She be flowin'

When we got home late last night we were thrilled to find our  buckets had little bit of sap in the bottom. It was only above freezing for a few hours yesterday but just the same .... she be flowin'!

There's about 2" (5cm) of sap in the buckets thus far.  Surprisingly, the clear sap does taste faintly like maple syrup.

If you've ever wondered how sap rises in a tree, here's is a short explanation:

Sap flow is triggered during the maple tree's dormant season when the temperature begins to fluctuate between freeze and thaw. This freeze/thaw causes pressure in the tree's sapwood.

Sapwood, by the way, is the layer just inside the bark .... the area that gets tapped.

When the temperature drops to freezing, the sapwood freezes causing negative pressure inside the tree that in turn creates suction from the roots drawing water from the surrounding soil.
This water adds volume to the sapwood creating pressure inside the tree.
Then when the outside temperature goes above freezing, the sapwood thaws, the volume of sap increases and the positive pressure makes the sap flow.  And it flows out of a wound such a tap.

Outside right now, we are experiencing the freeze/thaw cycle.

This morning there was such a lovely sunrise. Last night it was -6 oC, and today it's supposed to climb to +3oC.

And according to the long range forecast, we're going to get the freeze/thaw cycle right through to the end of the month.  Maybe longer!

However, I have to fess up and reveal the truth about Sugar Maples and how sap flows.
It's simply a matter of turning on the valve.