silver maples-food source?

[sadiejane]

wrong time of year, but maybe something to think about and plan for in the spring.
i have numerous soft silver maples in the yard. never realized till recently that the silver maple can also be used to make syrup.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/for-fact/0036.html
gonna have to give this a try before they bud next spring.

also my laotian neighbors climb up into the maples every spring as the helicoptors/seeds come on. they do not pick em up off the ground. they boil and salt and eat like peanuts. they gather tons of em. store and eat em all year long.
http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Maple-Seeds

another food source from the wild, in the spring at least. they can be eaten raw but according to most i read they are a bit bitter when raw. better boiled.

this is some info about nutrition i found on another source

Starch.................................................... 41.94
Protein (N X 6.25). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.50
Sucrose................................................... 15.78

have any ya'll tapped silver maples?

 

[sleevefullofaces]

Thanks for sharing! I have two giant silver maples on the property.

 

[Shoki]

wrong time of year, but maybe something to think about and plan for in the spring.
i have numerous soft silver maples in the yard. never realized till recently that the silver maple can also be used to make syrup.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/for-fact/0036.html
gonna have to give this a try before they bud next spring.

also my laotian neighbors climb up into the maples every spring as the helicoptors/seeds come on. they do not pick em up off the ground. they boil and salt and eat like peanuts. they gather tons of em. store and eat em all year long.
http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Maple-Seeds

another food source from the wild, in the spring at least. they can be eaten raw but according to most i read they are a bit bitter when raw. better boiled.

this is some info about nutrition i found on another source

Starch.................................................... 41.94
Protein (N X 6.25). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.50
Sucrose................................................... 15.78

have any ya'll tapped silver maples?

You sure need a whole lot of sap to make syrup. Do the silver maples produce as much as sugar maples? Does it taste as good? It seems to me that more people would use silver maple sap for syrup. Maybe they do and I'm just ignorant.
I'm going to give that helicopter nomming thing a try. I love me some salty snacks.

 

[grunt soldier]

my buddy taps multiple silver maples every year. he makes syrup out of it and its pretty good. he has like 6 of them though. from watching him do it it takes some practice to get it right. but his syrup is very good

 

[Carolina River Rat]

Thanks for the info. I know where several are. None on my property, but I know the folks who own the land and they won't mind. They're used to my little oddities.

 

[brians]

I tapped maples for years. 40-to-1 ratio of sap to syrup. The good side is, if you boil over an open fire, you get to baton for hours - about 18 beers worth of time

The most economical small setup is to go get some 5 gallon plastic pails/lids from your local wineshop (sometimes free), and then some plastic spiles and tubing from your local farm store. Tap the trees, insert the spiles, drill a hole in the pail lid and connect the spile to the lid with a length of the tubing - and let her drip for a day or two. 8 full pails will give you a gallon of syrup - at least for sugar maples.

When you hear the Saw Whet Owls, start a tappin'

Cheers