Spring is Sticky Sweet in Wisconsin During Maple Syrup Season
Did you know the Wisconsin state tree is the sugar maple tree? Sugar maples are also known and loved for their brilliant orange-red colors in fall and for producing the best sap for the sweetest maple syrup.
Wisconsin ranks 4th in the U.S. in maple syrup production. Last year, Wisconsin’s production topped 265,000 gallons of maple syrup! Maple syrup season is usually mid-March to early April, sometimes sooner if the days become warm enough for the sap to flow.
Pure maple syrup is produced in the northern United States and Canada during the early spring months. Maple syrup production has been around for hundreds of years; Native Americans set up sugar camps when sap began to flow to collect the substance from maple trees.
Sugar maple trees must be at least 50 years old to be large enough to tap, and to produce one gallon of maple syrup, 40 to 50 gallons of maple tree sap needs to be collected.
Wisconsin has some fun maple syrup events for families; click here to check out the Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producers Association website’s current calendar.