Tree sap gathering and syrup making

[duluthralphie]

Anyone hear of making syrup from Elm? I have a bunch of them on my property and they are so wet that they bog down the chainsaw when you cut them down or limb them. Not unusual to have liquid shoot a foot or so from the tree if you remove a branch.

Seems like if it's any good that they certainly have plenty of sap...

And is there any reason you couldn't tap when it's warm? These things don't stop bleeding like crazy even in the middle of summer.

I have read you can make syrup from Elm.. but not sure when it runs. I tapped one last year and never saw a drop.
https://practicalselfreliance.com/trees-species-tap-syrup/

 

[Kusanar]

I have read you can make syrup from Elm.. but not sure when it runs. I tapped one last year and never saw a drop.
https://practicalselfreliance.com/trees-species-tap-syrup/

Mine will certainly produce SOMETHING if tapped. One of the big ones got a wound on a horizontal branch and it actually killed the grass in an about 3 foot circle where it constantly drips all year long and keeps it too wet for the grass to be happy.

 

[wyoDreamer]

You make syrup out of the sap in the spring of the year because that is when the roots send the sugars up to the branches to grow leaves. Highest percentage of sugars in the sap at that time of the year also.

Once the trees bud out, the sap is not good for syrup - it gets bitter. During the summer, the tree xylem and phloem (tree blood vessels) is carrying the products of photosynthesis down to the roots and raw materials up to the leaves for use in photosynthesis.

 

[Teneniel]

I think I read “alder” or “poplar” makes a good syrup too. But I have no idea of how much it takes and what it tastes like.

Yes! Red alder is popular among permaculturists up here for syrup, as well as bigleaf maple. Pole alders I’m not sure, but I usually harvest those for nice straight roundwood for making gates and such.

Poplar, or as we regionally call it, cottonwood, is used more for wildcrafting. We harvest the bud oils and make them into really nice skin oils. I hadn’t heard of tapping them though! They’re an early one to bud so I’ll look into it next year.

 

[duluthralphie]

Yes! Red alder is popular among permaculturists up here for syrup, as well as bigleaf maple. Pole alders I’m not sure, but I usually harvest those for nice straight roundwood for making gates and such.

Poplar, or as we regionally call it, cottonwood, is used more for wildcrafting. We harvest the bud oils and make them into really nice skin oils. I hadn’t heard of tapping them though! They’re an early one to bud so I’ll look into it next year.

We call them Popple... cottonwood is reserved for a different variety of alder.

 

[Kusanar]

You make syrup out of the sap in the spring of the year because that is when the roots send the sugars up to the branches to grow leaves. Highest percentage of sugars in the sap at that time of the year also.

Once the trees bud out, the sap is not good for syrup - it gets bitter. During the summer, the tree xylem and phloem (tree blood vessels) is carrying the products of photosynthesis down to the roots and raw materials up to the leaves for use in photosynthesis.

Ahh, thanks for the explanation.

I have tasted the liquid that they produce in the middle of the summer and it didn't seem bitter, but it very well might get that way once the water is boiled out.

 

[duluthralphie]

Ahh, thanks for the explanation.

I have tasted the liquid that they produce in the middle of the summer and it didn't seem bitter, but it very well might get that way once the water is boiled out.

Are you getting true sap or rain water trapped in hollows that forces its way out through small holes in the tree or the porous cells?

My Grandpa use to chew the inner layer of bark on Elm trees, he said it was like a gum. I personally thought it tasted like wood.

 

[Kusanar]

Are you getting true sap or rain water trapped in hollows that forces its way out through small holes in the tree or the porous cells?

My Grandpa use to chew the inner layer of bark on Elm trees, he said it was like a gum. I personally thought it tasted like wood.

Pretty sure it's true sap. Any time you cut a branch they shoot water out and the sawdust is so wet you can wring liquid out of it when you use a chainsaw on them.

Where it runs down the tree and dries it dries white and chunky.

We have a huge amount of ground water, so the stupid things could just be pumping themselves full of water and building pressure on their own, but I'm pretty sure it's all coming from the ground not rain water.

 

[duluthralphie]

We had a cold night and is still cold with drizzle.

Most the buckets are empty or only have an inch or two in them. I tapped 10 more trees today. Only 2 of them even dropped when I put the taps in.

Of course, I had an entourage when tapping the trees, my young chickens decided to follow me. They chattered and dug in the bare ground they could find.

 

[duluthralphie]

More syrup evaporating today. But I had help from Mother Nature. We had a hard freeze last night (about 10 degrees). So I got to throw away water today from the sap in the form of ice..

I think I threw out 30 gallons of ice or so.