Chilton, WI Calumet County
Maple Syrup Season to Begin Thursday March 15
The birds have waited all winter to sing in the trees at Ledge View Nature Center in Calumet County.
The branches may be bare, but the trunks are full of life.
It's life that Jean Haack knows how to tap into.
The Assistant Naturalist has walked the forest for nearly 20 years, and on Sunday, she shared her syrup secrets.
Maple syrup season officially starts Thursday, but more than the calendar, a successful "sap" depends on the weather. Sunday was a perfect day for gathering sap: below freezing at night, and above 40 degrees during the day.
"It's a difference of pressures; negative and positive pressures with the difference in temperature," Haack said.
Collecting sugar water isn't easy. We started with a handheld drill. Then, as soon as we hit two inches, sap started to flow.
It will take roughly 29 full buckets to make one bucket of maple syrup. That means syrup producers should be ready to wait, and wait, and wait.
What comes out of the trees is 97 percent water, meaning the sap needs to be cooked.
"The whole idea is to get a lot of the water off in the big evaporator...in the evaporating pan," Haack said.
"Then it drains...(and) gets consecrated into syrup."
Ledge View Nature Center is hosting "Maple Syrup Sunday" on April 1.
From 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., you can collect sap, then enjoy a pancake breakfast.
Ledge View Nature Center:
W2348 Short Road
Chilton, WI 53014
Phone: (920) 849-7094
