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Southwest Virginia Tree Syrup School
November 22-23, 2019
Pound and St. Paul, Virginia
AGENDA
Friday, November 22, 2019
3:00pm – Tour of South Fork Farms in Pound, VA (2 hours)
Brian, Amanda and Wesley Hubbard added ten taps to their blueberry operation in 2016
and have since expanded to a tubing-based operation and a sugar house equipped with
reverse osmosis. They’ve been steadily expanding each year and will manage 800 taps
this coming season. This tour will include discussion with the workshop speakers, and
other participants.
The group will meet in the parking lot of J.W. Adams Combined School in Pound, VA
and depart by car pool at 2:45pm.
6:00pm – Pancake supper and panel Q&A (1 hour for panel discussion)
A pancake supper will be offered by the High Knob Master Naturalists in the cafeteria of
J.W. Adams Combined School in Pound for $5 per plate. This will be an opportunity to
ask questions of those familiar with the tree syrup industry in Virginia and to learn more
about the maple syrup programs of the High Knob Master Naturalists.
Saturday, November 23, 2019
9:00am – Registration at the Oxbow Center, St. Paul, Virginia
9:30 – 10:20am – “An Introduction to Maple Syrup” – Mike Rechlin, author of Maple Syrup: An
Introduction to the Science of a Forest Treasure
What is maple syrup? – The uniqueness of maple syrup, alternative sweetener,
health benefits, natural and local product.
Maple Syrup in the central Appalachians – history, culture, the present-day
industry
Why make maple syrup? profitable, community building, small farm enterprise,
value added processing
10:30 – 11:20am – Tapping Demonstration and Practice (outdoors) – Mike Rechlin
• Tapping guidelines
• Sap collection systems set-up
• Tapping practice
• Tapping and tree health
11:30am – 12:20pm — Sap to Syrup demonstration – Mike Rechlin
• Boiling sap – demonstration, presentation on different evaporators
• Finishing syrup – grade, filtering, 66 Brix, hydrometer/refractometer
demonstrations
• Flavor and chemistry of the evaporator
• Tasting
12:30 – Lunch
1:00 – 1:50pm – “Closing Out the Maple Season” – Missy Moyers-Jarrells, Laurel Fork
Sapsuckers Sugar Camp, Hightown, VA
When do you know – beyond the shadow of a doubt – that the season is over?
How, exactly, do you retire your taps?
What are some options for disinfecting your lines?
Are there any other chores that should be handled immediately after the
conclusion of the sap flow?
2:00 – 2:50pm – “Managed Growth: How big and how fast should I grow my tree syrup
business?” – Dr. Tom Hammett, Professor of Sustainability, Design & Innovation, Virginia Tech
College of Natural Resources and Environment
CONCURRENT 3:00 – 3:50pm – “Managing Your Woodlands for Productive Tree Sap” – Bill
Worrell, Extension Forester, Virginia Cooperative Extension
CONCURRENT 3:00 – 3:50pm – “Forest Farming Opportunities in the Understory” –
Appalachian Sustainable Development
4:00 – 4:30pm – “Looking Ahead to a Virginia Tree Syrup Association” — Dr. Tom Hammett
4:30pm – Wrap-Up, Evaluations and Door Prizes
Presented by the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension Service and supported in part by a grant
through Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACs) from the USDA
Specialty Crop Block Grant Program