The Essence of Canada
Birch syrup rendering over an open fire.
Well, it wasn’t exactly cost-effective, but we did taste the terroir of our own birch/maple syrup for the first time yesterday. Yes, that word ‘terroir’ extends beyond wine to other earthy products, because syrups do have local flavours, too.
Most people think of maple sugar production as quintessentially Canadian, and located either in Quebec or Ontario. It’s just not an activity one associates with the prairies or here on the western Cordillera–but we did it! We found six birch and three maple trees in our front yard which looked likely producers, and tapped them last week. Over the weekend we continued to clear the front forty, and in the process of burning the small dry sticks and undergrowth, we rendered down our first batch of maple/birch syrup. The rendering ratios are 40 and 100 to one respectively, and because the maples produced more sap, the ratio of syrup was about 40:60, so by my calculations (and believe me, during the day we had time to calculate!) we ended up with a mix of about 20% maple, 80% birch.
My friend Clarence came by and stood amazed at what we were doing, never having witnessed this activity in this valley. As I looked across at my little yellow buckets hanging from their spiles in the tree trunks, I wondered why we are not all harvesting from our woodlots in this serene, labour-free way. Much of our radio news these days is filled with so-called ‘catastrophists’ predicting global economic ruin, and advocating getting out of cities, and I’m glad we are in a place where there is still so much knowledge of how to fend for oneself (Clarence’s friend supplied me with the spiles, buckets and advice on which trees were best), and enough space to do so.
Birch syrup rendering continues inside for the final stages.
I had read that you can easily burn syrup in the last stages. Mind you, you can easily boil it all away thinking it’s still just water, because it looks that way for most of the process: no amber colour, no viscosity. We had been away for a few days and weren’t sure how much of the buckets was in fact rain water–but we remained hopeful. After a day’s boiling, I brought the pot inside to complete the task on the stove. Sure enough, miraculously, at about one inch depth the liquid suddenly thickened, darkened, and looked like maple syrup. I took my first, tentative, frugal sip. Delicious! I read that boiling over an open fire imparts a camp-fire, smokey taste, and that’s true; this seems to enhance the caramel flavour, while underneath (almost literally) is an earthy, mineral flavour. I contrasted this with the more ‘clear, crisp’ taste of some birch syrup we buy in Quesnel, a town northeast of us, up on the plateau.
So, after a day and a half, I had about a quarter of a cup of pure gold in a jam jar, and we’d burnt all our windfall sticks and branches. We’d also shared two days outside under grey skies with temperatures heroically hovering just above freezing, but we were able to celebrate our ‘spring’ break pleasantly warmed by the fire and dreaming of future spring days, when the air will smell of turned earth and chlorophyll rather than smoke and birch sugar. My food sovereignty year started with gathering fiddlehead ferns in early April, but this new discovery has extended my growing season into March. My attitude towards time has shifted; as a self-provisioner, it is now geared to food availability rather than the clock and the calendar. I used to regard my year of activity as beginning on May 24, the traditional date for beginning safe frost-free outdoor gardening; with the discovery of fiddleheads it regressed, and now it has regressed even further. My world is measured by food: not only in time, but in space also, because wherever I walk or drive I remember what food I gathered there, or what i might gather in the future–that berry patch, that bend in the river. This must be how animals map their worlds, too. Last week while clearing the front of our property I realized from their trails that bears travel east/west and deer travel north/south, because their food sources lie in those directions (the bears follow along the streams to the salmon rivers via the berry bushes, the deer to the meadows via my vegetable garden). Like the Aborigines of Australia with their songlines, I am making my own tracks across this valley. Like the deer and bears, my map is taking shape along paths of sustenance.
The results of the first rendering of my maple-birch syrup--tiny, but tasty and worth its weight in gold!
And while my project of food sovereignty is not always about cost effectiveness, this exercise renewed my appreciation for how cheap our food is: Quebec maple syrup in a jug at our supermarket is about $12. The more self-sufficient I become, the more I learn about how much effort it takes to feed myself. As with other food items for sale in the store, I now think $12 for a jug of maple syrup is far too cheap for the resources used–even considering the so called efficiency of mass production.
I’m also looking at my land and its resources differently. What only a month ago was a tangled mass of ‘Wine Maple’ (that I was told should get taken out because it is ‘no good for anything’) has become a precious resource to me. I already have a second batch on the stove and will likely make several more batches over the next few weeks. I’m thrilled to have access to this wonderful sweet liquid–one less jug I’ll buy from the store. I feel a sense of accomplishment having added another dimension to my personal food security. I also feel a deeper connection to my land and an increasing sense of place; I now look at those trees on my place and think, ‘I know where you are and what you taste like!’
