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Double 0 Soul
whiskered anonymous Joined: 14 Feb 2013 Location: Yonder Status: Offline Points: 42996 |
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From late February in southern England to early April in Scotland birch
sap marks the coming of spring, when the trees come out of their hibernation
and suck up all the moisture they need to feed the oncoming buds
and leaves.
Forget about clocks, calenders and other fancy man made spring detectors with a little attunement mother nature will show you the way. The trees are just about to bud so yesterday morning we headed into the woodland for the seasonal harvesting. There are a few methods ranging from the more traditional wooden tap (you don't need to buy no fancy-shmancy metal maple tap i whittled these taps/plugs/pegs out of a branch in less than 10mins) to a less invasive method of pegging to a more industrial (frowned upon) method of tubing. Your looking for well established trees with a good girth and large canopy which proves that its out competing the other trees and should yield plenty of sap, especially if found near a stream as these are. My taps measured 22mm in diameter so i used a 20mm bit. Tie your containers around the tree with some twine and jam a stick underneath to support the weight. This is my prefered, less effective but less invasive method of pegging where you force your knife just under the bark, as with the tapping method a 30 degree angle is perfect. Tap in the peg and stroke the sap down the peg with ones finger forcing a capillary reaction and your all set, this method is much slower but hey its a lovely day, whats the rush? Sharpened my knife on a piece of birch polypore (aka razor strop fungus) if you have a cut you can peal a strip of Polypore to use as an anti-bacterial plaster. The birch polypore is an amazing medicinal tree mushroom, can be eaten young or infused into a tea. The fungus has been found to be anti-viral, anti-inflammatory has been used in the treatment of HIV, has a targeting/reversal effect on skin cancer ect ect... They were carried by Otzi the Iceman yet its only 5000 years later that we are only just rediscovering its benefits. Collected some birch bark tinder. Went to the pub for a pint of 'Mellow Yellow' (it was very nice) and a hot chocolate. Lubricated we returned to collect our harvest. My brother in law tells me that throughout the Ukraine and Russia birch sap is bottled and sold seasonally as a fresh energy drink. It can be used to make birch wine, birch beer or distill into a moonshine, prized by whiskey connoisseurs for freezing into ice cubes (being pure and not containing minerals found in mineral water or additives found in tap water) but what i don't drink Im going to reduce down into a syrup. I plug the holes with a wooden bung and cover with 100% beeswax, the wax will melt out when the weather warms up. Much less concentrated than Maple, it has taken 42 pints of sap to make just over 1 pint of syrup, you don't need to reduce it anymore than this golden colour or it can instantly darken and taste burnt, advisable to do the final stage slowly in a bain-marie. Remember folks take only memories.... Oh and don't forget the sap. Edited by Double 0 Soul - 05 Mar 2017 at 3:09am |
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smoothsailor
whiskered anonymous Joined: 25 Mar 2013 Location: groningen Status: Offline Points: 11009 |
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what a cool adventure Double O.
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dislectic
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Dr_Heech
MODERATOR Joined: 23 Jan 2012 Location: Mostly outdoors Status: Offline Points: 26168 |
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Bloody brilliant Double-0!
You live, you learn. And I have definitely learned something new today.
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EaseDownTheRoad
whiskered Joined: 14 Dec 2016 Status: Offline Points: 1212 |
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Bravo Double 0
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sebsakob
whiskered Joined: 01 Dec 2016 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 405 |
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That was a really good read! Thanks for that! Great photos as well :-)
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HP Sauce
whiskered anonymous Joined: 15 Jan 2017 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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Agreed. It was a good read, 00, and it was nice to see someone enjoying spring when it ought to be enjoyed.
The sugar bush hasn't quite arrived in my neck of the woods because the temperatures have been hovering at -18 to -24 C. Truth be told, I am not really a fan of maple syrup. Too sweet. My teeth like birch bark xylitol pastilles, though, and it was interesting to read the other uses you have for this lovely tree. |
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HP Sauce
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dudewuttheheck
whiskered Joined: 25 Sep 2016 Location: OC Status: Offline Points: 8626 |
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Wow. That was an awesome read! A ton of new and interesting information. Thank you for that!
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volvo
whiskered anonymous Joined: 29 Dec 2016 Location: Italia Status: Offline Points: 4263 |
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a truly enjoyable chapter of the OO hunter gatherer saga!
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Bob Dale
whiskered GRAIL Joined: 16 Jan 2012 Location: Tulsa , America Status: Offline Points: 999 |
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I am always impressed by your knowledge and practical skills 00
Wish I owned land , any land -- but especially land with woods like that. As a kid some friends had about 55-60 acres and a good portion was wooded with a creek runnin through it . I think the state is routing a turnpike and used imminent domain (sad face) |
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DarinS.
whiskered Joined: 11 Feb 2017 Location: San Diego Status: Offline Points: 1676 |
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Agree with the others, that post was rad Double O.
I went to the magic kingdom last night, drank a bunch of random tropical drinks at Trader Sam's, and watched the parade after. Recovered this afternoon by the fire pit with a couple Sculpin. |
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Okay
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