tapping walnut trees

[maplefarmer]

I see guys are talking about tapping walnut trees, are the walnuts tapped same time as maple or is their a different season, how much sap do walnut trees produce, is it mixed w/ maple or boiled seperate.what ratio does it take to make walnut syrup? sounds interesting, is this really a thing?

[maple marc]

There is another thread here started by someone who was going to try it. As an experiment I tapped a walnut tree next to my sugar shack just as the season was ending. It didn't produce much sap--but by that time my maple taps were slowing.

I tested the sap and found it to be 1.5%. Hey, that's probably higher than some folks' maple trees! Next year I hope to collect enough to boil--in a small kettle. I have a lot more walnut trees than maple trees, and if the stuff is good, I may become the only producer of walnut syrup in Ohio. In my area, we are drowning in maple syrup and the price is just too low.

[Homespun]

This year is my first syruping attempt. So far, my Black Walnut trees have consistently average 3.5% sugar vs the 2.0-2.5% of my Silver Maples. My Walnuts started flowing heavy about a week before the Maples thawed out, so they run about the same time. Once the Maples started flowing strong the Walnuts slowed down a little. On cooler, marginal temperature days the Walnuts always flow when the Maples do not.

The sap to syrup ratio will depend on the sugar content, same as Maples.

I'm blending my sap and will be doing one boil for a combined syrup. If I had enough sap of each I would try to do two seperate batches. I've been freeze concentrating the sap daily to about 8% sugar to reduce sap storage space (in the freezer) and boiling time (until boiling day arrives). I recycle the ice to get as much sugar out of it as I can.

I'll post more info and the results after the syrup is made.

[TooManyIrons...]

I see guys are talking about tapping walnut trees, are the walnuts tapped same time as maple or is their a different season...

I also would like to hear an answer to this question from anyone knowledgeable about the subject. Scant info available on the web. Around here walnut trees leaf out much later than maple trees, but I do not think the increasing daily temperatures work right for a later sap run - these two issues sound like they conflict, thus adding to my confusion.

Unfortunately I learned about tapping walnuts after I finished maple syruping season. Went out and tapped a test tree and got less than a gallon of sap. Suggests to me that I should be tapping walnuts when I tap maples but just a guess - I have no experience with tapping walnuts and am only two years into making maple syrup.

If in doubt, next year I will simply tap them when I tap the maples - nothing beats actually going out and trying.

Question: If both runs occur around the same time can a person blend maple and walnut sap and then process? Or is it best to keep separate and then mix the finished syrup later? Walnut flavored maple syrup sounds absolutely delicious...