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- The sugar shack is part of the winter landscape at the Nature Center.
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- Student Conservation Association volunteers helped prep trees in February.
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- Some trees are drilled and tapped in advance of visitors.
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- Visitors learn to identify maple trees.
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- Nature Educator Christina Hill. assists a young driller.
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- Nature Educator Niki Espy shows how to turn the drill.
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- After drilling, a tap is inserted.
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- When the trees are still frozen, this can be very hard!
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- Ble bags are attached to the taps to collect sap.
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- When the sap runs, you can taste it.
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- The sweetness comes from boiling it down.
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- Visitors to the sugar shack get a taste.
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- Volunteers and Nature Center Neighbors pitch in every season.
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- An opportunity for sledding is the icing on the cake!
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- Ready for another turn.
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- In fall maple trees are easy to spot.
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- Fall wood-cutting day at the Nature Center.
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- Nature Center neighbors, and city folk joined forces.
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- Ear protection required.
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- Nearly two cords of wood were cut.
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- Youth Leader Donte brushed up on his chainsaw technique.
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- Neighborhood House pre-schoolers head out to the sugar bush!
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- Best Friends Forever!
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- Mohamed likes it!
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- A Saturday with Milwaukee Academy of Science, Starms ECE, Family Adventurers
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- Getting a taste of the action.
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- Scat sightings.
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- Family time.
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- Snow soccer.
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- One more sip!
Maple Sugaring Days are in full swing this March, and the outings are “SOLD OUT”! For Nature Educators Niki Espy and Christina Hill it’s a particular kind of March Madness, a sweet one, that gives kids a taste of an age-old outdoor tradition.
Kids from Neighborhood House pre-school and after school programs are busy drilling, tapping, and collecting sap from maple trees at our 93-acre Dodge County Nature Center. Soon, kids from area schools will be making their annual visits – for many, it’s a return trip that builds a sense of connection with the Nature Center’s flora and fauna, as they track changes through the seasons, and take part in a cultural activity that goes back generations.
This year Neighborhood House is also hosting FREE maple sugaring days that are open to the public on two Saturdays in March: March 14th & 21st. The outings are part of our Family Adventures series, funded through MPS Partnership for the Arts & Humanities, and include bus transportation and hands-on activities. The increasingly popular outings are booked solid this year!
Why is March maple sugar time? It’s all about the freeze-thaw cycle: when days warm up into the 30s and 40, and nights are below freezing, the sap starts to run. The flow can last several weeks, and sap accumulates by the gallon.
“Everything was fantastic! I would highly recommend that it be available as an auction item at the next gala! I’d bid again!” – a happy visitor speaking about a very special Maple Sugaring birthday party hosted at the Nature Center.
Neighborhood House’s maple sugaring season technically began back in October, 2014, when a crew of 13 volunteers, friends, and Nature Center neighbors – city folks and country folks together – cut and stacked nearly two cords of wood. The wood fuels the outdoor Sugar Shack where sap is boiled down into syrup (40 gallons of sap makes 1 gallon of syrup), and heats our lodge for winter programs.
In February, more volunteers, including some from the Student Conservation Association, drilled and tapped trees to help prepare the sugar-bush.
Contact Christina Hill for more information (414-933-6161 xt. 175) on Nature Center programs for schools.
The Nature Center is also available to rent for birthdays and other private events. Contact Niki Espy for more information on rentals (414-933-6161 xt. 156). More on our Facilities page.
