The Rural Voice, 2003-11, Page 10Robert Mercer
Maple sgrup on the west coast?
Robert
Mercer was
editor of the
Broadwater
Market Letter
and
commentator
for 25 years.
It is known that sugar maples do
not grow west of Ontario ill Canada,
but the Bigleaf maple grows wild on
the B.C. west coast. And it is this tree
that is sparking interest in a project to
test the potential of making syrup
from its sap.
In an effort to promote more
agroforestry uses in B.C., Harold
Macy, Agroforestry Manager at the
UBC Research Farm at Oyster River
on Vancouver Island, is asking
landowners for a potential of 1,000
trees to be tapped. The sap will be
collected locally and sent to the farm.
It is at the UBC farm where they
have the use of a commercial
evaporator for this trial.
If you have never come across the
Bigleaf maple it is hard to miss
because of the size of its leaves. The
leaf is 6-12 inches across and it is
said to be the largest leaf of any
maple and the largest undivided leaf
of any Canadian tree species.
The tree normally grows to about
50 - 70 feet. We had a good species
behind our house. Unfortunately the
trunk was rotten at the base, so we
had to cut it down. It provided a very
stable anchor to our old washing line.
In a garden the leaves do require
fall raking, and that can be a little
tiring, but they decompose with ease.
We never tried the sap but it ran
freely if you trimmed the tree in the
spring.
Although the tree species has not
been used commercially to date for
syrup making, the sap has been used
by local people to replace water in
tea, coffee, rice, bread and even as a
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pure sap drink.
Harold Macy says "there is
enough sugar in the B.C. maple sap
to make syrup, and the flavour is
awesome." Ontario trees are reported
to have a sugar content between two
to three per cent.
I don't think that this project will
offer any competition to the
traditional eastern maple syrup/sugar
industry, but it has opened up a new
potential for a niche market effort in
the fall and winter months. This is a
time of year when landowners often
have more labour available for such
operations.
The idea is that producers for this
initial endeavour can either sell their
sap directly to the project, or make
their own syrup to use or market.
The west coast maple (Acer
macrophyllum) seldom forms pure
stands. It is more likely to be found
singly or in small clumps. The sap is
said to be much like that of the sugar
maple (Acer saccharum) being about
90 per cent water. A good tree Harold
says "will produce five to 10 litres a
day."
In order to get the project up and
running Harold Macy will be offering
two local information sessions on the
basic techniques of drawing sap and
collecting it. For people in Ontario
and Quebec who have been in the
maple bush for generations, some of
the topics would be almost second
nature.
It is doubtful if there will be any
sugaring -off parties this year on the
island. There is no need here for
snowmobiles and little need for snow
suits because there is no snow and
thus no taffy.
We will enjoy our local maple
syrup however much we get, and still
be envious of the Elmira Maple
Syrup Festival which runs April 3,
2004 and the Warkworth Festival
advertised for March 13 - 14, 2004.0
Deadline for the
December issue of
The Rural Voice is
November 19, 2003