheless, once spoken then answered.

Silver maples can indeed be tapped in the spring for their sap, but the sugar content is not as high as a sugar maple and, therefore, takes a bit more boiling down. More Internet research yields the equation that sap needs to boil down at a ratio of about 40 to one to get to the sugar content and consistency of fine maple syrup.

So what that means is that with the three gallons or so of sap that have flowed into the bucket since Saturday, it would boil down to about one cup of syrup. As Stephen reminds me that one cup of syrup is no small amount, I realize that getting a huge amount of syrup is not my goal. Being able to create some sort of sweetener is more to the point.

The Internet also relates that a tree can give anywhere from one quart to one gallon in each sap run, meaning the time between when the sap starts to flow with the warmth of the sun to the time that the night chill shuts it down. My tree is yielding at least a gallon each day. The run will last for two to three weeks.

We had squash soup for dinner tonight, using a few of the butternut squash that has been wintering in the basement. As they were starting to get soft, we cut the remaining ones up and processed them for freezing. I imagine these frozen quantities will get us through to August, when a new batch is ready for harvest.

I am thankful for the abundance of the land and feel satisfied with this home-grown sustenance.

The sap drips into the bucket one drip at a time, and I marvel and take comfort in knowing that over time all of our mini steps, starts and stops bring some measure of sweetness into the world.

For sure.