Cemetery Trees...

[jstaples]

Tapping old Cemetery maples...disrespectful or not??? Saying that person makes an effort to carry in, carry out and walks around the outsides of the cemetery.

[cpmaple]

my feeling on this is if you respect the grounds and walk around the out side or on the rds it should be ok. but there are people out there that will feel different than i do about this. Respect,keep clean and dont leave taps in after the season you would be fine by me.

[spud]

Tapping old Cemetery maples...disrespectful or not??? Saying that person makes an effort to carry in, carry out and walks around the outsides of the cemetery.

We have a lot of cemetery's with maple trees in them here in Vermont. I don't think it's disrespectful to tap them but it's kinda weird. My syrup jugs show a sugar house and a team of horses gathering sap. I would hate to see what your jugs look like.:lol: There's no way in hell I would gather your sap at midnight. This is why I would never buy flee market syrup. Just the idea creep's me out.

Spud

[JuniperHillSugar]

In our area the Board of Directors don't allow tapping in some roadside cemetery trees. I only want to be where welcome, so I stay in the woods with my taps. In general I stay off the roads. I see those roadside buckets covered in sand/salt spray after a spring storm. No thanks for me.

[325abn]

Although I am sure many of the residents of said grave yards would love some maple. I would not tap even if permitted.

That being said if I have to to survive I would without blinking an eye!! :)

[happy thoughts]

Don't you need permission or does it work differently in Maine? And is someone famous buried there? If so, maybe you could market your syrup like Roger Williams Apple....

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2210.

Just kidding! :o I'm sure it would make perfectly fine syrup but feels a little too creepy for me :-| just my 2 cents....

[Cake O' Maple]

I live kitty-corner from a historic church with a graveyard, out in the country, near very small towns. After pondering this and asking my family/friends after a post another year, I approached the church to see what they thought. [Small-town=no anonymity] Expressed that I didn't want to be disrespectful, how I would treat the trees, and what did they think.

The church was fine with it, and I know there are some pretty opinionated members.

I had previously never even considered that some might find it disrespectful, given treating the property with the normal respect you would give a cemetery, and neither had a single family member or friend I asked.

And Spud, I've never been there at midnight, but I've been collecting pretty late! All by myself......woooooOOOOOOOooooooo

[500592]

My grandfather use to own the land surrounding the cemetery and he tapped the trees in and around the cemetery. I think with some nice metal buckets then it would actually look nice and no disrespectful. Those trees are probably some of the best trees you could tap.

[spud]

Those trees are sucking Grandma and Grandpa right up the roots and into the buckets. The syrup could taste like mothballs for crying out loud. Add more filter aid because here comes Grandma.:o

Spud

[Revi]

You are giving those people new life. I'll bet some of them tapped trees in their lifetimes, so it's a part of the cycle of life. (and death)

[bees1st]

If you look around most old cemeteries have sugar maples. And did you know it's against the law to be in any cemetery in Maine after dark ?

[Brian Ryther]

Old caskets used to be lead lined.

[ackerman75]

That syrup would be to die for ...........

[PerryW]

Sounds like quite an undertaking.

[markcasper]

I was not going to comment on this thread.....there was situation a few years ago that came up where I was actually interested in tapping cemetary trees near here. My father used to be quite involved with our large church cemetary and there was plum trees growing in and around the older parts (circa 1890's - 1940's). People used to come and water their flowers and then, when in season, pick them full of plums. My dad always said never eat any plums from those trees because they may have embalming chemicals in them. He said most of the caksets in that era were wooden and the idea of the roots absorbing anything were quite high.

So when I talked about tapping these maple in a different cemetary near my house, he advised me not to because you never know what that tree may have taken up. I know the church cemetary has a storage building for winter casket storage and one spring I was there with him and it was getting on into late April and they still didn't have them all out of there and it was just plain disgusting what I seen, the caskets were dripping from the racks and all over the floor. After witnessing that, I never thought about tapping cemetary trees again, just food for thought.

[spud]

WOW WOW WOW I will NEVER eat a plum again.:o The caskets were dripping from the racks? I would never go to a pot luck dinner at that church.

Spud

[stoweski]

Those trees are sucking Grandma and Grandpa right up the roots and into the buckets. The syrup could taste like mothballs for crying out loud. Add more filter aid because here comes Grandma.:o

Spud

But old grammy was sweet! I would think the sap would be at 4% out there! Although grandpa was an old sap so maybe it all balances out. :D

[heus]

I was not going to comment on this thread.....there was situation a few years ago that came up where I was actually interested in tapping cemetary trees near here. My father used to be quite involved with our large church cemetary and there was plum trees growing in and around the older parts (circa 1890's - 1940's). People used to come and water their flowers and then, when in season, pick them full of plums. My dad always said never eat any plums from those trees because they may have embalming chemicals in them. He said most of the caksets in that era were wooden and the idea of the roots absorbing anything were quite high.

