For some, March is the month of turbulent spring weather. Remember that old saying, “In like a lion, our like a lamb”? But for those who can embrace those shifting temperatures, the payoff is sweet.
March is International Maple Month in the U.S. and Canada. Maple sugaring season usually begins in this month, and many northern maple-producing states (and our neighbors to the north) plan celebrations in honor of the industry.
Maple events are often scheduled for mid-month, when sugarmakers invite the public to stop by and see how they turned tapped sap into syrup and, these days, many other value-added maple treats. Some farms will also host agritourism activities such as games, pancake breakfasts, sugarbush tours, horse-drawn cart rides, music and more.
Trivia time! The genus of maple trees, Acer, is in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, along with lychee and horse chestnut. There are approximately 132 species, most of which are native to Asia, with many also appearing in Europe, northern Africa and North America. There is only one species, Acer laurinum, which has a habitat that extends to the Southern Hemisphere.
Sugar and red Maples are the varieties most often tapped for sugaring, with sugar maples being preferred. Both of these trees are Signs of the Seasons indicator species, in large part due to their economic importance, according to UMaine Extension.
While maple leaves are green during summer, the trees are producing starches, which are dormant from autumn until springtime. When the sun comes out and warms up the trees (above the freezing point of 32º F), a chemical reaction occurs and those starches convert into sugars. Sap begins to flow in spring when there is an increase in pressure and the sap moves through the tree to feed the branches for new growth.
More trivia! One tap in a single sugar maple tree can yield 10,000 gallons of sap over a season.
Producers can find sap by drilling a five-sixteenths-inch hole into the white layer under the tree’s bark. As sap flows up the tree, it leaks out during those days when the temperature is above freezing. Ideally for sap production, night temps will fall below freezing, when sap goes back down the tree for storage.
Maple season runs as long as the region experiences a cycle of below-freezing and above-freezing temperatures, which change the pressure inside the trees and cause the sap to flow.
To find upcoming maple events near you, check out:
- New York: https://www.mapleweekend.com/
- Maine: https://mainemapleproducers.com/events/
- New Hampshire: https://nhmapleproducers.com/maple-weekend-2/
- Vermont: https://vermontmaple.org/events/
- Connecticut: https://www.ctmaple.org/
- New Jersey: https://newjerseyisntboring.com/15-new-jersey-maple-sugaring-events/
- Ohio: https://northeastohiofamilyfun.com/maple-syrup-festivals-in-northeast-ohio/
