What is it Wednesday: February 16, 2022

 

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

February 16, 2022.

And the answer is....

 

 

This leaf is not only red-colored, it is the leaf of a red maple tree. 

We have red maples on our minds, because it is maple sugaring season and at Lutherlyn the trees we tap for making maple syrup here are all red maples. Sugar maples have the most sugar in their sap, as the name implies, but red maples also have enough sugar in the sap to effectively make syrup. 

You can tell the difference between red maple leaves and sugar maple leaves by paying attention to some details. Red maple leaves generally have three main lobes - sugar maple leaves have five main lobes (picture the Canadian flag). The space between the lobes (known as the sinus) is v-shaped in red maples, and in sugar maples is more u-shaped. And the most reliable difference is that red maple leaves have serrated edges, while sugar maple leaves are smooth-edged between points.

Leaf shapes, however, are rather variable! You can sometimes find sugar maple leaves that have sinuses that are closer to v-shaped; and red maple leaves that have small points on the bottom of the leaf on each side – does that count as three or five lobes? And of course – leaves are not present on the trees year-round! So looking at the leaves is not always the best way to distinguish the type of tree.

The answer is in the name: Red! The leaves of red maples turn a bright red in the fall (as in this photo) but also the leaf stems, ends of the twigs, and the buds of red maples are all distinctly red. The twigs and buds of sugar maples are brown. Red maples are the most abundant and most widespread tree species in North America. They can grow in a wide variety of habitats, even in areas that are too wet for other trees to thrive, including sugar maples.

At our maple sugaring Saturday Safaris, participants learn other tricks for winter tree id as well – you need to know how to pick out a maple tree (whether it's sugar or red) from all the other trees in a forest so you know which ones to tap! We also include tapping trees, collecting sap, watching the process of making sap into syrup, and of course tasting syrup! The maple sugaring Saturday Safari is always the first Saturday in March, but maple sugaring experiences at Lutherlyn are available for school field trips and scout groups too. Check out www.Lutherlyn.com/ee  for info on these and other LEEP events!  

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: March 17, 2021

 

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

March 17, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

This is a maple syrup filter, and the residue filtered out of the syrup. 

Filtering is the final step in the process of making maple syrup.When the sap is boiled to concentrate the sugar, making it into syrup, other components in the sap are also concentrated and precipitate out of the syrup. This collects as a gritty residue in the syrup known as maple sand or nitre. 

Maple sand isn’t harmful, but filtering it out removes the gritty sediment so it doesn’t collect at the bottom of the syrup bottles, where it could get stirred up and re-introduced into the syrup when it is poured out.

Maple sand is made up of some of the minerals and nutrients trees bring in through their roots, along with small sugar crystals. The main components are calcium and malic acid (combined into calcium malate), and small amounts of potassium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, iron and other organic acids. As the syrup passed through the filter on its way into a glass jug, the maple sand collects in the filter and it is washed down the drain when the filter is cleaned. This filter is shown after straining about one gallon of syrup.

Maple sugaring season is finishing up at Lutherlyn, but if you missed it don’t worry! Every year our Maple Sugaring Saturday Safari is the first Saturday in March – maybe we’ll see you at it next year! 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: March 18, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

March 18, 2020.

And the answer is....

This is the opening blossom of a red maple tree. 

Red maples are one of the first trees to blossom in the early spring in our area. (Silver maples are often a few weeks earlier, sugar maples a little later.)

The opening of maples blossoms also signals the end of maple sugaring season. 

Once the blossoms begin to open, the trees release additional chemicals into the sap which makes the flavor of syrup made from that sap bitter. (It is sometimes referred to as “buddy” syrup.) So to avoid this bitter syrup, maple producers pull their taps when they see that the buds have opened on their maple trees. Exactly when this happens varies from year to year and location to location. Here at Lutherlyn, we tap red maple trees, so when the red maples blossom, our season season is over. 

Of course, other things can end maple season too – running out of firewood; running out of time for hauling, boiling, filtering, and cleaning up; sap stops flowing because it stayed warm; etc. 

On Monday we noticed the buds opening on some of the maple trees in our sugarbush (the area of forest where the trees are tapped) – so maple season 2020 is over at Lutherlyn! We are now into maple cleanup – finishing boiling the last of the sap into syrup, pulling the taps and buckets from the trees, sanitizing all the buckets, lids, spiles, hoses, and other equipment, cleaning the evaporator, and storing it all away for next year.

Holly with sap buckets, lids, and containers, sanitized and drying in the dining hall kitchen

Maybe next time you are at Lutherlyn you will get to taste some of our syrup – check out www.Lutherlyn.com for info about summer camp, retreats, overnight field trips, and other events that could include a pancake breakfast!

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: March 4, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

March 4, 2020. 

And the answer is....

This shiny item is the new evaporator flue pan! 

Thanks to a generous donor, we recently installed new evaporator pans in our Sugar Shack, which will allow us to boil maple sap into maple syrup without leaks and constant repairs. While we were moving the new pans into the sugar shack, we noticed that the new pans were so shiny that they looked almost camouflaged with the background from a certain angle. Here it is, not so camouflaged: 

The drop flues extending out of the bottom of the flue pan are very visible in this second picture – these sections protrude from the bottom of the pan right into the area where the heat from the fire passes into the flue on its way to the  chimney. Having long narrow sections reach down into this highly heated area provides more surface area, which makes it possible for the sap to heat up and boil more quickly.

After passing through the flue pans (in the back) the sap flows into the channels of the syrup pans (in the front) directly over the fire. Here the sap boils into syrup.

