Are you interested in learning about making your own maple syrup? If so, come to the seventh annual Backyard Maple Syrup Production Workshop at the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center on February 4th. Maple sap collection and syrup production is easy, relatively inexpensive to start, and is a great late winter project that can be fun for the entire family. Sugar maples, the species typically thought of for sap collection, are abundant in Illinois, but other species of maple can also be tapped to make this tasty syrup.
This all-outdoor program will cover tree identification, equipment needs, tree tapping, sap collection, boiling, and finishing maple syrup. Participants will see firsthand the processes involved in making maple syrup. We will have a demonstration of a syrup evaporator and an optional tour of a sugarbush forest, managed for maple syrup production and utilizing a pipeline system of sap collection.
The University of Illinois Extension will provide an indoor maple syrup program for kids.
The workshop will be held on Saturday, February 4th, 2023 from 10:00 am -12:15 pm at the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center, located at 354 State Highway 145 N, Simpson, IL 62985. This program is free and open to the public.
Before the workshop, we are hosting a pancake breakfast as a 4H fundraiser. Join at us 8:30am for pancakes and real maple syrup made right here at the Dixon Springs Ag Center ($8 per person, pre-registration required)
