-Submitted photo Farrah Tuel and her brother Dawson Tuel collect sap from trees on their property after school each day. Farrah and Dawson helped to collect approximately 90 gallons of sap this year for sugaring maple syrup.

LEHIGH — Biting into a piece of French toast is extra sweet at the home of Joe and Ashley Tuel. That’s because that toast is drenched in homemade maple syrup that was collected, boiled, and sugared at their rural Lehigh home.

“It’s just a fun little hobby,” said Ashley Tuel. “It feels good after a long winter to get out and enjoy the nice weather and do something as a family. In stores a bottle of pure maple syrup is $7-$8. Once you have pure maple syrup, it’s hard to eat the artificial stuff.”

According to Tuel, they learned the art of making maple syrup from her father-in-law, Dwight Tuel, who took a class from the Department of Natural Resources at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park years ago. Dwight Tuel has been making syrup for almost 10 years now.

“He also educated himself on it through reading magazines and books, and then decided to give it a whirl,” said Ashley Tuel. “He would bring the grandkids along to tap trees and help collect sap. Then Joe and I started tagging along and asking questions. The last three years we have kind of taken it over.”

Tuel’s children, Landon, 18, Dawson, 12, and Farrah, 11, even get in on the family hobby each spring by tapping the trees. They drill the hole on the south side of the tree and pound in the tap. Then, after school each day, they bundle up and walk the woods to collect the sap.

-Submitted photo Joe Tuel and daughter Farrah Tuel, tap into trees on their Lehigh property to begin collecting sap for making maple syrup.

“We usually tap trees around late February or early March,” said Tuel. “ It all depends on the year. You want to look for a week where temperatures dip below freezing at night and rise above 40 degrees during the day. We try to tap trees on a Saturday so we can collect sap all week and start boiling the following weekend.”

According to Tuel it takes 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of maple syrup. Each year, they collect 60 to 90 gallons from their trees.

“My favorite part of the process is collecting the sap each day,” said Tuel. “The weather is usually beautiful and the trees that we tap are along the river. It’s so nice to get out for a peaceful walk along the river.”

To tap a tree, you start by drilling a hole into a maple tree using a 7/16 drill bit. Drill the hole about two inches deep and drill at a slight upward angle. Next, pound the tap into the hole. Then, hang your bucket or jug. Sap buckets can be purchased online for around $20. Tuel said they use clean milk jugs.

Sap is collected every day. Then, at the end of the week, the boiling process begins. Tuel said that when they first started making maple syrup, they used a propane burner and a large metal pot. However, the amount of propane needed was expensive, so they invested in a barrel evaporator and now just burn wood.

-Submitted photo Ashley and Joe Tuel and family made just over 1.5 gallons of maple syrup this year.

Boiling the sap takes approximately 20 hours when added to the evaporator. When it boils down, more sap is added until all of the collected sap is in the evaporator. Then, the sap, which is now almost syrup, is removed from the evaporator and run through a filter. Tuel said they then take it into the house to finish boiling on the stove. The sap should reach 219 degrees. Then, it’s time to can the maple syrup.

“So far, we have been successful syrup makers,” said Tuel. “The first year that we boiled it without my father-in-law, we boiled it a little too long and we had crystallized sugar at the bottom of our jars. It was still good though. We haven’t ruined any yet.”

Tuel said that people often ask to purchase their family’s homemade maple syrup, but they don’t sell it. In fact, for all of that collected sap and boiling time, they only get about 1.5 gallons of syrup each year for their family and close friends.

“I love that my father-in-law has taught us and the kids this unique hobby,” said Tuel. “I hope that the kids pass this along to their kids and grandkids.”

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