Yes, Virginia; you can make maple syrup in Kentucky.
Provided you have sugar maple trees, of course, and the temperatures start see-sawing from cold at night to warm during the day at about the right time of year.
This is it. They have. And after helping my friend and neighbor tap his trees, and watching how he boils the sap down to syrup, I jumped in with both feet, catching the last half of the southern sap run. I put out 30 taps on the 12th of February, and have been hustling ever since to tend the buckets and boil the collected sap in between all the other winter chores and projects.
Which should explain why it’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted here. Been busy.
I’m not complaining, though. Fresh maple syrup is good stuff! Yes, it takes a lot of sap, and a lot of effort, to make a pint of syrup. But once you taste your very own, crafted from the juice of your own sweet trees, you’ll agree every bit of work is worth it.
Not many folks around here do this. Even my elderly neighbor, whose grandfather owned this farm, has never tasted Kentucky maple syrup. That really surprised me. But the Burgess clan in Russell Springs has been making it for years, and showed me how they do it, which was all I needed to inspire me to go find my own sugar maple trees and get them tapped and running, even if I was a little late and missed the first big flow. Next year I’ll be ready from the start.
Having seen the functionality of boiling down 40 or more gallons of sap at a time in a 2′ x 4′ stainless steel evaporator pan over an outdoor fire, I went ahead and bought my pan this year, pricey as it was. Then I tracked down a description of how to build what they call an arch for the fire, out of concrete block, and set that up too.
It rocks.
But did I mention all the work? From daily tending of sap buckets, hauling 5-gallon collection buckets through the woods to the road, to filtering the sap, then cooking it once enough is collected, an all-day (and sometimes all-night) endeavor – we’re talking hours and hours, folks. Then, it has to be finished inside on the stove, boiled to 7 degrees above the temp of boiling water until it turns to syrup, and the little bit left in the kettle gets jarred up. Lots and lots of work.
The final product, however, is amazing. Not always crystal clear, unless you buy the fancy filters to strain all the sugar sand out; but maple flavor to make your head spin. Nectar of the maple trees. Made by the pint, so don’t think for a minute this is a money-making enterprise, but: Kentucky maple syrup. Enough perhaps to last the year and send a little to family. Makes me feel wealthy as a queen.
Thistledog's Farm 
This note of congratulations from the land of “sugaring.” That’s what we call the yearly event here in NH: sugaring. I had no idea that it was possible in KY. Everywhere you go these days in NH and VT you see people sugaring, some with traditional buckets, but mostly with blue tubing running tree to tree to tree and finally to large 55 gallon barrels, The old way with buckets, buckets running a half-mile in tree after tree along the back roads is completely beautiful. When it snows the buckets wear the white, and when the sun returns, the drips wear the sunlight.
Oh thank you! Yes it’s a huge secret here – I guess most folks think we’re too far south. I’m sure the southern sap run isn’t at all what the yankee version is, but it’s sap while it lasts! And no snow!
Kay, looks like you’ve jarred amber gems. We’re still stepping over drifts of snow here in Wisconsin, but, you’ve made me realize that the sap may be running sooner than I realize. This week, days are hovering around 30 and the nights are lots chillier. Thanks for sharing your story and photos. They’re beautiful!
Thank you, Sylvia – that particular batch caught on camera was absolutely crystal clear, no fault of mine! It is beautiful stuff though, and really a taste sensation. I should have gone into more detail on how all the steps are done, but just needed to get the story up, and the pictures of course. Figure your sap run won’t be too much behind ours. Do you have sugar maples on your farm?
Wow. Super interesting post. Now I wonder if I have any sugar maples…
TM, thanks, and thanks for stopping by. It’s been a busy couple of weeks, I’m sure blog readers were wondering what was up! As for identifying sugar maples, it really helped me to tag along with my friend as he tapped his, so I could see their characteristics close up and have a good picture of what they looked like when I went to find mine
. It is not an easy task for a beginner, and I might have tapped a few red maples too, but a maple is a maple. Some differences in sugar content, yes – but even sugar maples range from 1.5% to 3.5%, so it doesn’t hurt to have an oddball here and there.
It’s worth looking though, and getting set up for next year if you do find a dozen or so that are fairly accessible.
I knew something was up when there wasn’t any postings. BRAVO! The best part is doing something that is not cost effective – cheaper done on the mass productions of inferior products versus the love and hard work of purity. I congratulate you and wish we all could do what you are doing right now!
Cathy, that is sooo true! The accomplishment of an artisan product, produced by hand with the care of one who has complete investment. There is a satisfaction there that makes the effort and the work worth while.
We had an early run the first fo February then another cold snap came through. That early run was a real blessing as it showed us how much we had forgotten from last year. I only tap 3 trees. Can’t imagine dealing with more sap than that.
So. Did you try it on ice cream? Have you tried sugaring any of it? Cool recipes to recommend? Did you drink a mug of hot sap on a cold day?
Oooh. Ice cream, that goes on my grocery list immediately.
I put it on everything, basically. Hot cereal, cold cereal, toast, biscuits; even used it in this last batch of bread for sweetening. It is really good stuff. I haven’t had a hot mug of sap yet but I think next boil, I’ll draw off some about 1/3 of the way through and try it. The smell, I know I mentioned this, but the smell is heavenly.
So does this imply that I do not need to scour the farmers markets this coming summer for “Northern NY Gold”?
Well, not for any to send here, anyway. I’m sending a little to each sibling so you’ll get a taste but it won’t last long trust me.
So cool! We just tapped trees on Friday and made syrup this weekend here in Greenup County, Ky! Missed making it the last couple of years, but back this year! My grandparents made sorghum every year when we were little and it always brings those memories back.