So when I talked about tapping these maple in a different cemetary near my house, he advised me not to because you never know what that tree may have taken up. I know the church cemetary has a storage building for winter casket storage and one spring I was there with him and it was getting on into late April and they still didn't have them all out of there and it was just plain disgusting what I seen, the caskets were dripping from the racks and all over the floor. After witnessing that, I never thought about tapping cemetary trees again, just food for thought.
They actually save bodies/caskets over the winter instead of burying them right away???

[spud]

They actually save bodies/caskets over the winter instead of burying them right away???

Do they save them over the winter because the ground is froze or is it more like a smokehouse kind of thing? :confused:

Spud

[markcasper]

They actually save bodies/caskets over the winter instead of burying them right away???

Yes that is the case. Do they not do this anywhere but the midwest?? Things like what I mention happen, but no one ever talks about it. There are actually storage buildings at several cemetaries. The building at my dads churches cemetary holds 50 caskets in the racks and the spring that this event happened there were 20 caskets on the floor there were so many. They even rented the caretakers garage for storage that year. Well...they couldn't get them out soon eneough in the spring and things start to "happen" I suppose.
The cemetary leases the space to the community, so it just wasn't from the one church. The funeral homes are responsible for getting them buried and out of there as soon as possible in the spring, but that year was maybe a late spring??
And yes...many are buried in the winter, but the cost is higher because of snow and frost removal, so in the 70's this idea really caught on around here to store the bodies until there is more favorable ground conditions. I for one do not like the idea of storing them.

[heus]

Are they digging the graves by hand or something??? Frozen ground is no match for a backhoe. Cant believe family members would be ok with having the casket stored away instead of buried immediately.

[325abn]

Unless they get a big dozer with a ripper tooth, they are only going to scratch said frost.

[DrTimPerkins]

Yes that is the case. Do they not do this anywhere but the midwest??

This practice is followed in most places where there is significant ground frost. Many cemeteries have a in-ground crypt nearby, or arrangements with places that do. They'll have a memorial service (or funeral) in the winter, but delay the burial until spring. My father-in-law lives next to a cemetery and is the care-taker there. He feels that they are nice quiet neighbors for the most part.

As for me....no plans to be buried....spend too many hours as a young person mowing cemetery lawns. I don't want anyone having to mow grass over me in perpetuity....seems like a waste of land and energy, but to each their own.

As for any chemicals leaching out. Very unlikely. Most burials these days use a grave liner (cement crypt) that the coffin is placed into. Additionally, the chemicals are quite volatile, so they'll go away quickly. Finally, most feeder roots in maple are only 4-8" deep, so unless grandpa was planted very shallow, there isn't much chance he'll show up in your syrup.

[Revi]

I think there's a method of burial where your ashes are mixed with potting soil and it grows a tree. I think that would be a better way to go than being pumped full of embalming fluid like King Tut.

http://bigthink.com/design-for-good/this-awesome-urn-will-turn-you-into-a-tree-after-you-die

[Dill]

Happened to be article about this in the union leader this morning.
Cemetery tree-tapping takes sour turn in Epping
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By JASON SCHREIBER
Union Leader Correspondent

Someone posted a sign to protest the tapping of a tree at a small family cemetery on Prescott Road in Epping. (JASON SCHREIBER PHOTO)
EPPING - Jim McGeough has been tapping a massive maple at the edge of an old abandoned family cemetery on Prescott Road for the past decade without a problem, but things got a little sticky this season.

Someone tacked a fake tombstone to the tree with a skull, crossbones, and the message, "No Cemetary Syrup," followed by the words, "You Sap."

"I didn't think it was upsetting anyone. Nobody has even said a word to me," said McGeough, who has 270 buckets attached to trees to collect sap on properties along Prescott Road - two are on the cemetery maple.

McGeough, a Prescott Road resident who is also a selectman, didn't notice the sign until Thursday afternoon when he was gathering sap to make syrup at his sugar house.

No one seems to know who was behind the sign, but McGeough said he planned to leave the buckets and the sign alone. McGeough began tapping the tree in the small Prescott Road Cemetery on Carr Hill about 10 years ago when the property surrounding it was owned by Ray Hetnar, who operated an apple orchard for many years before the land was sold and homes were built. He claims the tree isn't actually in the cemetery, but it appears to sit right at the edge near Prescott Road.

