Tapping in Northern British Columbia

[Hinterland]

Just got in from checking 130 taps on Douglas Maple (Acer glabrum), a small maple that grows in the mountains of British Columbia and Alaska. The run this year so far has been disappointing, but we've still got a few weeks for things to pick up. We'll be running our little evaporator this weekend so that we have some syrup on hand for a talk we'll be giving on Monday night here in Smithers. There are 5 families that are now tapping in the Bulkley Valley and evaporating over at my place. I had great hopes for this year, but have been forced acquiesce to the will of the trees. Ah well.

Hope your season is going well.

[Brandy Brook Maple Farm]

That's awesome, Hinterland! What size diameter trees are you tapping? (you said "small maple" and I'm not familiar with Acer glabrum). Don't give up yet! I haven't given up on our season yet here in the Northeast! You never know what happens!

Joy

[Hinterland]

Good weather is expected all next week and we are hopeful once again. Douglas Maple, or sometimes called Mountain Maple (Acer glabrum), is a small tree up to 15-25 feet tall and not often more than 12" in diameter. The sap can be as high as 3% sugar, comparable to sugar maple, and the taste of the syrup is very good. Syrup is like wine: each region and each tree species seems to have a different complex of beautiful flavours.

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Patrick

[PerryW]

Good weather is expected all next week and we are hopeful once again. Douglas Maple, or sometimes called Mountain Maple (Acer glabrum), is a small tree up to 15-25 feet tall and not often more than 12" in diameter. The sap can be as high as 3% sugar, comparable to sugar maple, and the taste of the syrup is very good. Syrup is like wine: each region and each tree species seems to have a different complex of beautiful flavours.

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Patrick

We have what they call Mountain Maple here in NH, but probably not the same species since it only gets 3-4" max. We also have striped maple which has vertical green stripes and gets as big as 6" inches and is very soft and easy to chop.

Good luck, I believe I read about a species of Maple that people were tapping at the 10,000' elevation of Colorado? Don't know how they made out though.

[Galena]

Hey Hinterland!

Lived in Terrace for a few years, glad you're able to get decent syrup given how short and brutally cold I remember winters that far north being. Wondering, do you also have bigleaf maples in NW BC?

[mapleack]

Hinterland, good luck with your season and thanks for sharing. I learn something new all the time on mapletrader!

[Brandy Brook Maple Farm]

Good weather is expected all next week and we are hopeful once again. Douglas Maple, or sometimes called Mountain Maple (Acer glabrum), is a small tree up to 15-25 feet tall and not often more than 12" in diameter. The sap can be as high as 3% sugar, comparable to sugar maple, and the taste of the syrup is very good. Syrup is like wine: each region and each tree species seems to have a different complex of beautiful flavours.

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Patrick

We are hopeful here in Northern NY that the weather will bring us a little bit longer of a maple season...which was brutally shortened by unseasonably warm temperatures here in the Northeast.
I like what you said about syrup...that each region has it's own complex of beautiful flavors. I believe that resides true in each and every sugarbush (and sugarmaker's heart) as well. Keep me posted! I might like to purchase a sample of your syrup if you wind up making enough to share!

Joy

[Hinterland]

Galena,

Bigleaf maple is restricted to SE BC: Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, and inland as far as Yale.

I don't know if it's fair to say that winter is short here in Smithers. We've had snow on the ground for nearly 6 months now, though this winter has been relatively mild. Coincidentally, the largest Douglas maple known from BC (and possibly for North America) is from Lakelse Lake, right outside of Terrace.

[Galena]

Hey there Hinterland

Oh OK, thought that bigleaf was pretty much a regional tree. My brother on Cortes Island has made syrup though they have a ridiculous ratio of 72:1 as I understand it. I lived in Terrace from approx mid-'95-early '98, worked Skeena Broadcasters originally before starting up a gourmet mustard business. I guess you're right, the winters really aren't that short, but I saw -48 and -52...that's the brutal cold I remember too well!!

[Hinterland]

Had about 35 people out for a maple syrup introduction last night at the Smithers Library. Lots of enthusiastic maple syrup tasters, and several folks interested in giving maple tapping a try. We put the syrup from Sunday up against a bottle of store-bought maple syrup from Quebec and the local product was the hands down favourite (no bias of course). In fairness, the tastes are quite different. We boiled down 54 gallons US (206 litres) of sap to produce 1.6 gallons (6 litres) of syrup on March 31. The sap is running at 2.5 to 3% sugar right now. The weather this week looks perfect for more evaporating next weekend.

Finally things are picking up!

[PerryW]

This is the striped maple I was talking about (Acer pensylvanicum.). I was setting up a 500 acre survey yesterday and noticed they were running well when I chopped them down with a machete.

5738

[Hinterland]

This is the striped maple I was talking about (Acer pensylvanicum.). I was setting up a 500 acre survey yesterday and noticed they were running well when I chopped them down with a machete.

5738

I think that I've seen this beautiful tree (Acer pensylvanicum) at the University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens in Vancouver. I doubt that it would grow here though--too cold. Sugar maples can grow here, but it is a struggle for them. I will plant some on my property and tap them in 40 years. Meanwhile, on with the Douglas maple! We collected another 20 gallons of sap today!

[Revi]

We have a lot of striped maple on our lot. They never get big enough to tap, but they are nice looking. We cut them down, but they grow up again.

[Hinterland]

We have close to 100 gallons for the boil up tomorrow. It's going to be a good, long and sunny and day (and starry night). I will load the firebox today so that I can get a good start in the morning when my mind is more-or-less still asleep.

[Hinterland]

The weather has warmed up and this brief season appears to be over. Much less syrup than last year, despite an increase in effort. In the words of my six year old Asha "You get what you get, and you don't get upset". I'm still a little bit upset. We'll end up with about 15 litres (4 gal.) this year, down from 23 (nearly 6 gal.) last year. The sap from yesterday was still 2.3% sugar, but warm nights are expected all week and into the long-range forecast.