backyard maple

Backyard Maple and Confections Workshop

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The maple producers of NE Ohio are hosting two workshops at Sugar Valley Maple Farm in Middlefield, Ohio on January 24th.

During the first half of the day, a workshop focused on Backyard Maple Syrup – 8:30-12:30.  You will learn the essential steps to start making your own maple syrup.  Instructors will take you through the process from tree tapping to boiling down the sap into liquid gold.

Starting at 1:30 and running until 4:30, a Maple Confections Workshop will teach the basis of making maple candy, maple coated nuts, maple cream and maple sugar.

REGISTER HERE!

Ohio Maple Days & More: Upcoming Events

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We have lots of upcoming events for you to be aware of.

First, Ohio Maple Days returns the first Saturday of December.  On the day preceding, Friday 12/5, we will be hosting a half-day maple syrup grading workshop from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

On Saturday the 6th, the official Ohio Maple Days event begins at 8:30 AM but plan to arrive early to converse with our vendors, get your hydrometers submitted for testing, and for fellowship with your sugarmaking peers.

The agenda is full with talks ranging from syrup sales strategies to cost-benefit analysis of various sugarbush investments, wildlife in the sugarbush plus an afternoon beginner’s track.  Click here to Register and for more program information.

In November, on back to back dates, beginner workshops are offered in Portage and Williams counties on 11/6 and 11/7.  With an emphasis on backyard maple, participants will not only go home with a head full of knowledge, they will also go home with a few pieces of tubing and spouts so that they are ready to tackle their lawn maples in another couple of months.  You can find out more information and register HERE for the November 6th Portage event. You can find more information and register HERE for the November 7th Williams event.

Lastly, the Legacy Planning workshop that we offered last year at Maple Days was very popular and successful. There is a complimentary event titled “Keeping Your Woodlands in the Family” on November 4th from 6-8 PM.  Please click HERE for more information or to register.

January Backyard Maple Workshop

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Please check out this January 24th workshop for Backyard Maple Production hosted by our very own Jake Nicholson and Jim Downs.  Beginning at 12:30 and running through the afternoon, attendees will be introduced to the backyard basics of tapping maple trees and boiling sap into delicious maple syrup.  The workshop will be hosted down at Canter’s Cave 4H Camp in Jackson County, Ohio.

Registration is required and attendees can sign up anytime from now until January 20th through the Woodland Stewards website.

 

We also wanted to share this Sustainability-focused survey for maple producers from the good folks at University of Vermont.  Please scan the QR code below to participate.

Here’s a bit more information from Mark Cannella.

Maple producers are invited to join a first-of-it’s kind study exploring the human side of maple production. This new survey asks producers to share their personal experiences and community interactions related to maple sap and syrup activity. It includes topics on community connections, trust, cultural significance, tradition, health and well being. 

This research is part of a larger project that is exploring all the ways that the maple sector represents or works towards “sustainability”. The larger project is identifying measurements that best reflect maple sustainability in relation to people, communities, forest health, economics and environmental impact. Once established, these sustainability indicators can be monitored over time to assess how the people and systems touched by maple are doing.

From Tree to Table: Webinar for the Maple Curious

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Join OSU’s Les Ober, Geauga Co. Extension, and SENR’s Gabe Karns and Kathy Smith, for this session on how to make your own syrup or explore turning your woods into a sugarbush as an income opportunity. We will talk some history, tree species to tap, how to tap and how to boil and bottle maple sap. Have a few trees in the yard or a woods that has potential? We will try to answer all your questions.

The FREE webinar will be March 12 from 10 AM-noon.  Registration link here!

Also don’t forget this weekend is the first of 2 for the Ohio Maple Madness Spring Driving Tour.  Click here for more information.

OSU Updates the Hobby Maple Syrup Production Fact Sheet

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factsheet

One of the most popular fact sheets on the Ohio State University Extension’s Ohioline has always been the Hobby Maple Syrup Production fact sheet. Ohioline is the source for all of the fact sheets published by OSU Extension and the College of Food Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The original fact sheet was written by OSU State Forestry and Maple Specialist Dr. Randall Hiligmann emeritus. That fact sheet has served as a guide for literally thousands of new aspiring maple producers.  Anyone who has made maple syrup in their backyard knows that it is something that the whole family can enjoy. At the end of the season, you are left with some fond memories and a container of maple syrup that the entire family can enjoy. It may not be the best maple syrup you have ever tasted, but it is your maple syrup. That is what makes this hobby and the publication popular.

It has been an honor to work with co-author OSU Forestry Extension Specialist Kathy Smith to bring you an updated version of the Hobby Maple Syrup Production fact sheet. You can download a copy of the new fact sheet here.

May your upcoming maple season be long and sweet!

Author: Les Ober, Geauga County OSU Extension