Sunday, April 5, 2015

Maple Syrup Season in Virginia is Over

The Highland Maple Syrup Festival is over for this year and on March 30 Puffenbarger's Sugar Orchard's Facebook page announced: " The 2015 maple season is officially DONE!! "

Some interesting things about maple syrup:
Warm sunny days (above 40 degrees F) and frosty nights are ideal for sap flow.

The Maple season may last four to six weeks, but sap flow is heaviest for 10 to 20 days.

The harvest season ends with the arrival of warm spring nights and early bud development in the trees.

A maple tree is usually at least 4 years old and 10 inches in diameter before it is tapped.

Tapping does no permanent damage to the tree and only about 10% of the sap is collected each year.

Each tap yields an average of 10 gallons of sap per season. That yields about one quart of syrup.

A gallon of pure Maple syrup weighs 11 pounds.