Not Dabbling In Normal 
We did the same thing this year for the first time. Sadly, we found out right at the end of the season. But we ended up with a quart of maple syrup. We reduced half over a fire and half over propane to taste both.
I have a photos almost just like yours above, check it ou: http://chiotsrun.com/2009/03/17/sweet-success/
I’m very interested in tapping a few trees next year. But I’m also concerned about the amount of energy needed to reduce the sap to a syrup. I certainly don’t think it would be cost effective to boil it away inside on a gas burner. We don’t have a great deal of wood to burn outside either. And even if we did, I wonder about the release of greenhouse gasses in the process. I wish we heated with a woodstove so that we could reduce sap that way – that at least would mean we’re getting more than one use out of the wood burned. Have you considered this angle, and if so, how have you reconciled these issues?
I agree that when we begin to learn what goes into producing food, store prices suddenly seem all too low.
-Kate
Hi Kate,
Thanks for the comment and query. I say go for it next year. It is an amazing experience and learning process. My project is all about food security, or what I have been calling ‘Personal Food Sovereignty’ and so my decisions are grounded in that philosophy–it is certainly not about cost efficiency!
You say you don’t have access to much wood. I’m not really using wood but rather windfall branches and dead brambles. It is amazing how much fire one can get out of picking up dead-fall.
As to your question. How I have reconciled this issue is this:
1. I have, in the past, agonized over every aspect of my life (enviro foot prints, animal rights, greenhouse gases, water conservation, and so on ad nauseam).
2. I have since changed my lifestyle accordingly to the degree that I am comfortable and capable of achieving.
3. Ultimately, I have come to realize that it is not what I do, but rather what our respective governments legislate (and thus condone) that is the bigger problem with the world’s inequities, limited resources, and overall abuses.
I now sleep well knowing I am doing all that I can personally. I still lose sleep over the fact I am quite powerless to change the legislation that allows big industry that actually is far more culpable for the excess greenhouse gas emissions (water and air pollution, animal abuses, environmental degradation, and so on, etc.) So, I am no longer swayed by the powers that be and their attempt to make individuals feel guilty for every thing we do (this rhetoric is ubiquitous and what I call the ‘Al Gore’ effect). We cannot solve the greenhouse gas problems by not driving our car once per week, or by shopping ‘green’ in the grocery store, or not burning a brush pile on the farm, etc. The biggest culprits are big industry and thus they are the ones who should be regulated more heavily. The problems are systemic and thus should be redirected back to the powers that be to fix it. After all, that is what they are supposed to be there for!
Whew, suddenly this little experiment has taken on a political flavour… A whole new depth of flavour added to my birch-maple syrup! I just might have to write a post called ‘political pancakes’…
cheers,
HDR
About burning wood and greenhouse gases, I just read a few days ago that burning wood was carbon neutral… the emissions from burning are totally offset by the carbon dioxide the trees absorbed when they were alive. Coal and petroleum are the big culprits. And I agree with you, it’s big industry that needs to be seriously reigned in over that.
I am starting to order more over the Internet and have it delivered. I’ve been ordering through the Internet for years, especially eBooks and software, but now I’ve found organic food suppliers and I’ll be doing nearly all of my ‘grocery’ shopping without driving anywhere. The mailman drives out this way every day whether we have anything to deliver or not (since there are other houses on the road), and it’s much more efficient than each family driving into town (the closest is 45 minutes away) to do their grocery shopping etc. We have an organic garden, free range chickens, goats and a house cow and are aiming for self-sufficiency. Later this year we will attend a propagation course which will give us cuttings for most of the fruit and nut trees we need. Until we become totally self-sufficient we will order the rest of what we need online and have it delivered, with the goal of replacing everything we order with home grown.
It sounds like you get much more pressure to ‘be green’ over there than we do here in NZ. What I find ironic is that it’s a totally consumer-driven environment, and the two are at odds with each other. I wonder, do you ever get messages to buy less as a way of reducing your environmental footprint? Because really when you add up the cost of consumer goods (the things we can really live without), manufacture, raw materials acquisition, packaging, shipping/distribution, after-use cost (going to a landfill, leaking toxic chemicals) – simply not being a typical consumer must make an enormous positive impact. Of course one person’s efforts area drop in the ocean, but if a significant number of people did this the impact would be huge. But then, what would be the economic impact?
