Who Needs the Syrup? Just Drink the Sap!

"The forests of southern Korea yield a prized elixir", writes Choe Sang-Hun. Read about it here!

National Maple Syrup Festival

Maple Syrup Season is truly one of the first signs of spring, as the cold winter months slowly slip away and the forest floor comes to life. What better way to celebrate the coming of spring than to attend the grandly titled National Maple Syrup Festival in Medora, Ind.

This year's dates are 7-8 and 14-15 March 2009. For details, call 812:966-2168.

At Burton’s Maplewood Farm, nestled in the rolling hills of Southern Indiana, you can enjoy the taste of our country made hot pancakes with 100% pure Maple Syrup all day every day.

This maple festival is “Always the First and Second weekend in March” and is located two miles north of Medora, Ind. These two weekends offer something for everyone in the family. A variety of fun-filled events, activities, Live-music & demonstrations are sure to keep you entertained and coming back for more year after year.

Admission $8.00; 2-day pass $12.00; 4-day pass $20.00; children 15 & younger $4.00 daily.

Maple Syrup Festival Indiana's Parke County

At winter’s end, Parke County’s Maple Syrup Producers begin tapping the maple trees that provide sugar water for making maple syrup. Join in on the two weekends of fun at the Parke County Maple Fair, Feb 21-22, Feb 28 & March 1. Travel country roads with world famous covered bridges and tour maple syrup camps throughout the county. See how maple syrup is made down at the "sugar camp" and sample its wonderful flavor.

The festival headquarters is located one mile north of Rockville, Indiana, on Highway 41 at the county 4-H Fairgrounds. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Maps and information will be provided for all the places you’ll want to visit in Parke County. Everyone from 4-H Junior Leaders to Senior Citizens get in on the act when its pancake flippin’ time, pancakes are served all day with whole hog sausage and golden maple syrup.

At the headquarters, maple syrup displays offer products such as pure maple syrup, maple sugar candy and maple syrup cookies. In addition to maple syrup products, you will find the works of Parke County artisans, handmade crafts, home baked goodies, and jams and jellies. An annual highlight of the Maple Syrup Festival is the Covered Bridge Art Association art display. Local artists will demonstrate their talents and have works of art for sale.

The Butcher Shop offers smoked ham, bacon, country pork sausage and cheese so that you can take home some of that great country flavor. Parke County Collectibles is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. There you can shop for handmade and homegrown products, including hand made dolls and appliquéd clothing to woodcrafts and oil paintings.

Visitors tour maple sugar camps of Foxworthy, Williams & Teague, Smiley’s Camp, Sweetwater Farms, and Baird’s Sugar Shack, where sixty gallons of sugar water are reduced to make one gallon of golden maple syrup. A map and information may be picked up at the headquarters that will lead you to the camps in Parke County.

Tour all of Parke County’s Maple Syrup Camps by taking a map and striking out on your own. Rockville’s Historic Town Square welcomes you to browse in shops, antique malls and the Covered Bridge Art Gallery.

At the old opera house, now the Ritz Theatre, the Parke Players will offer a play on Feb 20, 21: Feb 27, 28 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6 and can be purchased at the Headquarters or at the door.

Plan on spending more than just a day to enjoy maple syrup making, those world famous Covered Bridges and the scenic beauty of Parke County, from the frosty mornings to the crispy clear winter nights - there are lots of things to see and do.

Asian Beetle Spells Death for Maples So Dear

Stephan Savoia/Associated Press / In Worcester, Mass., a Department of Agriculture worker scours the trees for the insects that have taken hold there in part because of a lack of tree diversity.

Asian Beetle Spells Death for Maples So Dear
By ARIANA GREEN
Published: November 28, 2008
The New York Times
A number of maple trees in Worcester, Mass., will be chopped down because of an infestation of Asian long-horned beetles that is plaguing thousands of trees.

Read it all here.

Randall B. Heiligmann Tells All

Instructions for making maple syrup are especially detailed on this fact sheet from Ohio State University Extension (that's a spout inserted into a maple tree, at left).

"If you have access to a few maple trees, whether growing in your yard or in a woodland, you can produce your own maple syrup and even enough extra to use as gifts for family or friends. It's easy, great fun, and a very educational family activity," Heiligmann writes -- and then tells exactly how to do it!

Vermont Maple Festival Cookbook

This year's Vermont Maple Festival is history...but there's always the Vermont Maple Festival Cookbook.

The latest edition is chock full of recipes for Main Dishes, Salads, Desserts, Breads, Sauces, Preserves and Dressings, Vegetables, Cookies, Cakes, Pies, Candies, Desserts and more. The book is illustrated with photos from maple country, and the Vermont Maple Festival.

Go online and order one at $13 plus $40 shipping and handling.

Maple Heritage Museum

Wheelers Maple Heritage Museum is located in MacDonald Corners, Ontario, Canada. Housed in a dove-tail log building with a cathedral pine rafter ceiling, the museum boasts 2000 square feet of exhibit space and an extensive collection of all things maple (including sugar molds, sap buckets, production equipment and tools). For more information, see the website or call 613:278-2090.