BACKYARD SUGARIN' - GREAT SUGARMAKING CLASSIC

Backyard Sugarin': A Complete How-To Guide
by Rink Mann, Daniel Wolf (Photographer)
ISBN: 0881502162ISBN-13: 9780881502169
Format: Paperback, 96pp
Publisher: The Countryman Press

This is the one book you need to start sugarmaking at home. Tremendous. Informative, easy to undersand, and perfect for beginners or moderate knowledge sap collectors and boilers.

From buying equipment to tapping your own trees to boiling the sap, this is the classic, best-selling guide to making maple syrup.This little book swept maple sugarin' buffs off their feet when it first appeared and is still the top-selling guide to the craft after nearly 30 years in print. Like the previous editions, this one tells you how you can make maple syrup right in your own backyard without having to build a sap house or buy buckets, holding tanks, evaporators and other expensive paraphernalia. Provides detailed "how-to" information, and makes some new and noteworthy revelations-including tips sugarers across the country have shared with the author.

The book has recieved rave reviews on Amazon!

Everything you need to know -- just add trees!, March 18, 2003
By
Rabbi Yonassan Gershom (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews This is the do-it-yourself book that got me started on that sweet rite of spring -- making my own maple syrup. The author's emphasis is on how to do it efficiently and very cheaply, using easy-to-find materials you can scrounge yourself. If you have the trees to tap, by all means get this book! (Hint: they don't have to be the sugar maple species. Try other maples as well. I get great syrup from box elders, which I considered "trash trees" until I learned they are in the maple family. Now I treasure them like gold.)

My own sugaring set-up is total simplicity: just some old refrigerator grates set on top of cinder blocks, heated with odd scraps of wood that others have thrown away at construction sites, etc. The sap is boiled down in flat baking pans, then finished off on the stove inside. Except for the initial expense to buy some professional spiles for tapping (you can make those, too, but I'm a failure as a tinsmith), I have spent ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for the 3-4 gallons of syrup we make each year. Not a bad return for a book that I cost me less than ten bucks! Comment Was this review helpful to you?

Excellent Step by step guide for everybody, January 10, 2007
By
Michal Dusik "Miky" (Italy) - See all my reviews It doesnt matter if never made maple syrup and you are a newbie like me, or you are a pro. These simple techniques will explain to you how and why make excellent maple syrup. Lots and lots of good advice from somebody that really knows the sugarin process in the backyard. This also means that you can make your own syrup without spending a fortune but buying simple little things or reusing everyday use things for the whole process. Its more of a dialogue of your grandpa teaching you than a guide.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Great guide, December 26, 2006
By
M. Land "Landslyde Shelties" (CT, USA) - See all my reviews We have a 300+ year old sugar maple in our back yard. For the past few years we have tapped it each spring and boiled down the sap for the best maple syrup! This wonderful little "how-to guide" has given us a lot of pointers and info we were not aware of before. Easy to read and understand too. Just a nice little reference book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent starter book., October 2, 2004
By
Robert H. Schook (Central Michigan) - See all my reviews I remember fondly the early Michigan spring from my childhood, helping my father collect sap. This more than anything fueled my desire to make my own syrup. This book, Rink Mann's "Backyard Sugarin'" is an excellent book to get you off without breaking your back or your bank account. The author has a delightful writing style that is thoroughly engrossing. The book is well illustrated, full of ideas and rock solid on exactly when, how and what to tap, and exactly how to process all that sap. I highly recomend this book. Even if you don't live in sugar country you will enjoy this book.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
Great intro to ultra cheap sugaring!, February 1, 1999
Reviewer: A readerThis book has an overarching philosophy - keep it simple and keep it cheap! The authors describe everything you need to know and stress not having to pay for anything you can get for free. This quest for free stuff that works well is one of the pleasures of hobby sugaring. Well written descriptions of all the processes. Lots of photos. Reading it makes you wish the sap would start flowing NOW! Highly recommended

CORNELL SUGAR MAPLE RESEARCH AND EXTENSION PROGRAM

I know a great deal about the east coast wineries and Cornell, but I did not know until I could not find any Light Grade "A" Fine maple syrup about an equally important extension The Cornell Sugar Maple Research and Extension Program.

