Set 1 of My Maple Tree and Maple Sugaring Favorite Photographs
Bob Jensen at Trinity University 

We live in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire which got its name for the tapping of maple trees to get
maple syrup, maple sugar, maple flavorings, and sweet maple paste.
We have upwards of 50 maple trees, but Erika and I really only have seven that are the very large and very old maple trees
This is one of the oldest of our big maple trees that's located in our wildflower field south of the cottage

Very old maple trees are like old people. They tend to become fragile and diseased.
The above tree lost a very big limb in the Summer of 2012.
It was not due to wind or heavy ice, both of which it endured for nearly 200 years.
The limb simply fell down on a calm day summer day when Erika and I were visiting our children in Maine.



 

 

The photograph below shows the broken limb plus our barn in the background
The old tree lives on but Ice and wind bring it down much sooner now that it is wounded.

The Sunset Hill House Hotel is opposite our wildflower field

This is another of the three big and old maple trees in our wildflower field
Our barn was once a power house that generated electricity for a resort that once stood on our land
I added a garage for my tractor and equipment

 

We have other large and old maple trees that are still hanging on in the winter winds and the snow and ice.
This is the one closest to the cottage that is beside an outbuilding we call the studio


These are two large  maples southeast of the cottage

The maple trees shed deep blankets of leaves upon the lawn
This year I purchased a sweeper that works great behind my tractor

This is how those two maple trees frame Mt. Washington as seen from our driveway in late October

 

This is me in front of a big tree in front of Stephen King's mansion in Bangor

Below is the biggest of our maple trees (over 14 feet in circumference)
It's directly north of our driveway parking area

This big maple towers above the cedars that line the driveway
Several years ago young deer ate away the bottoms of the cedar trees
These trees are still recovering
Now I put out snow stakes wrapped with heavy fish line around these cedars in the winter
That seems to keep the deer from turning my cedar trees into lollypops

 

This is a younger maple on the north side of the cottage
It has tiny maple leaves compared with the other maple trees in our acreage
The red impatience were still in bloom because October was quite warm in these mountains

This big maple tree shown below split down the middle three years ago and had to be cut up for firewood
The cement strips are what remains of an old shuffle board court of the big hotel that once stood on this land

Out back on the golf course a maple tree serves as a sign post to mark the cross country ski trails

Usually in March in Sugar Hill sugaring taps are pounded into the maple trees for the sap that will be boiled down into syrup

 

Three years ago a neighbor a half mile down Sunset Hill Road lost this big maple tree
This illustrates how many of these historic old trees are hollowed out in the middle

 

I captured the pictures below from our living room in the autumn of our lives

 

Maple Syrup --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup

Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Maple trees can be tapped by boring holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap. The sap is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.

Maple syrup was first collected and used by the indigenous peoples of North America. The practice was adopted by European settlers, who gradually improved production methods. Technological improvements in the 1970s further refined syrup processing. The Canadian province of Quebec is by far the largest producer, responsible for about three-quarters of the world's output; Canadian exports of maple syrup exceed C$145 million (approximately US$141 million) per year. Vermont is the largest producer in the United States, generating about 5.5 percent of the global supply.

Maple syrup is graded according to the Canada, United States, or Vermont scales based on its density and translucency. Sucrose is the most prevalent sugar in maple syrup. In Canada, syrups must be at least 66 percent sugar and be made exclusively from maple sap[1] to qualify as maple syrup. In the United States, a syrup must be made almost entirely from maple sap to be labelled as "maple".

Maple syrup is often eaten with pancakes, waffles, French toast, or oatmeal and porridge. It is also used as an ingredient in baking, and as a sweetener or flavouring agent. Culinary experts have praised its unique flavour, although the chemistry responsible is not fully understood.

Maple Tree --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_tree

Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in Sapindaceae. The type species of the genus is Acer pseudoplatanus (Sycamore maple).

There are approximately 128 species, most of which are native to Asia, with a number also appearing in Europe, northern Africa, and North America. Only one species, the poorly studied Acer laurinum, is native to the Southern Hemisphere. Fifty-four species of maples meet the International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria for being under threat of extinction in their native habitat.

The word Acer derives from a Latin word meaning "sharp" (compare "acerbic"), referring to the characteristic points on maple leaves. It was first applied to the genus by the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in 1700. The earliest known fossil maple is Acer alaskense, from the Latest Paleocene of Alaska.

From the Scout Report on April 5, 2013

Amidst a bucolic New England backdrop, the maple syrup industry is
going high-tech
High-Tech Means of Production Belies the Nostalgic Image of Maple Syrup
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/us/maple-syrup-takes-turn-toward-technology.html

Birch syrup explored as add-on to maple industry
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP38cd57f41f0646caad366c5ec16b8201.html

Maple-syrup making way of life for Salem family
http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/apr/01/hidden-farm-yields-masterful-syrup-makin/

Produces hope for successful maple syrup season
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/producers-hope-for-successful-maple-syrup-season/article_91ca78d0-98e7-11e2-9322-001a4bcf887a.html

Maple Research Website
http://researchguides.uvm.edu/maple/

Maple Syrup
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171760

 

More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

Blogs of White Mountain Hikers (many great photographs) ---
http://www.blogger.com/profile/02242409292439585691

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 White Mountain News --- http://www.whitemtnews.com/

On May 14, 2006 I retired from Trinity University after a long and wonderful career as an accounting professor in four universities. I was generously granted "Emeritus" status by the Trustees of Trinity University. My wife and I now live in a cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm

Bob Jensen's Blogs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   

Our address is 190 Sunset Hill Road, Sugar Hill, New Hampshire
Our cottage was known as the Brayton Cottage in the early 1900s
Sunset Hill is a ridge overlooking with New Hampshire's White Mountains to the East
and Vermont's Green Mountains to the West

 

New Hampshire Historical Society --- http://www.nhhistory.org

Clement Moran Photography Collection (antique New Hampshire photographs) --- Click Here
http://www.library.unh.edu/digital/islandora/solr/search/moran/1/category%3APhotographs~slsh~Clement%5C%20Moran%5C%20Collection%2A~/dismax

Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/