Friday, March 25

Many different stories are told about how humans learned to first tap maple trees. One legend tells us that Manabush, granddaughter of Nokomis, tasted the sap and found how sweet it was. She knew humans would get lazy if they merely had to poke a hole to get something that sweet all day long. 
 
So, she poured water into the tree to dilute the sap so that humans would appreciate its bounty. Canadians are said to have first gotten the idea to tap trees from watching squirrels licking wounds on the trees to get the sugar crystals. If you want your maple more for it's beauty than it's sweetness, consider the red sunset maple. Find it in our tree nursery.