Arboretum offers sweet lesson on syrup-making

Jacquie Gammons held out a cup of clear liquid that everyone in the room agreed looked just like water.

In truth, the liquid was half-cooked sap that had been extracted from a maple tree at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle. When the cooking process was done, the sap would be turned into fresh maple syrup.

Gammons passed the cup around so the children present could get a taste of how sweet the sap was.

“It's like sugar water now,” she said. “But it will be even sweeter later.”

The arboretum hosted a maple-tapping event Sunday to show how sap is extracted from maple trees and converted into that delicious liquid we love to drizzle on pancakes. Roughly 20 people attended the demonstration.

“It's important for children to see where their food comes from,” said Gammons, an education program guide at the arboretum. “I think they're surprised to find out that this all happens right here.”

The maple-tapping season is actually nearing its end. Sap flows up and down maple trees in late winter, just as the weather starts to warm up. The sap contains sugar and other ingredients that will help trees' leaves grow.

By the time trees start to bud, the sap grows bitter and unsuitable for syrup making, Gammons said.

In addition to the cooking side of things, attendees at Sunday's event also saw how trees are tapped. Denise Kenealy, another education program guide, explained that trees must be at least 40 years old before their sap can be extracted safely.

“We don't want to hurt the trees,” she said.

The arboretum's trees are tapped by drilling a hole into the trunk and then inserting a device in the hole that lets the sap drip out into a bucket. It takes 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup, Kenealy said.

Steve Whiting of Naperville said he appreciated the demonstration and thought his 6-year-old nephew did, as well.

“I wouldn't be surprised if he demands real maple syrup for his pancakes from now on,” he said.