Bigleaf in B.C.

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Weatherman is predicting -5 C nights and +5 C days for the next week. Should bring on the 3rd Bigleaf run of the winter, maybe 1 more after that. bigleaf tapping starts in Nov. and is all over by the end of Feb.

[tuckermtn]

are you out on Vancouver Island? If so, where on the island? how many taps and what has your season been like?

Made syrup in BC several years ago, but it was with silver maples in the Kootenays.

[PATheron]

Whats the deal with Bigleaf tapping? What kind of tree is that and what do you make? Theron

[ctjim]

welcome to the trader arrow. is it possible that i spoke w/ you about sugaring this past july at a farmers market at blackcomb mtn? theron hopefully arrow will explain further but it's my understanding that the bigleafs are maples and they're only found in the western canadian coastal mountain range. i have had syrup made from them and it tastes fantastic, its a bit of a different taste than that of the syrup we are making.

[arrow]

Sorry your replies have gone unanswered for so long. We have had a busy week of boiling with some late nights. Yes, we are on Vancouver Island and we are tapping Western Bigleaf Maples. The Bigleaf grows along the west coast from Oregon to B.C. It is rare above 600 meters elevation. Bigleafs are hardy and prolific in the right environment. The like lots of moisture, (we get 60 to 70 inches per year, mostly over the winter) but won't tolerate true swampy conditions. They will grow to a tremendous size. We have one here on our farm that has a circumfrance of 27 feet. Sap moves in the trees all winter unless it freezes. Freezing weather comes and goes all winter and the end of a cold spell generally brings on a very heavy run of sap that will last for several days. When the sap is really moving it is common to have a single tap overflow a 17 litre, (4 + US gallons) per day. This will go on for several days then taper off until more cold weather. We have had 4 runs starting in late Nov. and are anticipating one more next week which could be all for 2011. Biglef tapping is over as soon as the buds break which usually starts by the end of Feb. We have found that our best syrup is pan finished to 62 or 63 % sugar. Syrup we finished to 66 and 67 % tended to be much darker with a very robust flavour. Last year was our first, we ran 25 taps and made all kinds of mistakes but got hooked none the less. This year we have 75 taps in and are planning to make some evaporator improvements and shoot for 150 next year. The most encouraging thing so far has been the friendly and helpful maple community. We are fortunate to have a mentor who looks in often and seems more excited about how all this is working out than we are. Looking forward to finding out a lot more right here.

[Hinterland]

Hey there. Just a note to introduce ourselves, new maple syrup producers here in Smithers, BC, where we are tapping Douglas Maple, Acer glabrum. Our season begins in a couple of weeks and we have a brand new Phaneuf 2' x 4' evaporator ready to go. We will be tapping 100 trees this year, though we have spiles (but not time) for another 100. If all goes well, we may produce 20-50 litres of syrup, but there are loads of complicating factors. All the best.

[arrow]

Hi Hinterland.

I am curious about your Douglas Maples. We have 1 lone Douglas here and don't tap it. (Douglas is rare here) Do you know the sugar % of the sap? We are on the verge of wrapping up here, just waiting to see if the next week of freezing nights will coax another run of sap before the buds burst. Best of luck!

[BC Birch Tapper]

Greetings Hinterland from Quesnel. Have you considered tapping white birch? I would expect that it would run after the maple & if you have enough firewood left over would be a good second species you could tap.
We'll be offing some tapping workshops March 25 & 26th.
We did a tapping workshop in Hazelton and another in Ft St James last spring which were well attended.
Check out our website if you are interested.
Good luck with your first season,enjoy. I'd be interested in your results, sap % & production etc.
This season should be interesting with all the snow, we've got 3-4 ' in our fields. Our birch season usually starts in early April. I expect to be doing some plowing to get access to our trees.