I really hope you have given some thought, if you haven't already, to becoming a college professor.You would be a WONDERFUL asset to a university such as Penn State! You obviously have the passion, knowledge, ability to captivate and audience, are articulate and talented with your presentations of information. Thanks for your videos!
I agree 100%. I see that this video is 4 years old but have watched many of the videos this week (June 2021) after just coming across one on poison ivy. Adam you are the best teacher I’ve seen in my 59 years. I really appreciate your passion for nature, and your dedication and time in sharing your knowledge. Thank you so very much! Best wishes to you! 👍👍👌❤️ 🍄🌲🍃🌱
Adam, one fascinating facet of maple tree sap is that the flavor and minerals found in the sap depend greatly on the underlying geology surrounding the tree being tapped. All kinds of trace elements are found in maple sap-- not just calcium, and potassium, etc... Maple sap can contain small amounts of arsenic, uranium, and other naturally-occurring elements, but the detection and concentrations depend greatly on the bedrock type. Really fascinating stuff. There was a paper published a few years ago on the chemistry of maple sap water at different geologic locations in Vermont. I'll see if I can locate it and report back here. You might be able to find it in a good scholar search engine.
+A Day in the Life of Michaela Thanks for the kind words! Yes... any maple tree can technically be tapped, so long as it grows in an environment that provides the freeze/thaw cycle necessary for sap flow. Only a few species have a high enough sugar content to make it worthwhile for syrup production, though. I wrote about all the different trees you can tap on an older blog of mine: wildfoodism.com/2014/02/04/22-trees-that-can-be-tapped-for-sap-and-syrup/
+A Day in the Life of Michaela You'd probably have a difficult time extracting sizable yields of sap in Texas. The Northeastern U.S. has all the right conditions - plenty of sugar maples, and the late winter freeze/thaw cycle.
Oh okay...... well thank you so much for the response and I might leave my maple trees alone then..... and look forward to more of your educational great videos :-)
I tapped my neighbour's maple tree years ago, and collected it into one bucket. I filled mason jars and drank maple sap instead of water for a while. From the bucket, I poured straight into mason jars only using cheesecloth as a filter.. It was perfect. It does go bad though if left out, it needs to be kept refrigerated if keeping for more than a few days. My extra jars I just kept outside in my collecting basket, because I was drinking it like water, so I went through them often.
@@neilbevi7594 that sounds delicious! My favourite coffee is French pressed, strong, black and with a shot of maple syrup. The sap as the base would be fantastic, no doubt!
Most maple syrup sold commercially, is actually made in China. You can make delicious syrup at home without boiling it. You can just simmer it. Just don`t do it inside, as, you will coat your walls with it. Do it in the yard, over a slow fire, or a gas grill, set on low. I made a pint of great syrup on the back edge of my woodstove in the cellar out of about 5 gallons of sap. Took about 2 weeks, but it worked.
Adam, do you know if freezing the maple sap effects the enzyme levels? I freeze the sap to use throughout the year in smoothies, sumac tea, lemonade, etc. I never heat it.
+DancingskyMetis Generally speaking, it all depends on the enzyme. Heating, of course, can irreversibly denature enzymes completely. Freezing is a gentler process that can inactivate enzymes for a time; however once thawed, they can resume their activity. Maple sap contains several enzymes, though very few (if any) studies exist on their ability to withstand freezing temperatures. From general research on enzymes though, it seems likely that many enzymes within maple sap will be preserved through freezing and thawing. I would recommend not thawing, then freezing, then thawing, then freezing, etc. over and over, as this could potentially damage the enzymes even further. As a preservation method to keep enzymes in tact, however, freezing is one of the best out there.
How can I make my own maple water that I can use safely until next year's collection? I understand that it should be minimally processed to preserve the natural goodness, but it needs to be pasteurized too. Ideally, I'd love to have a gallon a week, so freezing that much isn't a viable option. Ideas?
