Arts & Entertainment
In Pictures: Maple Sugaring in the Wissahickon
Maple syrup was being made in the Wissahickon and the public was invited.
The annual Maple Sugar Day sponsored by the Wissahickon Environmental Center was held this year on Saturday, Feb. 26. Visitors helped tap trees, tasted sap (slightly sweet, maple-flavored watery stuff), taste-tested different sweeteners including hickory and poplar syrups, ate pancakes with maple syrup, toured the sugar bush and sampled maple sugar candy.
Staff of the Environmental Center and volunteers stirred boiling sap, turned pancakes on a big griddle, measured the temperature on syrup boiling down to become maple sugar candy, and led visitors through the process of tapping, gathering and rendering maple sap to syrup.
This event is planned annually when the sap begins to run just before buds begin to swell and trees leaf out. It’s a sign: Spring is coming.