We have had our first maple sugaring groups of the season, and you can see the new evaporator pans in action too at our Maple Sugaring Saturday Safari – always the first Saturday in March! In addition to visiting the Sugar Shack and seeing the evaporator making the sap into syrup, everyone gets to choose and tap a maple tree and collect sap from trees already tapped – and of course, taste syrup! Check out www.Lutherlyn.com/safari for more info and to register!

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: February 26, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

February 26, 2020. 

And the answer is....

These are hydrometers calibrated for maple syrup and sap, used during the maple sugaring process.

A hydrometer is an instrument that measures the density of liquid. The hydrometer on the left is used to determine when maple sap has been boiled long enough that it has turned into maple syrup.

If this hydrometer is floated in a container of boiling sap/syrup and it floats so the surface of the liquid is at the top red line, the sap has become syrup. If it doesn’t float, or floats with the surface of the liquid at a point higher than the top red line, the liquid is not yet dense enough to be considered syrup, and must be boiled longer. (The lower red line is the float-point for cooled syrup.)

The hydrometer on the right is a sap hydrometer. It is used to determine the amount of sugar in sap before it has been boiled.

The sugar content of sap determines how many gallons of sap will be needed to produce a gallon of syrup, and how long it will need to be boiled. It is also interesting to track the sugar content of sap over the years and see if there are any variations related to yearly weather conditions or different locations.

At Lutherlyn we have very few sugar maple trees but lots of red maples. The trees we tap are all red maples.  The sap we gather from red maple trees at Lutherlyn ranges from about  1% to 1.5% sugar content That means we have to boil between 50-85 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup! As its name implies, sugar maple sap has the highest sugar content of all maples: usually about 2%-2.5%, which means it takes roughly 35-45 gallons of sugar maple sap to make a gallon of maple syrup. Percentage sugar content in a liquid is also known as brix, and is referred to in wine, beer, and candy making, as well as maple sugaring.

Join us at Lutherlyn for the Maple Sugaring Saturday Safari, open to the public -- always the first Saturday in  March! Everyone will learn to identify maple trees in winter, pick and tap a tree, bring sap to the sugar shack, and of course, taste our own maple syrup! For more info and to register check out www.lutherlyn.com/safari. 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday archive: January 31, 2018

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

January 31, 2018. 

And the answer is....

This is a close up of some of the many buckets used to collect maple sap to turn into maple syrup at Lutherlyn! 

Each tree that is tapped has a bucket like this hung from a spile (small metal tube) that is inserted into a small hole in the tree. The sap drips from the spile into the bucket, then is taken to the Sugar Shack to be turned into syrup. 

In 2018, Winter Retreat campers helped us tap the first 10 trees of the 2018 season. 

Every group that visits Lutherlyn for maple sugaring gets to tap trees and hang their own buckets – by the end of the season we will have put out over 100 buckets! 

You could tap a tree and hang your own bucket at the Maple Saturday Safari -- always the first Saturday in March. LEEP can also schedule additional maple sugaring dates for groups of 10 or more -- great for scouts and school field trips! 

http://www.lutherlyn.com/ourprograms/environmental_education/safari.html

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: February 28, 2019

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

the day after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on February 27, 2019. 

And the answer is....

This is a closeup of the sign on Lutherlyn’s sugar shack, where we boil maple sap into maple syrup (perhaps the best-smelling place at Lutherlyn, during maple season!).

This Saturday is LEEP’s annual maple sugaring Saturday Safari – join us to be a part of maple sugaring at Lutherlyn! 

Everyone gets to choose and tap a tree, hang a bucket, collect sap from previously tapped trees, and see (and taste!) sap being  boiled in maple syrup, while also learning about how trees function and how to identify trees in the winter. 

Your participation in the day’s activities helps make the delicious real maple syrup we eat in the dining hall over the next year!

To register or find out more go to www.lutherlyn.com/safari. 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday archive: February 21, 2018

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

the day after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on February 21, 2018. 

And the answer is....

These are the tools that we use when we tap maple trees at Lutherlyn:

 a bit-and-brace drill

 a spile

 a mallet

 and a measuring tape. 

What are the toothbrush and popsicle stick for? 

To find out, and get to use these tools to tap a tree yourself, join us at the Maple Sugaring Saturday Safari, the first Saturday in March every year! 

To learn more about Saturday Safaris go to www.lutherlyn.com/safari

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: February 14, 2019

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

the day after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on February 13, 2019. 

And the answer is....

The hole in this tree was created by a maple sugaring tap placed in this tree in previous years. 

After the spile (small metal tube) is removed from the tap hole at the end of the maple sugaring season, the tree begins to heal the hole (and any crack that might develop along the hole) by growing new tissue in the hole. After a year or two, the hole in the living tissue of the tree is completely filled in, and a hole and crack in the outer bark is all that is left behind. 

Eventually even the hole in the bark is covered when inner bark becomes outer bark and replaces the old outer bark as it sheds. As a tree grows wider, the outer bark cracks and the inner bark beneath the cracks is exposed. As that inner bark toughens and dies, it becomes outer bark, covering the growth cracks with new outer bark. Gradually the topmost layers of outer bark break off in small pieces and the new outer bark below becomes the top layer. The same thing happens with tap holes. Finally, only a small “pucker” on the outer bark shows that a tap was once placed in that spot. 

The tap hole in this photo was probably created two or three years ago.

We have already had two groups help us tap maple trees this season, and we will be adding more taps and buckets with each group that joins us for maple sugaring over the next month. You can be a part of maple sugaring at Lutherlyn! Join us for our maple Saturday Safari on March 2^nd, or call to schedule a special group. Find more info or register for Saturday Safaris here: www.lutherlyn.com/safari . 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!