One of the great parts of spring time is the maple syrup run.
There is nothing like fresh syrup on that stack of pancakes, or that sight of a maple tree supplying that tasty sap.
A stop outside Petoskey gave me the chance to learn a whole lot about that maple syrup.
“It’s all weather dependent, so we need warm days and freezing nights,” says Christi Peterson, . “So typically, in this region we start the beginning of March and mid to late April.”
The sap is the tree’s nourishment so it’s important to only draw off a portion from each tree. Twenty-eight acres of sugar maple and just shy of 5,000 taps.
And tubing. Oh, the tubing…
“We’re approximating that we have 19 miles of tubing,” says Christi. “It’s a lot!”
The day I visited, the previous night was cold and the sun was shining and the sap was flowing.
Christi and her husband Todd are hoping for a solid season. And yes, this is the Maple Moon Sugarbush and Winery, the first and only maple winery!
Christi tells me that Vermont is known for its syrup, with 15 percent of the production. Michigan is less than 1 percent, and Canada leads the way with 75 percent of the maple syrup production. But Michigan has the potential to outpace Canada, big time.
“If you look at the map of the density of sugar maples, right here in the region. Between Petoskey and Traverse City, we are the darkest on the map, as well as the western edge of the U.P. is really dark. Michigan has so much potential for making maple syrup, yet we don’t,” explains Christi.
She believes it could be six times as much as Canada. Oh, the pancakes we could cover with that!
When the weather is just right these trees provide that syrup that memories are made of.
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