How We Tap Birch Trees For Nature's Purest Water!
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- Опубліковано 14 кві 2022
- We love to tap birch trees every spring and collect the pure sap that comes out having been drawn up from the ground and filtered through the birch tree trunk. It has a pure clean taste with a small amount of sweetness to it.
Birch sap, birch water or birch juice is the sap directly tapped from birch trees, Betula pubescens (white birch), Betula pendula (silver birch), Betula lenta, Betula papyrifera, and Betula fontinalis.
Birch sap may be consumed both fresh and naturally fermented. When fresh, it is a clear and uncoloured liquid, often slightly sweet with a slightly silky texture. After two to three days, the sap starts fermenting and the taste becomes more acidic.
Birch sap is a traditional beverage in boreal and hemiboreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere[1] as well as parts of northern China.
Our Story:
In 2018 we left the UK to come to Gita’s family homestead here in north Latvia, not far from the Estonian border and now we live somewhere nowhere in the middle of a forest in a house built by Gita’s grandfather. We’re videoing our journey and trying to give you some insights into how we’re living here.
You can also find us on Instagram where we post different and more regular updates: / baltichomesteaders - Навчання та стиль
If you liked this video then maybe you'd like to know more about Birch trees? Well our recent video about Birch trees will tell you everything you need to know, see it here ua-cam.com/video/Q9A0a_m0ajk/v-deo.html
Nice to know for survival purposes too 😉👍
There are some that would say one should not tap birch every year, but every other. That only birch of 8" diameter or better should be tapped.
Others that would say much precaution should be taken with sterility of tools as birch's are not as robust as maples and are prone to infection.
The sap is about 100:1 if you intend to make syrup. Night temperatures should be above freezing for the sap to flow.
Questions:
1.When collecting the sap, what do you have over your buckets?
2. Do you have to boil ot afterwards?
3. Do you have to sterilize the jars
4. How long will they keep?
5. Do you have to refrigerate it?
Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Ok so in order 1) We put some cloth over the buckets to stop any debris or flies getting in. 2) no 3) yes as good practice 4) a long time but it gets sour over time so you need to add sugar before drinking 5) we keep it in a basement so yes. Some people add a few raisins for extra flavour
how long did it fill the bucket with those trees, and can you tap trees year round? wonderful video btw!
Surprisingly it doesn’t take long, when the temps are right you can easy get a bucket in 24 hours.
What did you plop in the jars after filling ?
Couple of raisins, purely for flavour (apparently) - not obligatory.
I'm wondering what it was you dropped into the jars?
It’s golden raisins :)
What did you drop into the bottle just before sealing it ?
A couple of raisins, you and can also add a small stick of black currant bush. Both supposed to improve the flavour.
What do you do for filtered water for the rest of the year?
We have a well.
Where you go with this buckets? You are abusing mate. A normal ethical person collect max 500ml at once from one birch tree. Zero ethics and care about the health of the tree I just hope it's a private woodland.
500ml - ha! They can give that in a couple of hours, think you need to go back and do your homework. Thanks for the comment anyway, and our birch trees are doing just fine and growing strong :)
I wish I would be able to do a health check of that trees, that it look good it doesn't mean it is, specially when you are taking that quantity of minerals and nutrients that are produced once per year. I really don't think soo you are a forester and less you have a engineering. That the tree can produce even 20 litre doesn't mean you need to collect all of it. As I said I hope is your private woodland otherwise you are just stealing. Definitely the one that didn't did homework is you, probably this showed you some peasant.
500 ml ha ha ha... Dude - the rule is - you don't tap small trees (absolutely NOTHING that is smaller than 20 cm in diameter) also just one tap per tree. Sap flows for up to a month and the tree will tell you on its own when to stop - the flow of sap will dwindle and the sap will get cloudy - that is when you know it is time to close up the tree, also activity of ants is a good indicator, when the show will end. Also it is technically impossible to deprive a tree of all its nutrients through one tiny hole as the sap flows upwards through the whole circumference of the trunk. 50-100+ liters from a mature tree in a season - EASY. And nothing bad will happen to the tree - it will recover without any problems. If you are especially caring - you can skip a year or two and tap a different tree next year and keep them on a rotation - but to say things you are saying - just laughable nonsense.
And yes - with 99.999999% certainty those were his private trees on his private land.
People have been doing this for hundreds, if not thousands of years. No adverse effects. Go pick a fight on something you actually understand.
You are three cock in the woods. But the cocks should stay in the farm as otherwise you could be eaten by wolfs. You are totally deviating. I'm talking about a ethical aspect and for some reason the birch sap it's a unknown product and not widely commercialised. And just to make a hole it's harmful for the Birch tree, so I don't know what are you talking about. Even if you could, you don't need to collect 100 litre from a birch tree, as that would be a complete abuse. The mineral water flow from the river and it's same rich or even more, so why to steal the sap from a tree in such quantity? I learned this as a survival skill not for production or make money. I don't mind what the hell you do but leave the nature alone, as this sap it's just not for you.