Henry County Conservations hosts maple syrup demonstration

The Henry County Conservation kicked off its educational event series Thursday with a sweet demonstration. From 4-6 p.m., they hosted multiple groups of people at the Verne Dorothy Maple Syrup Camp at Oakland Mills Park.

'We were really happy about the turnout,” Conservation Director Caleb Waters said. 'With the freezing cold and the amount of snow we had, we weren't too sure if this event was going to happen last week. But I guess nature was on our side this time.”

The event was well attended by people of various ages. From old folks to young kids, everyone was eager to learn how to make maple syrup.

Conservation Naturalist Cari Nicely was in charge of the demonstration. She started by explaining where exactly maple syrup comes from and why it's so hard to make.

'We try to do this program every two to three years, and it's very weather dependent,” Nicely said. 'In order to get the sap from the trees, it needs to be at least 40 degrees during the day and below freezing at night. Once the trees start producing leaves, sap season is over and we can't gather anymore for maple syrup.”

The crowd watched as Nicely and some children volunteers drilled into the maple tree in order to get to the sap. However, it seemed that the sap didn't want to come out and the Conservation crew had the crowd taste leftover sap gathered the day before.

Many of the children in the group vocalized their opinion of the sap, stating that it tasted just like water.

'You'll notice that there's a sweet aftertaste, and since there's that sweetness in the sap, we have to boil it in order for it to turn into maple syrup,” Nicely said

The group moved from the trees to the Verne Dorothy maple syrup building, which houses the original boiling pans and barrel used to hold the sap. Nicely explained the process of turning the sap into syrup and how labor intensive the whole process can be.

'You have to keep boiling the sap to evaporate all that water until it reaches 200.5 degrees°,” she said. 'This can take many hours, sometimes even a day or two, and if you mess it up, you have to start all over.”

The Conservation group ended the demonstration with a taste test to see if the crowd could determine which maple syrup was real and which tasted better.

'Usually, the kids pick the corn syrup maple syrup because that's what their parents usually buy at the store,” assistant naturalist Danika Cox said. 'I'm surprised so many of the kids were opposite this time.”

The next educational event hosted by Henry County Conservation will take place virtually on Saturday, April 17, from 10-11 a.m. The Iowa Bees: What Does Research Say is the Best Thing We Can Do For Them presentation is for anyone interested in bees, and researcher Randall Cass of Iowa State University will present his research and give recommendations for best practices to help bees. Registration and more information can be found at mycountyparks.com/County/Henry/Park/Oakland-Mills-Nature-Center/Events/14555/IOWA-BEES-WHAT-DOES-RESEARCH-SAY-IS-THE-BEST-THING.aspx.