So if it’s your government that’s pushing you to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, what are they doing to ensure the economy survives a cutback of consumerism?
I’ll get off my soapbox now 😉 But it sounds like you are all much like us. Going back to a more self-sufficient lifestyle, which by definition means reducing your ‘consumer footprint’. That’s definitely going to make a environmental impact in the right direction, but how much credit do you get for it? Do the people/organizations pushing the rhetoric even acknowledge that this makes a difference? I read recently that the ingredients in a typical Sunday lunch are likely to have traveled the equivalent of twice around the world before reaching you and produced 37kg of carbon dioxide. If you are growing most of your Sunday lunch or sourcing it locally, you’ve already done much more than most people. And boiling down your syrup over a wood fire was carbon neutral, not to mention it didn’t require fancy packaging and transportation to get to you.
Okay, now I’m really getting off my soapbox!
By the way, I really love your concept of ‘Personal Food Sovereignty’, and that’s a good phrase for it too. I’ve written it down because food security is one of the big reasons we are aiming for self sufficiency too.
Yes, the myth of ‘Clean, Green New Zealand’ is just that eh–a myth! I too believe that extracting ourselves from the system is the biggest thing we can do for the planet, hence my lifestyle. As for the economic effect, throughout history changes and shifts in work occur. It would be a matter of bringing some sensibility back into our lives and legislation. Just think, if I could sell raw milk directly to my neighbours I would be able to make a decent living, raise healthy food, and be a valuable food security peice for my community. As it stands, this is illegal in Canada (incidentally, it is LEGAL in NZ…a little known fact) so we all stay stuck to the big corporate food system (and many who could otherwise be independent farmers live instead on social assistance) and the money flows to shareholders who produce nothing–would this really be a shame for the masses if some of the money made the shift from shareholders to local producers?
HDR
“the myth of ‘Clean, Green New Zealand’” oh yes, so true! I knew it before I moved out here to the country, but being surrounded by commercial non-organic sheep farmers is really an eye-opener. If I ate meat to begin with, this would really have put me off it.
I have just found a source of raw milk, we picked up our first batch yesterday – oh yum!
I completely agree with your comment (below… I couldn’t find a link to reply to that comment, so this one might be above your comment I’m commenting on)! It’s the same for us, we are pursuing the self-sufficient organic lifestyle for many reasons, but it’s not just for our health, but the health of the planet. Because, like they say it’s the only one we’ve got.
This was so interesting to read about! I adore maple syrup and I knew that you started with a lot and it renders down to a much smaller amount, but I too am amazed that it’s so cheap considering! I live in New Zealand and we get Canadian maple syrup here for about $9-12 per small bottle, cheap for what’s involved in right. Especially considering that it has to travel half way around the world to get here! Why we don’t produce our own I don’t know. Birch trees certainly grow here, there is a native species even.
I’m so glad you blogged about this. I’m moving toward self-sufficiency with our food and I’ve come to the same conclusion that you have, considering what goes into it food is cheap. Even as much as the price has risen in the past few years, it’s still cheap. Unfortunately the quality of commercially grown food has degraded as the price has gone up. I find that our food which is organically grown and harvested shortly before consumption fills me up so much faster (and more satisfyingly) than commercial equivalents. I end up eating less, and feeling better, feeling satisfied.
Thanks again for detailing the process you went through!
Hello Donna,
Where abouts are you in NZ? My husband and I are Kiwi’s, him by birth and me by naturalization. We moved back to Canada just over 5 years ago. At the rate trees grow there, you may well be able to establish yourselves a decent ‘syrup’ orchard if you so wished. I’m pretty sure you could even plant some maples. The maples I’m tapping are Douglas Maples, reputed to be the tastiest syrup producers. Let me know how you go!
cheers,
HDR
That’s so funny you’re both Kiwis! I’m actually an expat American, I’ve been here for about 20 years. I’m in the Waikato area. Pretty much equal distance from Ngaruawahia, Raglan and Huntly. I’ll definitely look for Douglas Maples here.
I’ve always wondered how the sap tastes before you distill it down into syrup, and at the different stages. Could you use it as sweetener and liquid in a recipe for instance, before it gets distilled into the syrup form?
How does the taste of the birch syrup compare to the maple. It’s funny I had never heard of birch syrup before. But come to think of it, you know how NZ Honeydew is produced? A little insect burrows into the native beech trees and sucks the sap, basically rendering it into syrup. There must be a lot of different trees (not just maple) that produce enough sap in this way to be syrup producers. How did you get the idea for tapping the birch as well?
