Heads up-Birch Sap Rising!

[Dave Budd]

Just wanted to let people know that the birch sap is well on the rise I tapped a few cups last weekend for some scouts to try, then another couple of litres yesterday.

Last night some of that went into some fresh Birch sap vodka

Any other good recipes for this wonder juice? I've got about 4 acres of mature birch that I've been trying to find a use for!

 

[abushcrafter]

at last thank you thank, you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, I think you get the point now

:You_Rock_

 

[bushyboo]

Was out this morning tapped one for a couple of hours and had a nice cup of pine neddle tea ....lovely

 

[Dave Budd]

at last thank you thank, you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, you thank you, I think you get the point now

:You_Rock_

you're welcome

 

[abushcrafter]

you're welcome

If you don't mined........................ can you do next year as well

 

[David.s]

How long does it stay flowing for ?

im hoping to go out in a few weeks once my elbows healed.

 

[abushcrafter]

me thinks 2 weeks

 

[tommy the cat]

Yep rising in these neck of the woods (Shropshire man) gonna have a wee look see myself if the weather isn' toooooooo inclement.
D

 

[webbie]

whats the best way to extract the sap? and can you drink silver birch sap?

webbie

 

[abushcrafter]

yes you can drink the stuff. also do you use birch wood, which is green with no bark on it, to be a plug?

 

[bushyboo]

yes you can drink the stuff. also do you use birch wood, which is green with no bark on it, to be a plug?

I usualy cut a piece off the same tree im tapping dont know why it just seems right

Gordon

 

[abushcrafter]

thanks muchly

 

[canadianwildman]

well it still get to -20 c in the day so i dont know if its here

 

[Mike Ameling]

Besides using it as a Spring Tonic, you can also make syrup for your pancakes. But it does take a lot more birch sap to boil down than it does with Maple sap. Maple sap takes between 35 and 40 gallons for one gallon of syrup. Birch sap takes a whole lot more - at least double. But it does make some interesting syrup.

Here's a link to another Living History message board where we/they were discussing early Maple sugar/syrup production here in North America, and also pics of modern demonstrations of the "sugar camp". And even some early historical artwork of sugar camps.

Maple Sugar/Syrup making

And then there are those people who make WINE from the sap.I don't know anything about quantities, types of yeast, etc. But there are some companies producing it professionally for sale - especially up in New England and Canada.

Yes, I've boiled a gallon or three of syrup in days past. Lots of work, but the rewards are worth it!

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. No sap running way up here in Northeast Iowa - yet. Too cold overall. But the maple sap is running about 150 miles south of me. They already had their Maple Syrup demo weekend for the public at one park. And the Birch sap starts running a little later than the Maple tree sap. Almost nobody does anything with birch sap around me, although a few of the Scandinavians in the area do tap a little sap to drink for their Spring Tonic. It replaces a lot of trace minerals that people lose over the winter. Plus the slightly sweet taste helps a lot. And then there are the little adult beverages that get mixed up. Some very old cookbooks from the 1700's even had recipes for making Birch Beer.

 

[bushscout1]

Just got back from my local woods, been for a bimble & to play with my new undercover & pad on my Hennessey Explorer.

Anyhow, whilst there I decided to tap a birch for a drink, it was flowing well.

I just used the simpler method described in Ray Mears Outdoor Survival Handbook, as I was only after a small amount - got around 1/3 pint in about 45 minutes from a really small tap (just a cut with my knife - about 3/4 inch deep).

The birch sap was lovely & refreshing - even got my 3 year old son to try some & he liked it

Before we left I made sure the bark was pressed back down to allow the tree to heal the 'wound'.

Good times.

 

[Shambling Shaman]

I will try next weekend - we are normally a week behind

 

[abushcrafter]

its flowing in bucks/Chilterns

 

[fishy1]

What amount typically can you expect from a tree say 20cm diametre, with 1 10mm hole in it, per day? Would drilling a bigger hole/more of them increase yeilds? I fancy making some syrup come easter time.

Also would birch tapping on a non commerical scale, done responsibly, be legal under right to roam? Mushroom picking is and they are pretty similar.

 

[rivermom]

I usualy cut a piece off the same tree im tapping dont know why it just seems right

Gordon

Before ye all run out to get a cup of spring elixer, stop for a minute and think about what you are doing. Sap is the blood of the tree, rising now in the wonderfully exultant first heartbeat of the forest. And we wound the tree to colloct this sap.
We have to be very careful to staunch the wound when we are finished, so that the tree does not bleed to death. For that reason, it would not make sense to use a piece of the tree we are wounding to make the plug, would it? It is much better to bring a clean piece of dry wood with us, or look for a clean piece of broken wood nearby, possibly a branch from winter's storm damage.
And clean is very important, not just for the plug, but for our tools. We don't want to inject an infection while we are at it. For this reason, I always wipe any blade I am about to use on living wood with teatree oil and clovebud oil.

 

[Dave Budd]

I didn't get the chance ot tap anything over the weekend (too busy teaching an axe making course ), but on friday I tapped a tree using the knife-tip method.

Normally I drill an inch wide hole about and inch deep into a large tree and stick a tap into that. The sap seems to gather speed in the middle of the season, but when I did this just over a week ago (so early, one drip every32 seconds or so after the first five mins of 1 per sec) and I got 2.5 litres in 6 hours. The knife tip method - you stab the tree, I made a slit maybe 3/8" wide and 5/8" deep at the point), then knock a twig in that has a flat underside for the sap to run off in to your pot. After the same 6 hours it had produced less than 0.5 litres (dripped just as fast to start with, but slowed quickly and more dramatically).

The auger makes a big hole that needs to be plugged effectively and as rivermoon says, cleanly so that the tree doesn't get an infection or bleed to death. The knife is much simpler and safer (for the tree) but you get far less sap. I've cut a fair number of birch down over the winter and many of them are costantly wet on top at the moment (that's how I knew the sap was rising ), so I reckon the way to get the most sap for a tree would be to cut the thing down and drain off anything you can from the stump before the thing dies. Only a suggestion if you need to fell the tree anyway!

As for how long you can tap for. People keep saying 2 weeks, but last year I was late tapping and I still got 3 weeks in! This year the sap has bee moving for 2 weeks already and it's not got to full speed yet. So I would think that it very much depends on your location and the amount of rainfall maybe, but at least a couple of weeks and more likely a month