Valentown Greetings,

March has always seemed a transitional month. By the close of the month everyone is ready for April and planning for the warmer weather. In rural America no one really had time off from work. Seeds were ordered from catalogs and many animals on the farm were giving birth. The day was always full of useful and needful things to do.

In this part of the country there is the tradition of maple sugaring. The mighty maple trees of North America awed the first Europeans. Acer Saccharum is the Sugar Maple we know and love, except when they spin their "samaras", some in spring and some in fall. All maples produce a sweet sap but only the Sugar Maple has the high sugar content worth making syrup from, with a 40 to 1 ratio. The first harvesters of the sap were the Northeastern Native Americans. (Yet another gift to the world from Native American culture.) Sugaring was changed to a more bountiful production method by Europeans who discovered the delight very early on during exploration of the Eastern States and especially Canada. Quebec is the largest producer of maple syrup and products today. And the syrups are graded both in the U.S. and Canada.

Healthy trees when tapped properly can be sapped every year for generations without damage to the tree, some for close to 100 years. It was always a very labor intensive business, but so was just about everything else done in those days. Horses played a key role in the ability to get into the tight spaces in the "bush" and back out with the precious sap. Many places still use horses for low environmental impact even though the equipment to harvest has become a science with poly tubing and monitors. And the risks and elements are still the same- with good years harvests and not so good.

Our heritage is all around us. And the area around Valentown had several maple sugaring operations in the past. We can walk by a big maple and not always see the part it might play in our landscapes. A hometown farmer and harvester is probably right in your neighborhood or area. Urban tapping happens too. With all the land being clear cut, it is important to support a hometown industry like maple sugaring, and all of the wonderful products that are still made right here just like in the past for everyone to enjoy. Buy local and buy the real thing, made just for you with great pride.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup

As always, we are your down home hometown museum.
Kathryn White, President