The Cornell Sugar Maple Program exists to improve the production and use of maple products by working with producers, consumers, and others interested in this fascinating local product.

The Cornell Cooperative Extension program helps people improve their lives and communities by putting experience and research knowledge to work. The Cornell Sugar Maple Program is part of Cooperative Extension.

They have a great website with recipes, resources, and much, much more!

http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/Ext/index.htm

They have two offices: Uhlein and Arnot.

Colin Campbell compares sugar maple tree damage inflicted by small and conventional spouts. Uihlein Field Station research suggests that smaller (19/64") spouts do less damage to sugar maple trees than larger, conventional (7/16") spouts.

Uihlein Sugar Maple Research & Extension Field Station

157 Bear Cub Lane

Lake Placid, NY 12946
Phone: 518-523-9337
The activities conducted at the Uihlein Field Station form the core of the Cornell Sugar Maple Program. The Field Station is located near Lake Placid in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains. It is administered by the Department of Natural Resources, which is part of the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. The Field Station was established in 1965 with the aid of generous support from Mr. and Mrs. Henry Uihlein II of Lake Placid, New York.

The Arnot Teaching and Research Forest

611 County Route

13Van Etten, NY 14889

Phone: 607-589-6076

FAX: 607-589-4277

The Arnot Teaching and Research Forest, "the Arnot", is situated in the hilly, forested Southern Tier region of New York State. The Arnot (pronounced R-not) is owned by Cornell University and managed by the Department of Natural Resources in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). It is the largest actively managed forest owned by Cornell University. The Arnot provides a place for Cornell faculty and students to carry out elements of the three-part mission of CALS: Teaching, Extension, and Research, in service to the citizens of New York. The current Arnot Forest results from a long history of changing land-use patterns, and presents an opportunity to study the long-term consequences of these changes.

The guys who run these stations are great and very helpful:

Brian Chabot, the Cornell Sugar Maple Program Director

Peter Smallidge, Extension Forester, Arnot Director
Steve Childs, State Maple Specialist
Mike Farrell, Northern Maple Specialist, Uihlein Director

Any way...go to the website. These guys are really helpful and the extension is very important to the maple syrup industry in New York state. We need more people like these guys to mke sure New York retains, maintains, and improves its agricultural resources.

SOUTH FACE FARM OF ASHFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

This is one of our favorite maple syrups from Massachusetts.

Located in Ashfield, Massachuseets, South Face Farm sits on a south-facing hillside, which gives them the most desired location for their stand of sugar maple trees, Christmas trees, mixed hardwoods, and the occasional giant zucchini. This farmland has been producing maple syrup for over 150 years, and some of the huge maples along the road are probably that old. The present sugarhouse, built in 1952, is the third sugarhouse on the property that they know of.

South Face Farm Sugarhouse

755 Watson-Spruce Corner Road

Ashfield, MA 01330

Phone 413-628-3268

A TASTE OF MAPLE SYRUP - PENN STATE

A part of Pen State's "Teacher Resources: From the Woods Series," Maple Syrup, A Taste of Nature is a free four-page, full-color publication that explains how Pennsylvania's maple syrup makers create their product using the state's natural resources, and traces each step of production from the seed of the maple to your table. It is part of an educational series about forestry for youth. (2000)

GO TO THIS URL TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF:

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh130.pdf

Code Number: UH130

Cost: FreePDF: uh130.pdf (680K)

The educational effectiveness of the flier can be evaluated through the use of one of two pre and post-experiences designed especially for youth. Each experience is one-page in length, specific to their flier topic, and employs a selection of simple testing formats, such as fill-in the blank, matching, ordering, or a "crossword puzzle." The same experience is intended for use before/after the flier is used as part of an educational activity.
Lesson Plan (13K pdf)

Pre/post experience example #1 (6K pdf)

Pre/post experience example #2 (5K pdf)

Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association Has a Great Website

http://www.vermontmaple.org/

This is a great website. There's all kinds of information about the history of syrup, places to go, events, suppliers, and how to make your own maple syrup. This is a one stop shop.