Carrie - that's a great question, and it's something I haven't experimented with. However, I have heard of canning maple water so that it can be preserved. Honestly, the best way to preserve maple water is to reduce it into syrup. Then, you can add a teaspoon or so of syrup to a cup of fresh spring water and essentially re-create maple sap. It's obviously not the same as the original product, but it's close. Otherwise, try experimenting with canning.
+tcotroneo I've been freezing maple sap for 20 years. 1. It saves the climate by not needing to boil it down with wood or fossil fuel fires. 2. This time of year our freezer has room as we have eaten some of last summers harvest that was in the freezer. 3. To save energy I thaw the sap in the refrigerator to get back some of the energy it took to freeze it. 4. We like sap to use in making oat meal, tea, and drinking fresh. 5. If you let the some of sap freeze in the collecting buckets on the tree over night the unfrozen sap that concentrates in the middle is sweeter and the ice can be thrown out. Native Americans used this method to concentrate the sap. 6. Gathering sap is a good outdoor activity this time of year as not much else is happening outside. I always give a thank you to the trees. It is a good reminder that despite maple trees and humans being very different species we both use the same sucrose energy. 7. Please tell me where to find the analysis of all the beneficial properties of maple sap.
+Robin Wilson Great points, Robin. Here's an analysis I created recently on the benefits of maple sap: wildfoodism.com/2015/02/24/the-health-benefits-of-drinking-maple-tree-sap/
The little individual breakfast syrup packs are corn syrup. But on the top of many containers is a picture of a maple leaf! It's shamefully and intentionally misleading.
This is hot. I wish I knew another gay guy obsessed with the environment. They're different aspects than yours, but even just someone else with the actual passion. It's what I get paid for and it's what I do when I'm not working.
Thank you, for making this video.
I really hope you have given some thought, if you haven't already, to becoming a college professor.You would be a WONDERFUL asset to a university such as Penn State! You obviously have the passion, knowledge, ability to captivate and audience, are articulate and talented with your presentations of information. Thanks for your videos!
Thanks for the kind words! We'll see what the future holds!
I agree 100%. I see that this video is 4 years old but have watched many of the videos this week (June 2021) after just coming across one on poison ivy. Adam you are the best teacher I’ve seen in my 59 years. I really appreciate your passion for nature, and your dedication and time in sharing your knowledge. Thank you so very much! Best wishes to you! 👍👍👌❤️ 🍄🌲🍃🌱
you cannot male a living that way
Adam, one fascinating facet of maple tree sap is that the flavor and minerals found in the sap depend greatly on the underlying geology surrounding the tree being tapped. All kinds of trace elements are found in maple sap-- not just calcium, and potassium, etc... Maple sap can contain small amounts of arsenic, uranium, and other naturally-occurring elements, but the detection and concentrations depend greatly on the bedrock type. Really fascinating stuff. There was a paper published a few years ago on the chemistry of maple sap water at different geologic locations in Vermont. I'll see if I can locate it and report back here. You might be able to find it in a good scholar search engine.
Sarah did you ever find the study ?
My new hobby is tapping Black Walnut trees. The syrup is fantastic!
Really?? We have a tree farm with thousands of them!! ❤
Great talk you had...... wish I could see your slides while you were talking tho.... great job as usual! Can't wait for the next one!
Also had a question...... Can you harvest the maple sap from any maple tree variety?
+A Day in the Life of Michaela Thanks for the kind words! Yes... any maple tree can technically be tapped, so long as it grows in an environment that provides the freeze/thaw cycle necessary for sap flow. Only a few species have a high enough sugar content to make it worthwhile for syrup production, though. I wrote about all the different trees you can tap on an older blog of mine: wildfoodism.com/2014/02/04/22-trees-that-can-be-tapped-for-sap-and-syrup/
Oh so here in North Texas it's probably not going to go through the cycle necessary for sap flow? Thanks for the blog link... I will go read it.
+A Day in the Life of Michaela You'd probably have a difficult time extracting sizable yields of sap in Texas. The Northeastern U.S. has all the right conditions - plenty of sugar maples, and the late winter freeze/thaw cycle.
