- Hey, everyone. Today on GardenFork, we're gonna talk about how to identify sugar maples for when you wanna make maple syrup. I get this question a lot from, really, across the country and
across the world, is, "What is a sugar maple? "Is it different than other maples?" And I thought I'd make a
video to show you guys. When you're prepping for
your mapleing season, you should start in the late
summer and fall, beforehand. Usually you tap your trees
around President's Day. That's at least what we do
here in north Connecticut. But I wanna show you sugar maples. This is one right here. (cheerful music) 'S probably the easiest way to identify sugar maples
from other maples, and I'm specifically talking
about the Norway maple, which is a maple tree that
is in a lot of suburban yards and people think, "Oh, it's
a maple tree, I can tap it." You could, but the sugar
content of the sap is so low that you'll be boiling forever. The sugar content in a sugar
maple, it's about 40 to one, in other words, you have to boil down 40 gallons of sugar maple sap
to get one gallon of syrup. And that's a lotta work,
but it's a lotta fun. But lemme show you a sugar maple leaf. And the key thing here is the bottom, is that a, called a,
these are called lobes, I don't remember what the word is here, but where the two different
parts of the leaf join, this has a very gentle half-circle curve to it. The other maples, it's a much
sharper angle where it joins. So, that is a big key. Also, notice the size of the
leaf compared to my hand. Kind of a medium-sized leaf. Somethin' to pay attention to. The bark of a sugar maple
is kinda unique as well. When they're younger, they're smoother, and as they get older, they
get what I call craggy. I mean, I can just walk down the road now and kind of ID, "Oh, there's
sugar maples, there." But it'll take a little
bit of practice for you. There's also a book that
I'm gonna recommend, I'll link in the show notes, here, it's called Bark. It's a tree identification book that is based on the bark of trees. It's really handy, 'cause in the winter if you're on a hike and you're like, "Oh, kinda tree that is," you can look it up in your Bark book. I like that. All right, let's go
look at some bark, 'kay? So, right here, right next to each other, are a red maple, and a sugar maple, so let's take a look, okay? (insect chirping) This is a red maple, and
you can tap red maples. The leaves are smaller than a sugar maple. Here is the red maple bark. Quite a bit different. (cheerful music) This is the bark of a young sugar maple. And you can see a little bit of that gray splotchiness on here. (cheerful music) And then, here are the leaves. And notice the size of them. Again, compared to my hand,
look at the size of that. (upbeat music) Red maple is on the right,
sugar maple is on the left. (insects chirping) (bird calls) Here's a sugar maple about
18 inches in diameter. It's just another idea a' what the bark'll look like at midlife. This is a young sugar maple, and you can see this kinda
gray, splotchy fungus that grows on the maples. (upbeat music) Another thing to keep in
mind when you're thinking about tapping trees is
don't tap small trees. That's my opinion, other
people may differ on that, but unless it's at least 12 inches in diameter, I don't tap them, and I really kind of under-tap trees. I've seen other people put what I think are way too many taps in a tree. In a young tree I'll put one tap, and in an adult tree I'll put two, an' maybe if it's a huge
tree, I'll put three, but that's the limit. I usually put two taps per
tree, and I'm happy with that. It makes plenty of syrup. I'm not here to make a living from it, it's just a kind of a hobby
homestead kinda thing for me. It's bein' out in the
winter with your friends, boilin' somein' down, and then it tastes really good right there. That's your evaporator. We have a ton of videos
about making maple syrup and tapping trees, by the way. The links are at the end of the show in the little i in the sky up here, and in the show notes
below, as well, all right? All these sugar maples are
right next to our beehives. I'm down at my friend Bill's farm, here. If you like beekeeping,
are interested in that, we have a bunch of videos
about that as well. Again, links are at the end of the show, in show notes, here. Little rainy here, but
they're still flyin' out. Bees are bees, man,
they're pretty amazing. Lemme go show you over here a really old maple and what can happen. This is an ancient sugar maple. (bird song) And one way you can tell
if it's a sugar maple is it has old tap holes, which heal, but notice these taps are
about six inches apart, and that's what you should do
as well, throughout the years. But, as sugar maples get older, (bird call) they also lose limbs, (bird calls) so this is not a tree that
should be tapped anymore, and they don't tap it here. (insect chirping) More tapping holes. Those are old, they heal, the tree lives, with, I think, conscientious tapping, the trees do quite fine. (bird calls) Another thing I've noticed
about sugar maples is that they tend to turn color a lot sooner than the other trees in fall, like these. All right, now you are a sugar
maple identification expert. You can also tap red maples, that's okay, you can't tap Norway maples,
it just doesn't work. Questions or comments? Do you have some suggestions? I would like to hear from you below. Again, I'm just an amateur
maple syrup maker guy, I have a really cool, what I think is a really cool homemade evaporator, link is in the below and at the end of the show here as well, and just a bunch'a other
videos of me doin' stuff, I guess like my friend Will calls it, weekend homesteading or eclectic DIY. But I'd like to hear from you down below in the comments here, and as always, make it a great day, and go out and do cool stuff. See ya. (buzzing) (cheerful music)
