MAR '11 - The Nyack Villager

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Wildlife News by Travis Brady A sweet time of year By now you may be sick of snow and that heart-shaped box of chocolates. And even though the calendar does not say it is yet spring, the animals and trees say otherwise. Owls are fledgling, salamanders are swarming and the sap is flowing. Sap? Yes, you know that sticky stuff that drips from the trees onto our cars. For the record, I personally am crazy for it. I could go on and on about how sap is the fluid food of plants and how cohesion-tension transports the hormone and mineral filled-water through the xylem into the upper reaches of the trees, but lets skip all of that for now and get to the good stuff, the really good stuff—maple syrup! With its distinct climate and forests, New York State produces some of the world’s finest maple syrup. But before you soak your short stack in sweet amber syrup, lets take a crash course in Maple Sugaring 101. e art of making syrup is called sugaring. To start sugaring we need to find a sugar bush— a stand of trees, usually maple, from which a farmer collects the sap. Collecting the sap starts by drilling a hole into the tree a.k.a. tapping the tree. A spile (think small funnel) is then in- serted into the hole to divert some of the tree’s sap into a collection chamber, often just a bucket. To complete the process, the sap, which is mainly water and sugar, is heated to seven degrees above boiling. As the water evaporates and the sugar concentration hits about 67% the sap is then considered syrup. ough no one knows for sure, it is suspected that Algonquin tribes, in what is now known as New York, were the first people to make maple syrup. First or not, they knew late winter in New York is prime time for sugaring. is is due to the freezing nights combined with warmer days. When the tree temperature is between 40-45ºF. , the sap is full of sugar. Outside of that temperature range, the sugars are converted back into starches. During the cold nights the sap keeps from freezing by hanging out in the roots. Slightly warmer daytime temperatures encourage the sap out of the safety of the non-freezing roots and up the trunk of the trees, right to those spiles and buckets. On average, it takes 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup. And as the price climbs to over $40 a gallon, no wonder maple syrup is considered to be liquid gold! Travis Brady, a wildlife biologist, owns and operates Mosaic Wildlife Services in Nyack. He can be reached at www.mosaicwildlife.com Environmental Educator Carl Heitmuller gives a Maple Sugar Tour at the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum, Cornwall NY. Photo by George Potanovic, Jr. Chewing Gum timeline 1869: First patent for chewing gum is issued. 1880: First flavored gum goes on sale (peppermint & corn syrup). 1888: First practical vending machine dispenses gum on elevated train platforms in NY City. 1919: Wrigley Corporation goes public and is listed on NY Stock Exchange. 1928: First bubble gum goes on sale. Food coloring is added; the only color available is pink. 1950: Sugarless gum is introduced. 1981: US gum sales amount to $796million. 12 The Nyack Villager March, 2011
Events start on page 10 Events in march A Mighty River e Nyack Library and the Historical Society of the Nyacks will present the program, A Mighty River: Contributions of the Peoples of the African Diaspora to the Economic Development along the Hudson River. is program includes a dramatic piece entitled, A Brickyard Monologue in ree Parts. Jamila Shabaz Brathwaite, Program Director of the CEJJES Institute, will introduce the video and lead a discussion following the screening. A Mighty River brings to light many significant and previously little-known details of the role played by African Americans in the local economy. A Brickyard Monologue is about the lives of the black workers in the Haverstraw brickyards. Info call Bob Goldberg of the Historical Society. (845) 268-3838. Wed, March 30 at 7:30pm at Nyack Library, 59 S. Broadway, Nyack. Malley Brickyard, Haverstraw, 1912. Photo courtesy of Historical Society of Rockland County. Maple Sugar Festival To celebrate the opening day of Maple Sugaring season, the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum will host a Maple Sugar Festival at their Outdoor Discovery Center, on Muser Drive, across from 174 Angola Road, Cornwall NY. Visitors learn the history, how to tap a maple tree, how to collect the sap, and how the sap boils down in an evaporator to become maple syrup. e 45-min walking tour ends with a syrup tasting. Be sure to dress warmly and wear boots for snow & mud. is is a wonderful family outdoor activity. Info: visit www.hhnaturemuseum.org or call (845) 534-5506, ext. 204. Admission $10 adults, $5 children ages 3-11. Sat, March 5, 10:30am to 3pm. Events in March continue on page 14 The Nyack Villager March, 2011 13
Page 1 and 2: TheNyack Villager ® An independent
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Page 5 and 6: An open community forum Letters to
Page 7 and 8: photo courtesy Rockland Center For
Page 9 and 10: Under exposed by Shel Haber Conside
Page 11: Amazing Grace Youth Circus • Circ
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