January Backyard Maple Workshop

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

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 TourClick here for more information.

OSU Updates the Hobby Maple Syrup Production Fact Sheet

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