Founded in 1893, the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association is the oldest known agricultural organization in the country. While the Vermont maple industry has changed over the past 100 years, its mission, to safeguard the tradition of maple sugarmaking while maintaining the highest standards possible in the production of pure maple products, has not. The VMSMA works with local, state, federal and international agencies and organizations to protect the integrity of pure maple syrup worldwide.

This website is chock-a-block with recipes, places to stay in Vermont and visit. This website also has information for teachers on educating K-8th grade about maple sugaring. Whether you're a native Vermonter or some one who's going to visit Vermont, or someone who just wants to know more about maple syrup, this is one of the best websites out there.

BOOK REVIEW: THE MAPLE SYRUP BOOK

The Maple Syrup Book
by Janet Eagleson, Rosemary Hasner, Rosemary Hasner, Rosemary Hasner (Photographer)

Published in March of 2006 by Boston Mills Press, this book is one of our favorite maple syrup books. This richly illustrated book relates Native legends surrounding maple syrup's discovery and explain its importance in the pioneer diet. The authors cover the sugar maple's exalted status in the maple tree family, and reveal why maple sap is still one of nature's great mysteries.

There are lots of great details, including about how sugar maples are tapped and how the sap is collected, as well as insights from producers who reveal their affection for a shared passion. It also includes a special "maple syrup flavor wheel" that describes the many colors, grades and flavor variations available

The recipe section includes maple salmon, maple-marinated chicken wings and maple sugar pecans.

Don't just trust us. Library Journal reported, "This is a fun and fact-filled work guaranteed to delight folks of all ages." Janet Eagleson is the author of Nature Hikes. This is her second collaboration with photographer Rosemary Hasner. Rosemary Hasner is a photographer whose images have appeared in books, magazines, and calendars.

MAPLE AND BEER HAM GLAZE

Julian Armstrong, The Gazette (Monttreal Canada)

Published: Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Bring a sweet hint of maple syrup to your Easter table via one of these dishes. The recipes are offered up by members of the new Route de l'erable launched to help raise the profile of Quebec's maple syrup.
Ham Braised with Maple Beer
Serves 6

Belgian-born brewer Patrice Schoune of St. Polycarpe suggests ham cooked with L'Erabiere, his beer that's fermented with maple syrup in the brew. Adding vegetables to the casserole makes this Easter meat easy on the cook.

3 tablespoons (45 mL) butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, white and tender green parts, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, chopped
2 tablespoons (30 mL) granulated maple sugar
1 smoked ham, 21/4 pounds (1 kg)
8 whole cloves
1 bouquet garni*
1 tomato, chopped
2 bottles (340 mL each) Schoune L'Erabiere maple beer**
*Made by tying several sprigs of flat-leaf parsley and thyme with a bay leaf in a small square of cheesecloth.
** Available in stores that stock microbrewery beers.

Using a large, heavy, heat-proof casserole over medium heat, heat butter and cook onion, leek and carrot until soft, three to four minutes. Stir in maple sugar, continuing to cook until mixture browns and becomes caramelized. Lower heat. Stud ham all over with cloves and set it on vegetable mixture. Add bouquet garni and tomato, and pour beer all over the meat. Roast uncovered in oven heated to 375 degrees F (190 C) for 20 minutes, then lower heat to 325 degrees F (160 C), cover casserole and continue to roast for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, place ham on platter, and let stand for at least 10 minutes. Carve and serve with vegetable mixture and pan juices.

Approximate nutritional content per serving:
Calories...................................380
Protein....................................36 g
Fat...........................................15 g
Carbohydrates.........................16 g
Dietary fibre..............................2 g
Sodium...........................1,690 mg

read the whole story at: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=8633b19c-9fc9-47e0-b182-aeb58c91014f