Weekend Showcase: From Sap to Syrup at the Eastman Nature Center
You could call it a sweet taste of spring. As the temperature warms up, the Eastman Nature Center in Dayton is holding a Maple Syrup Festival on Saturday.
The festival is a chance to experience what it takes to produce pure maple syrup one gallon at a time.
“What is happening from one to four is we’re having all kinds of activities centered around maple syruping,” said Vicky Wachtler, interpretive naturalist at the Eastman Nature Center.
Eastman Nature Center is right in the middle of the sugar maple floodplain of Rush Creek so there is an abundance of sugar maple trees
“We will be having people out tapping trees, we’ll be learning a little bit about the science of maple syruping and [there will be] a chance to taste some real maple syrup and a little bit of maple sugar too,” said Wachtler.
It takes about forty gallons of sap from the average sugar maple tree to make one gallon of syrup.
The sugar maple yields the highest sugar concentration, at about two percent, as well as the highest volume of sap, making it the ideal candidate for syruping. However, you can also make syrup from other maples: the boxelder, walnut, and birch trees.
The syrup festival starts at 1:00pm on Saturday afternoon at the Eastman Nature Center. There is a five dollar charge.
