A little background on myself before I get into this post. I’m fairly young and just love this type of stuff. Homesteading for some reason is just in my blood. So much so, instead of waiting or finding close-by maple trees to tap. I tried to find a way around it the diameter of the tree. No, I do not recommend placing an actual tap inside a tree under the recommended diameter of 12 Inches. Unless, you, much like me, wish to just play around. So, what exactly did I do?
If you have some pruning shears just laying around, be sure to rinse them off before using if they were used recently. If you don’t know how to tell the difference between a maple tree and other trees, this tip can also help a little.
Take your shears and prune back an unidentified tree, if you already know rather or not it’s maple then you can go ahead and skip this section and head down to the next. Maple trees will spew sap when the temperatures are below freezing at night and above freezing through the day. If it’s 32 or above, sap should be flowing if you’ve struck a maple tree. If you don’t get anything… it’s not a maple tree. (I’ve heard other trees produce sap as well just not as much. Maple looks like a leaking water faucet).
Once you have a Maple tree, it’s recommended you spend a little money on sap bags which can be found at many farm supply stores. If you can’t find any, gallon ziplock bags can work just as well. The hardest part about all of this is, you basically have to make your own spout.
Still testing the best solution. It’s recommended that you cover the tip of the branch completely with a bag, wrap the bag around a little, and use, hopefully, garden tape. If you don’t, I highly recommend and urge you to buy some, though, rope works as well. Only, it damages the plant. Can only assume it will absorb your precious sugar water and cause it to drop to the ground.
Keep in mind. These trees you will be collecting from are still young so won’t produce anywhere near as much as an adult tree you may often see bags hanging from. This, however, would be a great way to so kids and teach them a little bit about Maple trees and it’s goods! Happy Collecting.
Also, let me know what you would like to learn or what tips you may be after. I love learning and will most likely test ideas out.