Maple Syrup Downunder?

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Peter Clements, Feb 15, 2006.

  1. Peter Clements

    Peter Clements Junior Member

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    Has anyone heard of Maple Syrup being produced Downunder in Australia or New Zealand? The syrup is made by boiling down sap collected from the Sugar Maple tree (acer saccharum). The sugar maple is a native from the north-east of Northern America, growing in cool areas where freezing/thawing cycles during Spring creates a flow of sap which can be tapped. Acid rain appears to be interfering with the trees' sap production in USA/Canada, so perhaps a new industry can be created downunder? Are there any plant nurseries selling acer saccharum Downunder? Some interesting books showing how maple sugaring can fit in with a "back-to-the-land" lifestyle were written by Scott and Helen Nearing, "The Maple Sugar Book" and "The Good Life"

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

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/189013 ... e&n=283155
     
  2. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    I would be really interested in finding out about this too. Hot pan cakes and maple syrup, mmmmmmmmm

    If you don't get a freeze would you still get sap production?
     
  3. Mike_E_from_NZ

    Mike_E_from_NZ Junior Member

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    If you call NZ 'Downunder' then yes, acer saccharum is sold here. Can't answer the sap question. I do recall that it is a lot of hard work for very little syrup. Unless, of course, you have a whole plantation of them. (Economies of scale and things like that)

    Mike
     
  4. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    A few years ago I read an article describing how some farmers in northern NSW were planting sugar maples for the fast growing timber... Not sure if it gets cold enough there for the sap flow or the sugar concentration to be viable for syrup production. They are beautiful trees.
    Agave would seem to be a better bet for sugar tapping in most of Australia.
     
  5. Rob6014

    Rob6014 Junior Member

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    I have a French-Canadian friend whose family in Canada grow/make maple syrup. There really is no place in Australia where it gets cold enough to get the sap you need. The sap needs to be rendered down to make the syrup, so you need a lot of it. There is an Australian eucalypt that exudes a very thick, sweet sap - perhaps someone could look at tapping that resource?
     
  6. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    I'm growing lots of old stock non hybrid sugar cane, would like to see if I could make a desert syrup of some sort down the track.

    I'm also planting carob so in a few year I might have carob flavored sugar cane syrup :twisted:
     
  7. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    Rob, to quote an infamous Aussie pollie, Please Explain? I have heard the same thing you said before, that the sap flow isn't right in warm climates to get the syrup, but I don't really understand this process. You tap the trees in Spring right? as the sap begins to flow after a period of dormancy. In a warm climate where it never freezes hard, you have a year round flow of sap, right? So, what is the problem?
     
  8. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    My grandmother had 175 acres of broadleaf forest in the US state of new Hampshire, in what is called New England. She had a neighbor who she let tap her maple trees for syrup, which was then boiled down for syrup. In return for this, she got many, many, many gallons of maple syrup, and the best syrup of all was the "grade C" syrup, which was dark and flavourful, but seemed to have limited market value (stuff tasted pretty good, tho!).

    My friend, Mark Cohen, is working with Amish farmers in Ohio and Pennsylvania who are collecting the evaporated water from the boiling down of the maple syrup and bottling it. It is supposed to be very healthy for you, and anecdotally has anticancer properties, and does interesting things when frozen on the crystalline level.

    The forests of the north east are literally covered with maples, so as a non-timber forest product, maple syrup is a good product.

    Richard, not sure what the deal is with spring, but they only collect the sap in spring...

    Here we have a neighbor, Saul Garcia, who has a trapeche, which is a hand posered sugar cane grinder made from logs..... the sugar cane juice is boiled down for "panela", which is the crack cocaine of the sugar world, horribly addictive.....
     
  9. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    Hi christopher, we have something like that here made from local sugar, it's called Bundy..... :lol:

    I had a quick read up on panela and it seems quite healthy, I take it's because of the sugar content and it's sweet as that it's so addictive. Is it a solid block that you chew or somethign that you drink?
     
  10. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    You scrape it with a knife.... then you pile the resulting, sticky, dense mound, onto whatever you want... or put it in your tea... very good... horribly addictive....

    "The Good Life" is one of the most important books I have read, on a personal level... BTW.
     
  11. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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  12. Rob6014

    Rob6014 Junior Member

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    I believe it is Shrove Tuesday next week - good excuse for making pancakes and having maple syrup.

    Apparently the trees have to freeze for at least 4 weeks to get the sap to rise. Australia just don't have what it takes.
     
  13. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    Ha! My mother in law gave us that book for Christmas. Those guys are hardcore.
    I'm afraid Rob, that I am dissatisfied with your explanation, though I am sure you are correct.
    You say though that the plant needs a long freeze for the sap to rise. Well, how does the plant do anything if its sap doesn't rise? Or actually, it would be that the sap is flowing down from the leaves right? I guess I am betraying my weak knowlege of tree biology here. Is the sap in the phloem or the xylem? I think it would be in the phloem, but maybe it is both? Anyone?
     
  14. Rob6014

    Rob6014 Junior Member

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    Gees Richard, do you know how thick Monique's accent is!!! I get about every third word (if I'm lucky) then have to try to make sense of it when we are having just an ordinary conversation... but to ask her technical questions!!! AGHHh...! I'll see what I can find out. (sigh)
     
  15. Rob6014

    Rob6014 Junior Member

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    This is why we can't get maple syrup in Australia.

    "Sap does not flow from maple trees every day throughout the tapping season. It flows on days when a rapid warming trend in early to midmorning follows a night when the temperature has gone below freezing."

    We just don't have the sustained 'below freezing' weather to achieve this.
     
  16. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    Could you glow it in a big pot and roll it into a cool room for 4-6 weeks?
     
  17. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    Oh. Thanks Rob, I hadn't never heard that, about the sap only flowing on some days. That would no doubt have something to do with the sugar concentration in the sap, eh?
    So, if you I can annoy you more, with a probably dumb question, have the maples leafed out already during the tapping season?
     
  18. Rob6014

    Rob6014 Junior Member

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    The trees are completely bare without a hint of leaves. There is usually snow on the ground, because Monique and her brothers used to pour some of the first batch of syrup onto the snow to cool it and make it go semi-hard, so they could eat it! Monique told me the syrup smells really bad when it is being rendered down, so the barn where this is done is usually a long way from the house, and a long trek through the snow (especially for a little kid).
     
  19. bushy

    bushy Junior Member

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    When I lived in New Hampshire many years ago I tapped the sugar maples every year, and yes some years were better than others, usually an early warm spell brought on a good flow, this is what makes the leaf bud swell, once the leaves start to show green, sap flow deminishes. From memory it took about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gal of syrup, if it is reduced even further you can make toffee and sugar, as the pioneers did. Not even worth thinking about unless you can tap a 100 trees, and takes tons of wood to keep the boiler going for days and days. When I moved back to OZ I planted several sugar maples near Canberra, they were very slow growing. I can post a couple of photos if anyone is interested.( of the syrup boiling)
     
  20. Peter Clements

    Peter Clements Junior Member

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    New Zealand sugar maples

    It appears an experimental trial of sugar maples has been established at the "De Grays" farm in the Motueka/Nelson region of the South Island of New Zealand. The latitudes available in NZ approximate those found in the sugar maple regions of US/Canada, although the NZ climate is probably moderated by being surrounded by ocean. Anyone got any further info on the success of this trial?
    https://www.nzero.co.nz/treecrop/conf98/sugar.htm
    https://www.nzero.co.nz/treecrop/conf98/conf98.htm
     

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