Author: Tori Miller, Earth Spirit Naturalist Educator/Intern Coordinator
With Winter beginning to say goodbye and Spring slowly arriving, maple sugaring season has finally arrived! At Earth Spirit, March is one of our favorite, and busiest, times of the year. During the entirety of March, we spend our days teaching elementary students about the gifts Sugar Maple trees share with us and the evolution of maple sugaring traditions throughout history.
Sugar Maple trees are one of the key members of the Northern Hardwood Forest, which is one of the dominant ecosystems in Western New York. These trees, along with others, provide us with sweet gifts during the late Winter to early Spring season. Maple sap is collected during this time of year because of the freeze-thaw cycle that is created with changes in temperature leading to changes in pressure within the tree. Cold nights with temperatures reaching below 32 degrees Fahrenheit creates a suction in the tree that pulls water up into the tree from its roots. The water inside the tree freezes and in doing so, traps gases in the trunk of the tree. Warmer days with temperatures reaching above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, cause the trapped gases in the frozen water to expand. This expansion causes a pressure build up that pushes the sap out of the trunk of the tree and up towards the crown of the tree. When trees are tapped for sap collection, this freeze-thaw cycle is what causes the sap to run through a spile and into a bucket or tube.
There are so many lessons to learn about the science and traditions of maple sugaring. Earth Spirit will be hosting our annual public program (with a pancake feast), Maple Sugaring: Past & Present, on Saturday March 21st at Taylor Road Park in Hamburg, NY. A HUGE thank you to all who have registered for this program, as it is already sold out! If you’d like to learn more about the process of maple sugaring and celebrate this special time of year, Maple Weekend in Western New York occurs during the weekends of March 21-22 and March 28-29. Throughout these weekends, you can visit various farms and sites to learn all about maple sugaring, enjoy a pancake breakfast, and purchase local maple products. If you ever find yourself indulging in a delicious maple treat this time of the year, don’t forget to say thank you to the Sugar Maple trees who graciously shared their sweet gifts with us.
