2 Summer 2014 Applegater
Award-winning maple syrup
prompts forest cleanup
my evaporator from
propane to wood fuel
and needed several
c o rd s o f va r i o u s
sized firewood that
could be obtained by
by lAIRd FuNk
proper thinning.
One of my favorite winter recreational and dark. This year the competition went
Luke Ruediger,
pursuits, as some of you may know, is “international” for the first time because of a well-known local
tapping our local bigleaf maples to make my entry in the dark category. My syrup forester, agreed to
maple syrup. There are very few activities was actually supposed to be entered last meet with me to
that entice you outside in the coldest times year, but the wonder of Canadian Customs figure out how to
of the year, but tapping creates a mind-set delayed the package for three weeks and it proceed with the
that allows you to ignore the chill as you arrived long after the judging. My mentor task. We walked the
gather gallons of sap and boil them down volunteered to store my syrup and enter it area, noting which
for me in this year’s contest.
to that wonderful liquid, maple syrup.
trees were healthy
Imagine my surprise when and which were sick,
My third year tapping was
different from the previous ones. The the festival organizers called one injured or simply in
maple trees as well as humans noticed evening to tell me I had won second the way, while also
our critical lack of rainfall and responded place (see ribbon picture)! Surprise was trying to increase
differently than with a normal rain year. experienced at the festival too, with the afternoon sun on the
All over the maple tapping areas, sap yield caller telling me that when my name and maples so that they
was much diminished—if sap flowed at address were announced, a hush fell over had a better chance of
all. Those trees in my woods that did flow the room. Finally one person asked out flowing with the right
started out with a good flow and high sugar loud, “You mean he drove all the way here winter temperatures.
content, but both dropped over the next just to compete?”
The “before” picture
This year when looking for trees to s h o w s t y p i c a l
four days or so; then the flow ceased instead
of flowing for a couple of weeks. Each tap, I ventured into a section of my woods conditions that we
Laird Funk won second place as an “international” competitor in the
Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival held annually
successive tree was the same. Although I I had never tapped before. What I found encountered before
on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
got some flow, I ended up with only two were some nice maples and other trees we set to work.
and a half quarts of syrup compared to two totally crowded by many four- to five-inch
With Luke
diameter trees that had sprung up over doing the saw work and I and a helper easier. Soon sections that were totally
and a half gallons last season.
Up on Vancouver Island, British the years, grew well and then ran out of acting as the cleanup crew sorting and overgrown changed into well-lit, spacious
Columbia, sponsors of the annual February light due to over-topping by bigger trees, moving the brush and firewood, we set woodland vistas. The “after” picture shows
Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival had to beg and now were in decline. The crowded to work. Things went very smoothly and the difference.
The stumps seen in the “after” picture
for enough sap to run the evaporator conditions made even walking difficult we made great progress. Because we kept
demonstration and make tea for sale. and also presented a significant fire danger anything over one and a half inches (just will be later re-cut and painted with
Speaking of the festival, each year they hold with no way of stopping a fire if it occurred. the right size for fueling an evaporator), glyphosate herbicide. The trees cut were
a syrup judging contest with blind samples Something had to be done.
the normally expected amount of brush ashes and maples, which are notorious
Additionally I had decided to convert was greatly reduced, making cleanup much stump-sprouters and would quickly
entered in three groups: light, medium
regrow and create another overgrown mess
Before forest cleanup: The author called in Luke Ruediger to help
After forest cleanup: Some sections of Laird’s forest are now without the glyphosate treatment.
reduce the crowded conditions and significant fire danger.
well-lit and spacious woodlands, fostering healthy maple trees.
Now, the overgrown tangle has
been transformed into a welcoming
riparian forest with a wide range of life,
including gray squirrels and wood ducks
and resting places for wildlife. The clearing
also provided access to treasures not seen
before, like a 12-inch tall morel, drifts
of bleeding hearts and fritillaries and the
hundreds of trilliums that grace the site.
I look forward to next winter’s
tapping season to see if our work helped
our maples to produce more sap. I’ll let
you know how it comes out.
Laird Funk
541-846-6759
lairdfunk@apbb.net
Gater volunteers retire
Our endless thanks go out to two long-time Applegater volunteers:
• Pat Kellogg, one of our eagle-eyed proofreaders who cleaned up
our act for more than ten years, and
• Ted Glover, affectionately known as Birdman for seven years,
who opened our eyes to the beauty and habits of our local birds.
We will miss you!
Applegater Board of Directors
Ted Glover
Pat Kellogg
Meet Amber Caudell,
the Applegater’s
advertising representative
for Josephine County
Amber fell in love with the Williams
valley when her family moved here in
1991. She returned to live here as an adult
to raise her own family, two daughters and
a son. “This area is just the best place I
can think of to raise a family. The people
here are wonderful. My kids got to attend
school at Williams and Applegate; both
are fantastic schools with great teachers.”
Amber recently graduated from the
Arts Institute Online, where she got her
associates degree in graphic design, and has
launched a home business, Honeybee Art
and Design. “Working with the Applegater
lets me get to know the community
better, and it is an excellent publication
to help bring the community together. By
advertising in the Gater we are promoting
a stronger local economy. Give me a call or
drop me an email so we can work together!
If you need an ad created for the paper, or
a business card, I can help with that too.”
You can reach Amber at 541-846-
1027 or ambercaudell@ymail.com.
