Introduction to Maple Collection with Tubing, Buckets, and Bags
22 February 2014
1:00 - 4:00 PM

Mike Farrell, of the Cornell Maple Program, will lead a “hands-on” session to teach people modern methods of designing, installing, and maintaining a sugar bush for bucket, bag and/or tubing sap collection.  Paul Smith's College student, Tom Manitta, will talk about "backyard tapping" and how individuals can be involved in the VIC community-based maple program.  Dress for the weather, as we will be checking tubing in the VIC sugar-bush. $10 per person. Contact: Brian McDonnell, bmcdonnell@paulsmiths.edu

Mike Farrell is director of Cornell University's Uihlein Forest, Cornell`s Sugar Maple Research & Extension Field Station in Lake Placid. There he taps approximately 5,000 maples, 600 birch trees, and a couple dozen black walnut and butternut trees every year. He has authored more than fifty articles on maple syrup production and forest management. He is the author of The Sugarmaker's Companion: An Integrated Approach to Producing Syrup from Maple, Birch, and Walnut Trees (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013). This guide provides information on setting up and maintaining a viable sugaring business by incorporating the wisdom of traditional sugarmaking with the value of modern technology (such as reverse-osmosis machines and vacuum tubing).

This class is part of the VIC's Maple Sugaring Program. The Paul Smith’s College VIC is collaborating with Cornell Maple to expand maple syrup and sugaring opportunities in the region.  The goals of the project are to train local producers, promote further growth in the industry, and provide maple syrup production information and education opportunities for the general public.