• This article was written by Valerie Blaine, nature programs manager for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. You may reach her at blainevalerie@kaneforest.com.

It’s March. We long for spring, we long to shed pounds, we long for an end to the presidential debates, we long for … happiness. There may be an answer: Maple syrup.

What?! Listen to this bit of advice given to a former United States president:

“In contemplating the present … prospects in human affairs, I am led to expect that a material part of the general happiness which heaven seems to have prepared for mankind, will be derived from the manufacture and general use of maple sugar.”

OK, so those words were written a long time ago. They were penned by a physician named Benjamin Rush to Thomas Jefferson in the early 18th century. It may seem quaint and old-fashioned, but maple sugaring, as the process of tapping trees and making syrup is called, is an all-around healthy activity. It’s a way to connect with the natural world in its purest, sweetest form.

How DO you get syrup from a tree? First things first: Syrup doesn’t flow from trees; sap does. Sap is the liquid food of the tree, consisting of plant sugars produced by last year’s leaves. The sap has been stored all winter in the tree’s plumbing (technically, special tubes called xylem).

Right out of the tree, the sap is only slightly sweet to the taste. Long ago, perhaps by accident, Native Americans learned that heating the sap evaporates the water and leaves a sweet, dark syrup. Knowing this, they began to collect sap each spring when it rises in the trees to fuel new growth. Only certain kinds of trees proved to have sweet enough sap — notably, sugar and black maple, birch and walnut. The maples were the favorites in much of the eastern United States.

Early collecting methods involved making a cut in the bark of a large maple tree and inserting a hollowed-out twig or branch to direct the flow of sap into a container. In the really old days — prior to the arrival of Europeans —  containers were made of bark, animal hides or hollowed-out logs.

With the advent of metal tools, maple sugaring quickly caught on in the young United States. Early settlers used an auger to drill holes in the maple trunks, and then inserted hollow pegs called spiles to direct the flow of sap. Metal spiles replaced the bored-out twigs that had previously been used. Metal buckets took the place of bark-and-hide containers, and kettles were used instead of hollow logs. Horse-drawn wagons hauled large volumes of sap to boiling stations. Sap was heated in a series of iron kettles hung over an open fire. As the sap thickened, it was transferred from one kettle to another until it reached the consistency of syrup in the final kettle.

Boiling the sap takes a long time. Maple sap is 97 percent to 98 percent water and about 2 or 3 percent sugar. All the water has to be evaporated in order to get sweet syrup and/or maple sugar. Depending on the amount of sap you use, boiling can take days or weeks. It’s a process that can’t be rushed.

How much syrup can you get by boiling sap? It takes 40 gallons of sap from a sugar maple tree to make one gallon of syrup. That’s right: 40:1. In other words, harvesting 10 gallons of sap will yield about one quart of maple syrup. (Now you know why pure maple syrup is so expensive at the store!)

Maple sugaring is labor-intensive, and slow. In the old days many people, young and old pitched in throughout the weeks-long sugaring season. Along with the hard work, there were “sugaring off” parties with music and food and fun. Maple sugaring was a traditional time for gathering family and friends.

In modern sugaring operations, technology makes the entire process more efficient. Sap is collected in plastic bags that hang under plastic spiles. It flows through a network of tubing that interconnects a large number of maple trees. There are high-tech evaporators, complete with valves and gauges to monitor and control the distillation process. While efficiency has increased, production still takes weeks. Maple syrup refuses to be fast food.

How can maple sugaring enhance our lives, as Dr. Rush advised so long ago? Slowing down may be key. Maple syrup is the slow food of all slow foods, and producing maple syrup is a labor of love that can and should be shared by many. It’s a re-connection with the source of all of our food: plants. It’s a re-connection with community. It’s fun, and the final product is sweet!

You may not have a grove of mature sugar maples in your yard, but you can share in the maple sugaring tradition at Maple Sugaring Days at Creek Bend Nature Center this Saturday and Sunday, March 12 and 13. Drop in any time between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to try your hand at tapping a tree, making spiles, stirring the sap as it simmers over an open fire, and sampling locally-produced syrup.

There will be a display of old fashioned tools, and short presentations on the evolution of technology in the sugaring industry. Kids will enjoy face painting and scavenger hunts, and all ages can come along on naturalist-guided walks in the woods.

Plus, Creek Bend Nature Center will be open. You’re welcome to enjoy all of the interactive exhibits available. No registration is required for this free nature program. LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve is located at 37W700 Dean St., Saint Charles.

This weekend, sample a little of the happiness that heaven offers mankind, as the good doctor ordered. There will be plenty to go around during Maple Sugaring Days at Creek Bend!

For more information on Maple Sugaring Days, call 630-444-3190 or visit www.kaneforest.com.

Sweet Talk – a Quick Guide to Maple Sugaring Vocabulary

• “sugar” (verb) — to tap, collect, and process maple sap
• “sugaring off “— the final stages of sugaring
• “sugarer” — a person who harvests and processes maple sap into maple sugar products
• “sugarbush” —  a stand, or group, of large mature maple trees that are tapped for their sap
• “sugar shack” — a building in which maple sap is processed, usually with evaporators or wood stoves for the long, slow boiling