Oh okay...... well thank you so much for the response and I might leave my maple trees alone then..... and look forward to more of your educational great videos :-)
I tapped my neighbour's maple tree years ago, and collected it into one bucket. I filled mason jars and drank maple sap instead of water for a while.
From the bucket, I poured straight into mason jars only using cheesecloth as a filter..
It was perfect. It does go bad though if left out, it needs to be kept refrigerated if keeping for more than a few days. My extra jars I just kept outside in my collecting basket, because I was drinking it like water, so I went through them often.
use the sap to make morning coffee delicious
@@neilbevi7594 that sounds delicious! My favourite coffee is French pressed, strong, black and with a shot of maple syrup. The sap as the base would be fantastic, no doubt!
Awesome info!
Thanks for watching, Jeffrey!
Most maple syrup sold commercially, is actually made in China. You can make delicious syrup at home without boiling it. You can just simmer it. Just don`t do it inside, as, you will coat your walls with it. Do it in the yard, over a slow fire, or a gas grill, set on low. I made a pint of great syrup on the back edge of my woodstove in the cellar out of about 5 gallons of sap. Took about 2 weeks, but it worked.
How long can you save maple sap in the refrigerator? And do you have to boil it to kill any bacteria or anyting?
Adam, do you know if freezing the maple sap effects the enzyme levels? I freeze the sap to use throughout the year in smoothies, sumac tea, lemonade, etc. I never heat it.
+DancingskyMetis Generally speaking, it all depends on the enzyme. Heating, of course, can irreversibly denature enzymes completely. Freezing is a gentler process that can inactivate enzymes for a time; however once thawed, they can resume their activity. Maple sap contains several enzymes, though very few (if any) studies exist on their ability to withstand freezing temperatures. From general research on enzymes though, it seems likely that many enzymes within maple sap will be preserved through freezing and thawing. I would recommend not thawing, then freezing, then thawing, then freezing, etc. over and over, as this could potentially damage the enzymes even further. As a preservation method to keep enzymes in tact, however, freezing is one of the best out there.
How can I make my own maple water that I can use safely until next year's collection? I understand that it should be minimally processed to preserve the natural goodness, but it needs to be pasteurized too. Ideally, I'd love to have a gallon a week, so freezing that much isn't a viable option. Ideas?
Carrie - that's a great question, and it's something I haven't experimented with. However, I have heard of canning maple water so that it can be preserved. Honestly, the best way to preserve maple water is to reduce it into syrup. Then, you can add a teaspoon or so of syrup to a cup of fresh spring water and essentially re-create maple sap. It's obviously not the same as the original product, but it's close. Otherwise, try experimenting with canning.
Incredible.
Can u freeze maple sap syrup for long term storage? I read that it needs to be stored in the fridge and has a shelf life around a week..
+tcotroneo I've been freezing maple sap for 20 years. 1. It saves the climate by not needing to boil it down with wood or fossil fuel fires. 2. This time of year our freezer has room as we have eaten some of last summers harvest that was in the freezer. 3. To save energy I thaw the sap in the refrigerator to get back some of the energy it took to freeze it. 4. We like sap to use in making oat meal, tea, and drinking fresh. 5. If you let the some of sap freeze in the collecting buckets on the tree over night the unfrozen sap that concentrates in the middle is sweeter and the ice can be thrown out. Native Americans used this method to concentrate the sap. 6. Gathering sap is a good outdoor activity this time of year as not much else is happening outside. I always give a thank you to the trees. It is a good reminder that despite maple trees and humans being very different species we both use the same sucrose energy. 7. Please tell me where to find the analysis of all the beneficial properties of maple sap.
+Robin Wilson Great points, Robin. Here's an analysis I created recently on the benefits of maple sap: wildfoodism.com/2015/02/24/the-health-benefits-of-drinking-maple-tree-sap/
You need a clicker for your PowerPoint presentation
The little individual breakfast syrup packs are corn syrup. But on the top of many containers is a picture of a maple leaf! It's shamefully and intentionally misleading.
This is hot. I wish I knew another gay guy obsessed with the environment. They're different aspects than yours, but even just someone else with the actual passion. It's what I get paid for and it's what I do when I'm not working.