Syrup season is different every year. With Climate Change things are unpredictable, and temperatures are spiking up during the day earlier and earlier making our job much more challenging. Generally speaking, the season runs from early February into May. Once temperatures start to raise the sap in the trees will flow. Ideal Maple syrup making temperatures are day time temperatures of at least 5°C above 0, and night time temperatures of -5° C.
Any warmer and the buds come out too fast, and any colder and the sap freezes in the trees and the lines making collection difficult. Each year we do our best to decide when to tap in and from there we’re really at the mercy of the weather to start collecting sap for the boil.
Birch season tends to start a little later than maple, and once it’s going Maple is usually on its way out for the year. We tap White and Yellow Birch trees, and since they are more sensitive to tapping we drill smaller holes and give the trees we’ve tapped a minimum of 2 years to heal before we tap them again. The sap in Birch trees is a lot less sweet (say 0.5% compared to 2 or 3%) than maple, so it takes a lot longer to make a batch. This time constraint has led us to make our delicious blended syrup we call Birple. We boil the Maple sap and Birch sap together creating a unique blend that is delicious for salad dressings, baking, and if you’re so bold Pancakes!
