Much of what we do at the Edge of Algonquin Park owes itself to a lifestyle that connects us to nature. One of the things I do each spring is make maple syrup. Here is a picture of our maple syrup set up in the forest. We have about sixty trees tapped and the sap flows downhill in tubes, reaching a collecting spot beside the evaporator pan. We do the preliminary boil down here.
Then we move to the deck where we finish boiling the water away. Here is Tim skimming the foam off the surface of the almost ready syrup. The thermometer is important because we can tell its syrup when the temp hits 7 degrees Celcius above boiling water. Usually within a degree of 107 degrees C. depending on the barometric pressure ’round these parts on the day of the boil.
And when its all done…..
we pour it through a filter to remove the nitre (metal deposits that come out of solution when the water boils away). Seems the trees pull up disolved metals from the earth along with the sugars stored deep in the trees roots. Our filter is felt, and with a few sterilized bottles at the ready, we have quite a harvest every few days in April.
Be sure to come up for a visit and try some, won’t you?
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