As maple weekend is upon us, I figured it was fitting to have this week’s post be about maple syrup. This weekend (March 24-25) maple syrup vendors across the state will be opening their sugar shacks to the public. You could learn how to make maple syrup, sample maple candies and other goodies, enjoy wagon rides, or eat a pancake breakfast. This event is organized by The New Hampshire Maple Producers Association and you can find more information on their website here. In the meantime I’ve listed ten facts to celebrate syrup season.
Ten Facts about Maple Syrup
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NH produces 90,000 gallons of maple syrup in a year
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Sugaring season is from mid February to mid April (depending on the temperatures that year) -
A tree takes approximately forty years to be big enough to tap for maple syrup
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March is Maple Month!
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Maple syrup has more nutrients than other syrups and sugars and contains fewer calories.
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It is also totally natural and unrefined
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The Native Americans were the first to tap maple trees and showed the Europeans how to do it
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Maple grades (golden, amber, dark, and very dark) are dictated by the time of year the sap was collected not by the quality of the syrup. However, the darker the syrup the better it is for cooking and the more robust the flavor
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It takes forty gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup
10. During the Civil War maple syrup was used by the Northerners to boycott the South and their cane sugar production