"It's a very good producer," he said of the tree.

Town Administrator Gregory Dodge said he hasn't heard any complaints about the tapping.

Jerry Langdon, chairman of Epping's cemetery trustees, said he sees nothing wrong with tapping a tree in the cemetery, which has fewer than a dozen gravestones.

"It's definitely not an issue with us," he said. "I doubt very much that there are living descendants that do anything with that cemetery."

Robyn Pearl of Loudon, publicist for the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association, said she's never heard of any problems related to tapping trees in a cemetery and is unaware of any laws prohibiting tapping in cemeteries.

She said there shouldn't be an issue as long as maple producers get permission from the landowner.

"I'm sorry that someone is making a big thing out of it," Pearl said. "It's always a very exciting time of year for all of us."

As curator of the Epping Historical Society and a longtime Epping resident, Joy True is familiar with many of the old family cemeteries in town and said she doesn't see a problem with it either.

"Jim is very respectful, so he's not going to do anything disrespectful to a cemetery," she said.

Jeff Snow, superintendent of Edgewood Cemetery in Nashua and secretary/treasurer for the New Hampshire Cemetery Association, said the issue hasn't come up at the cemetery he oversees. However, if someone asked to tap a tree there, he said he would probably say no.

"Everybody has different thoughts about cemeteries. Some people feel it's a place for the living, with open space, and people should be enjoying it, but I've had some people who don't think people should be bicycling or walking in a cemetery," he said.

[twitch]

I bet most the dead people in these old cemeteries would think it was horrible that these beautiful maples were not getting tapped that is probably why they were planted there in the first place i tried to get into one in my town but was turned down which is fine i don't want to make anyone upset but i do feel the dead people in this cemetery would be discussed that the trees do not get tapped.

[TerryEspo]

SPUD,,,,,,,,you made me laugh so hard I have tears and my wife is asking what is wrong / so funny !!

Man, I have not laughed like that in awhile.

I am now going to email this post to my wife so she can read all of it, LMAO.

Thanks for good times here.

Terry

[spud]

I sure am glad to hear someone likes my sick sense of humor. My wife thinks I am a very sick man in need of a doctor (with a couch).:D

Spud

[Roger Taylor]

I got permission to tap six maples in our old cemetary over here in N. Illinois. I doubt if anyone other than the city official that gave me the green flag to do so even noticed. They were fantastic producers. R. Taylor "No couch needed"

[Revi]

I think the cemetery maples should be tapped, but tapping guidelines should be followed or the tree may go the way of the people in the cemetery.

[KV Sappers]

All this talk about tapping in a cemetary brings to mind an account of a time ago. While vacationing in Maine, I happened upon a beautiful cemetary and while admiring the old tombstones I came upon this chestnut tree with the most outstanding chestnuts I've ever seen. Those chestnuts on the ground had no worm holes and were just beautiful. I could not resist and happened to leave the cemetary with a hat full of chestnuts. I could not wait to get back to where I was staying to roast those chestnuts. Well, I roasted those beautiful chestnuts, and the first one I tried was so bitter I could not believe how something this pretty could be this horrible. It seems what I thought was a sweet chestnut tree turned out to be a horse chestnut tree. I'm sure those "planted" around that beautiful tree sure had a good laugh that day!!!!

[scottdevine]

I was driving through Oxford, CT today looking for additional trees to tap, and drove past 2 local cemetery's with beautiful maple trees. I stopped in at one of them and just gazed around at the possibilities, then started wondering who to ask permission to tap them. I continued to my destination and actually stopped at another property of what looks to be a 19th C house, with 20+ old Maples, left my name and info to be passed onto the landlord of the property. If that should fall through, i'd be looking at the cemetery's again. I found this old thread, and wanted to revive it for additional opinion, and others with experience, direction on who to ask? The town, church, police? its a very small town, and doubtful most people would notice for such a short period of time...."most". Thoughts?

[West Sumner Sugar]

We tap a cemetery. Its a lot of extra work. We put up and take down the entire system each year. Probably 250' of 1" mainline and a bunch of 5/16 lines. Takes us a few hours but its worth it. The bulk of our sap comes from here. A member of our crew mows the grass which allows us to tap the trees in the winter.

[tbear]

Spud, I was laughing so hard I couldn't breath! Thought I was going to have a heart attack! Thanks, Ted

[spud]

Spud, I was laughing so hard I couldn't breath! Thought I was going to have a heart attack! Thanks, Ted

I'm glad someone enjoys my sick sense of humor. We all need to laugh more. :lol:

Spud

[tbear]

Amen! Ted

[Revi]

People are dying to get in there!