Producing Northern Manitoba Maple Syrup: A Reflective Essay

The early spring image of a man harvesting buckets of sap from maple trees is one synonymous with Canada. Despite this association with national identity, maple syrup production takes place almost entirely within a small, southern region of Eastern Canada. It is hardly ever seen in the West, much less its northern regions, where the prairie gives way to pine. However unusual, maple syrup production is possible as far North as The Pas, although it presents a great many challenges not faced by more south-eastern producers. Despite these challenges, I find maple syrup production in our harsh climate to be a wholly worthwhile endeavour.

On a basic level, the production of maple syrup in Northern Manitoba follows the same process as that undertaken elsewhere. In early spring, as daytime temperatures consistently rise above freezing while nighttime temperatures drop below, deciduous trees, like maples, begin to transport energy and nutrients stored throughout the winter from their roots to their limbs to grow new leaves (How Do You Make Maple Syrup?, n.d.). This energy is transported in the form of a slightly sugary sap. A maple syrup producer “taps” a tree at this time, drilling a small hole in the side of the tree. Sap then flows from the wound, usually guided by a spigot, into a container from which it is collected. This sap must be collected daily, lest it spoil, as yeast or bacteria will rapidly cause it to ferment (How Do You Make Maple Syrup?, n.d.). After it is collected, the sap may be either frozen and boiled later or boiled immediately. It is an intensive boiling process which transforms maple sap into maple syrup, as an enormous amount of water must be boiled off of the sap to concentrate the sugar before it reaches the 66% sugar content required to be considered a syrup. The maple season ends when the trees begin to form new leaf buds (How Do You Make Maple Syrup?, n.d.), as the sap develops an off-flavour at this time. This process is effectively identical wherever maple syrup is produced.

The factor making maple syrup production in Northern Manitoba difficult is the type of tree which must be used. In the major maple syrup production regions of Quebec and Ontario, the tree of choice is the sugar maple, acer saccharum (Michiels & Kort, 1997, p. 327). This tree struggles to grow at all in Manitoba’s comparatively harsh climate, where producers must instead rely on its relative, the far hardier Manitoba maple, acer negundo (Michiels & Kort, 1997, p. 327). Although they are far tougher than sugar maples, Manitoba maples are still relatively uncommon in The Pas and area, being found in their greatest abundance in areas along the shore of the Saskatchewan River. Unfortunately for locals seeking to produce maple syrup, the Manitoba maple is inferior to the sugar maple for this purpose by nearly all relevant metrics. In Manitoba, local maple must be used instead of the conventional sugar maple in syrup production, which creates numerous challenges.

One of the issues associated with making syrup from Manitoba maple is the tree’s relatively small size. Although it grows faster, the Manitoba maple reaches smaller sizes than the sugar maple. Sugar maples commonly reach over twice the height of Manitoba maples (Michiels & Kort, 1997). Larger trees are more productive, and trees which are too small should not be tapped at all (How Do You Make Maple Syrup?, n.d.), making the superior size of the sugar maple a clear advantage.

The sugar maple is also, unsurprisingly, given the name, distinctly superior to the Manitoba maple regarding the sugar content of its sap. The sugar content of Manitoba maple sap is generally lower than that of sugar maple sap. A study comparing sugar and Manitoba maples grown in similar conditions found that sugar maple sap had almost twice the sugar concentration (Michiels & Kort, 1997, p. 327). The number generally applied for sugar maple sap is that 40 litres of sap can be boiled down into 1 litre of syrup, but due to the lower sugar content, the sap-to-syrup ratio will be even lower for Manitoba maple. This also results in a longer boiling time necessary to reach the required sugar content, increasing production costs in the form of fuel. Lower sugar levels in the sap contribute to the poor syrup production characteristics of the Manitoba maple.

A third disadvantage of Manitoba maples compared to their Southeastern relative is the lower level of sap produced. One study conducted in Indian Head, Saskatchewan, found that the volume of sap produced by Manitoba maples averaged 8.8 litres per tap, which is scarcely over 20% of what can be produced by sugar maples (Michiels & Kort, 1997). The extremely low sap volume produced is particularly notable in some individual trees, which produced less than 5 litres of sap throughout the season. Eliminating these statistical outliers, which are typically the same trees year after year, Manitoba maples produced a somewhat less disappointing average of 13.3 litres of sap per year (Michiels & Kort, 1997). Manitoba maples produce far less sap by volume than sugar maples.

I have personally used Manitoba maples in Ralls Island to produce syrup for several years, and I have struggled with all three of these issues. These trees have been found in two locations: my grandparents’ yard and a forested area near the Saskatchewan River. These issues were most pronounced in the forested location, where trees large enough to tap were scarce and those that produced negligible quantities of sap were prevalent. In the open area of my grandparents’ yard, where the maples grow unimpeded by competition for sunlight, these issues are less pronounced. It is in my grandparents’ yard, however, that I have encountered what the Indian Head study would consider a statistical outlier for its unproductivity: a tree that, despite its large size and favourable growing conditions, only ever produces a fraction of the sap that runs from nearby trees. There is then the issue of concentrating the sap into sugar, which often takes me multiple days, during which 50-80 litres of sap will be transformed into about a litre of syrup. The issues of using Manitoba maples to make syrup are ones I can personally attest to the validity of.

Despite its many challenges, I still consider producing Manitoba maple syrup to be a worthwhile use of my time. This leads to the obvious question: why would I consider devoting so much time to collecting and boiling sap, for the measly reward of $20 worth of syrup, to be a worthwhile use of time? The main reason is that I enjoy the relationship I have with something I eat. I enjoy eating something I spent days boiling in my backyard, watching it changes from a clear, thin sap to a deep brown syrup. I enjoy knowing what that sap smelled and tasted like the day it leaked out of the tree, and how that smell has become synonymous with spring for me. I enjoy knowing that the tree was planted by my grandfather four decades prior, and that the reason it is five meters taller than the one next to it is because a long-gone chicken coop used to provide it with a constant source of fertilizer. Having personal knowledge of what I am eating is an experience I find extremely valuable, and I consider myself fortunate to have it. Although producing maple syrup in Northern Manitoba is fraught with challenges, I can find joy in the process, which more than outweighs its often tedious nature.

Northern Manitoba is not heavily associated with maple syrup production due to the difficulty of making the sweetener in our climate. Despite these difficulties, I personally enjoy the process of making syrup using Manitoba maple. I am grateful for the opportunity to have a personal, hands-on relationship with food and the natural world. Opportunities like these are best found in remote, rural areas, which is part of the reason I love the North.