Tapping Into Tradition: It’s Maple Syrup Season

This is a part of “A Year in the Wild Kitchen of the Great Lakes,” a series in partnership with expert forager Lisa M. Rose, with the mission of nurturing a deeper connection with the natural world through foraging. To get started with your foraging journey, begin here with our “Framework to Sustainable and Safe Practices.” 

In the Great Lakes, the maple syrup harvest season begins when daytime temperatures rise above freezing while nights remain cold — typically from mid to late February for much of the region, and a bit later further north. The season lasts anywhere from four to six weeks, depending on the weather, but as it progresses, the sap’s viscosity and quality change, making the final weeks of the harvest less ideal. 

Why Is Real Maple Syrup Like Liquid Gold?

True maple syrup is a rare treasure. Sugar maples grow within a limited geographic range, primarily in the northeastern United States and parts of Canada. It takes an astonishing 60 gallons of sap to produce just one gallon of maple syrup, a labor-intensive process that makes every drop precious.

The process of tapping trees and collecting sap for maple syrup is a laborious one, but worth the final product. (PC Lisa M. Rose)

The next time you see the price of real maple syrup, remember that most commercial brands are made entirely of corn syrup — not a single drop of real maple sap. As a culinary ingredient, maple syrup is lower on the glycemic index than white sugar, honey and agave syrup and contains beneficial minerals such as calcium, iron and zinc. Consider using maple syrup as a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners and processed cane sugar.

Once you experience tapping your own trees and boiling down sap, you’ll gain a newfound appreciation for real maple syrup — liquid gold in the kitchen. Beyond drizzling over pancakes, maple syrup can enhance dressings, add depth to coffee, and serve as a natural sweetener in baking. Try using it in confections like French-style caramel — my own foraged recipe is below — where fresh cream and butter combine with maple syrup to create a rich, decadent candy bursting with deep vanilla undertones.

A Sweet Harvest From The Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) 

A variety of trees can be tapped for syrup, including birch and other maples, but it’s the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) that produces the rich, vanillin-flavored syrup we all recognize as the real deal. Sugar maples thrive in mixed hardwood forests with rich, well-drained soil. Their range extends from Canada and Vermont to Minnesota and as far south as Louisiana. This limited growing region makes pure maple syrup a prized specialty crop among tree farmers and homesteading foragers.

Maple syrup tools of the trade — spiles for tapping. (Photo Credit: Lisa M. Rose)

The sugar maple is a striking deciduous tree, particularly in late autumn when its green leaves transform into brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow. It is a densely branched tree that can grow up to 100 feet tall, with dark gray bark that becomes deeply furrowed with age. Its leaves are opposite and palmately lobed, a distinguishing feature of the species.

Selecting & Tapping Trees

Foragers should identify mature sugar maples of the right size and age before tapping. Trees should be at least 12 inches in diameter to ensure a sustainable harvest. Ideally, tapped trees should also be located near the processing site, as collecting, hauling, and boiling sap is an extensive operation.

Forager Lisa M. Rose with her backyard sugarbush (Photo Credit: Lisa M Rose)

Climate change poses the greatest threat to sugar maple populations, impacting the length and quality of the sugaring season. Sustainable harvesting practices are essential to preserve future yields. Foragers should only tap mature trees, ensuring younger trees continue to grow and replenish the population.

Producing maple syrup is a labor-intensive process, requiring an average of 60 gallons of sugar maple sap to yield just one gallon of syrup. The length of the sap season varies each year, typically lasting four to six weeks, but as the season progresses, the sap’s viscosity and quality diminish.

Sap collection begins when daytime temperatures rise above freezing while nighttime temperatures remain around 20 degrees Fahrenheit. This typically occurs in mid to late February. To tap a tree, select a mature sugar maple at least 12 inches in diameter. Drill a small hole about 4 to 5 feet from the ground, insert a tap or spile, and hang a bucket to collect the sap. The sap should be checked daily and then boiled down to concentrate the sugars and create maple syrup.

Boiling and Storing Maple Syrup

Once collected, the sap should be transported to a sugar shack for boiling. Many nature centers and farms across the Midwest maintain sugar shacks, offering foragers a place to process their harvest. If no sugar shack is available, a temporary outdoor sap boiler can be constructed for the process.

Forager Lisa M. Rose using her refractometer to measure the Brix (sugar) in her boiling sap. (Photo Credit: Lisa M. Rose)

Reducing sap into syrup requires extensive boiling to remove excess water, a process that releases significant moisture into the air. This should never be done indoors, as it can lead to condensation damage inside the home. Once boiled to the proper consistency and sugar content, the syrup can be poured into bottles and preserved through water-bath canning or stored in the refrigerator for later use.

A Forager’s Wild Maple Salted Caramels

Forager Lisa M. Rose made a DIY sap evaporator using her grill. Recommended only for small batches. (Photo Credit: Lisa M. Rose)

Sap Season Caramels: A Taste of the Sugarbush

There’s nothing more decadent than a perfectly balanced caramel—except one made with the maple syrup foraged from your own backyard sugarbush of course! Inspired by classic Fleur de Sel caramels, this recipe replaces corn syrup with pure maple syrup, creating a deep, rich vanilla flavor. Careful attention is needed as the mixture reaches 248 F, but the result is well worth the effort.

Enjoy the deep, complex flavors of maple syrup in these handcrafted caramels—sweet, salty and utterly irresistible. 

• Pair with an Herbal Tea: Sip with pine-needle or spicebush tea to enhance the warm, earthy notes.
• Use in Baking: Chop and fold into wild-foraged oat cookies or melt into a smoky caramel glaze over roasted apples.
• Cocktail Magic: Stir a spoonful into an Old-Fashioned with foraged black walnut bitters.

Feeling extra? Try this as a Salt Finish Upgrade: Swap out regular fleur de sel for smoked salt or crushed pine-needle salt for a subtle woodsy finish.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon fleur de sel
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ½ cup maple syrup
• Parchment paper, baking sheet or pan and a candy thermometer

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly oil it — caramel-making can be sticky.
2. In a small saucepan, bring cream, butter and fleur de sel to a boil, then remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, combine maple syrup, sugar and water. Stir gently to dissolve sugar, then bring to a boil.
4. Stir in the cream mixture, continuously stirring while simmering until the temperature reaches 248 F on a candy thermometer.
5. Pour the caramel mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and let cool completely.
6. Once firm, cut into strips or bite-sized pieces and wrap them individually in parchment paper, twisting the ends.
7. Store in a cool location for up to two weeks — if they last that long!