Speaking of which, I made an error in my original comment, it’s the native beech I was thinking of and not birch (not sure if there is a native birch here). But because the honeydew insect turns the beech sap into sweet syrup, the beech must be a sap/syrup producer as well. Here’s an article about it: http://thenewzealandsite.com/articles/honeydew/ I’ve seen honeydew sold in stores. I bet if people knew how it was made it would put some off eating it – I must say it makes me a bit squeamish about it 🙂
We moved from Hamilton back to Canada. So, we might have nearly been neighbours. I graduated from Waikato Uni!
The sap barely tastes like anything other than water when in its natural state. And no, it is not sweeter as it gets rendered (well, not distiguishably enough to be used like you suggest). It was the most shocking piece of the process in fact! I too wondered if it might be able to be used in place of sugar on the way to syrup and am amazed at its utter lack of flavour until the final stage. I guess that is why it is such a high conversion rate (40:1 in the case of Maple and 100:1 in the case of Birch). Birch syrup has a distinctive caramel flavour. It is really nice. Thicker than maple but nice on pancakes and REALLY nice on vanilla ice cream dotted with pecans!
The honeydew is interesting. I tried it while living in NZ. Let me just say, its processing doesn’t hold a candle to the ‘Cat Crap’ coffee beans that are first put through the bowels of the wild cat of Africa which they are then selling for the price of gold as Kopi Luwak and sells for about $300-$600 or $50 per cup of coffe. (I mean really, one has to wonder about both the person who thought of the idea of picking up coffee bean laden poop, washing the beans off, then roasting and selling them, as well as the people who then volunteer to drink it!).
HDR
Oh yeah, who ever marketed that Cat Crap coffee gets my vote for the most brilliant marketer on the planet! They are worth their weight in gold as an hourly rate with skills like that!
I do wonder who first got that idea and started collecting the cat poop to do this in the first place. I can get desperate for coffee, but I’m not sure if I’d go that far.
Yeah, and then to convince people it is MORE tasty than fresh, clean roasted???
Let me know when you get brave enough to try the Honeydew! I’d be interested to know what you think. I just gave some friends their first taste of my birch-maple syrup. They love it. In fact, one of them is the friend who I helped butcher the cougar. He immediately said, ‘I need this for my sausage making!’.
cheers,
HDR
Great post as usual HDR – I’m still laughing about the Cat Crap coffee!
Yay! and kudos to all the first-time sappers…I’ve been hooked ever since trying it with some backyard maples almost 7 years ago…
As for the burning – there are several things to think about – using the windfalls and scrap wood is excellent (cleans the area, requires less chopping and splitting) but putting aside bigger logs during the off season is important. Split those before using them in the fire (it’s good exercise) and they burn better. Also, build up the walls of the fireplace around the kettle, so to keep the intensity of the heat around your pot and not blowing off into the wind.
Lastly, we do all our finishing in the house, to prevent overcooking, and the release of the small amount of water in the house air seems to be good for the humidity, but don’t boil off too much indoors – or you will ruin your walls! I try to save the stovetop boiling till I am either cooking dinner or first thing in the morning, when the ambient heat is a help.
Even by squeaking the very last positive out of the whole experience, maple syrup remains a product that doesn’t seem to earn the proper amount of “income” – but I wouldn’t give it up for anything!
Melanie,
I’m pretty hooked too despite the amazing amount of effort and burning it takes. It is still ‘wild crafting’ and as such doesn’t require any attention all year so in many ways it is a welcome change to all the year round caring for critters and gardens etc that I otherwise engage in! I had been thinking of getting bees but am rethinking that now with the new-found wonder of syrup. Unfortunately, I live in a ‘marginal’ area for bee keeping (the extension officers have basically said don’t bother). So, I’m now looking at my birch and maple trees very differently.
Now, if only I could get the boiling system down to a better efficiency. I need a better collection system and bigger pots!
cheers,
HDR
For the initial boiling down the syrup, could you use a crock pot? I think they are pretty energy efficient because of the design, they are meant to be on for long periods of time unattended. I was just wondering.
Also, so birch and maples make syrup… are there any other trees you know of that do?
You could try a crock-pot, but I think it might take about 6 weeks to boil down! For example, a large pot it takes nearly two days of continuous boiling.
There are other trees (I think Alder) but they are not as sweet or tasty.