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.

Upcoming Events

There’s an incoming wave of maple- and maple-adjacent events.

First up, Carri Jagger and and Kathy Smith are giving a seminar on hobby maple as part of Morrow County Extension’s programming next Saturday, July 6th at Lowe-Volk Park (2401 State Route 598) at 1 PM.  If you have access to a few maple trees, whether growing in your yard or in a woodland, you can produce your own maple syrup and perhaps even have enough to use as gifts for friends and family!

The following Friday, July 12th, we are excited to introduce a spiced up, live-from-the-field version of the annual Woodland, Water, and Wildlife Conference that is hosted in early March.  This July event is not replacing the normal WWW Conference by any means, but it is designed to be a complimentary field-based twist on the same great programming attendees have come to expect.  A full agenda is available online of the 12 different sessions of the day.  Register HERE.

Finally, the Ohio Maple Producers Association has helped to plan an exciting free family day at the OSU-Mansfield campus on Saturday, August 10th.  We will be giving sugarbush tours in the AM, leading different walks in the afternoon to other demonstration areas on campus, having maple treats and a food truck on site for lunchtime nourishment, and even showcasing some ambassador birds from the Ohio Bird Sanctuary and creepy crawlies from the OSU Bug Zoo.  As an added bonus, if you want to throw down your cash for a entry into our cribbage tournament, bring your A game early and enjoy some friendly competition with fellow attendees before the 3rd annual One Sweet Gathering event officially kicks off.  Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions about this event or the others mentioned in this post.

An early Happy 4th of July to everyone!!