Maple Syrup

Rion was learning about maple tree sap and wanted to see it come out of a tree. The Morton Arboretum has a class on the topic, and they let you try the sap, partially boiled sap, and syrup. It was freezing this morning, so cold the sap was frozen on the spile, but we all learned something. - N

Today we went to the Morton Arboretum and we learned about maple syrup. This is how they make it into maple syrup. They get the sap from the tree, then they bring it into their kitchen and they boil it. It has to be 219 degrees Fahrenheit to turn into maple syrup. I got to see a real maple tree and I got to drink the sap from the maple tree. It tastes like when you put syrup in water. We got to dip animal crackers in some syrup that was boiling and in plain maple syrup. After that we went back to section 1 and we got to sing a song. It was really, really, really, really, really awesome. And, we got to see a tree cookie. A tree cookie is a part of a tree, a cut down tree, and we got to see how many circles were on it. And if it is already over 40 years old you can tap it. And, Rion got to do this thing where there was this log down on the ground and you have to spin a handle, and put your hand on top of it, and spin a bar clockwise to put a hole in the maple tree. And, one tool to help you get the sap is called a spile. Done. – Owen

I went to maple syrup school and it was fun, fun, fun. And then guess what. We went to the maple syrup place. We got to drive in our car there and it was fun. All of us went. And, we went inside for awhile and then the first time we were inside we got to try maple syrup that was boiling. Then we got to dip a cracker in to see if it was good. And then the second time we dipped it in, they putted maple syrup in. We went outside and I got to try part of maple syrup. I made the hole there in a log. It was super hard. The end. – Rion Stufflebeam