What is a “hard” maple?

What is a “hard” maple?

Where I live in east Tennessee there are “soft” maples, too.

One expression stuck with me. It went like if you couldn’t grow it or make it you just went without it.

I don’t know how “scientific” the terms “hard” and “soft” maple are. Nor do I really care for my purposes. I am also confident others probably have different objectives.

Hard maples can be used to make maple syrup after boiling down the collected maple sap.  Soft maples and other trees are not as productive.  Sugar beets are better for making plain sugar, in my opinion. Other trees may do well for sap, but I just don’t know. 

Now I do know some bark and roots also make some tasty drinks for humans. It is mostly listening to stories where you live, and be willing to try and fail along the way. It is probably true that some recipes are also closely guarded. I think of syrup made from American hickory bark as my example.

One story I read was that American Indians often stopped the boiling down process at around 20 to 1 and called that a health drink. I always figured the boiling process at least killed all the germs in the liquid. Maple syrup is generally boiled down at a 40 to 1 ratio, so that process is best done outside or in a well ventilated room.

That boiling down process works well for sorghum molasses, too. Sorghum looks a lot like corn when growing, and is popular with both humans and wildlife. I even know (often through the school of hard knocks) how much feral pigs and wild quail like sorghum.

The schedule for collecting sap in east Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau is a little different from New England’s tapping schedule, but the idea is the same. Often there will be snow on the ground when doing the tap. This is often in late December or early January. I use glass jars to store the sap until things get warmer when I do the boiling down stuff.

Now if you don’t or can’t recognize a “hard” maple, you can do two obvious things:

1)    Find someone who can when it is easier to recognize the tree type, usually when the leaves are on the tree.  Even the tree bark often looks different depending on how high on the tree you look. It is easy to confuse. People can be wrong is my local experience.

2)    Just do a tap, and see what happens. It took me two years to get it best. Tree diameter is important, too. The bigger the diameter, the better.

As to directions on tapping, do your own homework as best you can.  It is not that hard to research and learn about.

Here’s one link on making maple syrup: http://www.tapmytrees.com/

And here’s what a maple leaf looks like in the Fall after color change. Even the Canadian Flag has a maple leaf on it. And in east Tennessee where I live maple trees are often considered to be an invasive species.



Homemade maple syrup makes a nice gift, too.  Making your own label can be fun, also. Just be careful about cleaning everything that you offer.

Even in the South (USA), some people often use old liquor and wine bottles filled with sorghum molasses as gifts.