It’s maple syrup season in Wisconsin, a long-standing tradition with Native American roots. Usually running from mid-March to mid-April, this year’s unseasonably warm winter threw a wrench in the expected timeline, though syrup is still flowing.
Events
Maple Sugar Time
Saturday, March 23 | 1-2:30 p.m. | Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, 1111 E. Brown Deer Rd., Milwaukee | $12-$18 | Learn how maple sap turns into syrup, how to identify a maple tree, and practice tapping a log with a hand drill.
Maple Sugar Days
Saturday, March 23-Sunday, March 24 | 12-4 p.m. | Wehr Nature Center, 9701 W. College Ave., Franklin | $10 | Register for this program which includes a short walk to the sugarbush, a visit to an old-time sugaring camp, a boil-down demonstration, and stories about the Native American origins of maple sugaring.
Maple Festival
Saturday, April 6 | 9 a.m.-2 p.m. | MacKenzie Environmental Center, W7303 County Highway CS, Poynette | Free | Drop-in activities, guided tours of the sugarbush, tapping demonstrations, and talks about the historical methods and cultural importance of maple sugaring in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin-made syrup near you
In-store:
- Capitol Centre Market, 333 W. Dayton St.
- Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St.
- Willy Street Co-op, all three Madison locations
Dane County Farmers’ Market vendors:
- Cherokee Bison Farms
- Driftless Gold Organic Maple Syrup
- Engel’s Pure Maple Syrup
- Hickory Hill Farm
- Marquardt’s Tree Farm
- McCluskey Brothers
- Murph’s
- Patterson Sugar Bush
Late Winter Market | Saturdays through April 6 | Garver Feed Mill, 3241 Garver Green
Saturdays on the Square | Saturdays, April 13-Nov. 9 | Capitol Square
Tree tapping
Equipment:
- Drill and hammer
- Collection container (think: large buckets or coffee containers)
- Large boiling pan
- Cheesecloth
- Candy thermometer
- Tapping spouts
Ideal conditions: When the temperature falls around or below freezing at night, and into the 40s during the day.
Ideal trees: Maple trees with a diameter larger than 10 inches.
We found this resource which lays out step-by-step written instructions as well as video tutorials for each step of the tapping process.
