It's maple syrup season in Wisconsin, a long-standing tradition with Native American roots. Usually running from mid-March to mid-April, this year's unseasonably warm winter threw a wrench in the expected timeline, though syrup is still flowing.

Events

Maple Sugar Time
Saturday, March 23 | 1-2:30 p.m. | Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, 1111 E. Brown Deer Rd., Milwaukee | $12-$18 | Learn how maple sap turns into syrup, how to identify a maple tree, and practice tapping a log with a hand drill.

Maple Sugar Days
Saturday, March 23-Sunday, March 24 | 12-4 p.m. | Wehr Nature Center, 9701 W. College Ave., Franklin | $10 | Register for this program which includes a short walk to the sugarbush, a visit to an old-time sugaring camp, a boil-down demonstration, and stories about the Native American origins of maple sugaring.

Maple Festival
Saturday, April 6 | 9 a.m.-2 p.m. | MacKenzie Environmental Center, W7303 County Highway CS, Poynette | Free | Drop-in activities, guided tours of the sugarbush, tapping demonstrations, and talks about the historical methods and cultural importance of maple sugaring in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin-made syrup near you

In-store:

Capitol Centre Market, 333 W. Dayton St.
Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St.
Willy Street Co-op, all three Madison locations

Dane County Farmers' Market vendors:

Cherokee Bison Farms
Driftless Gold Organic Maple Syrup
Engel’s Pure Maple Syrup
Hickory Hill Farm
Marquardt's Tree Farm
McCluskey Brothers
Murph's
Patterson Sugar Bush

Late Winter Market | Saturdays through April 6 | Garver Feed Mill, 3241 Garver Green

Saturdays on the Square | Saturdays, April 13-Nov. 9 | Capitol Square

Tree tapping

Have you seen tapping equipment set up in your neighborhood? | Photo by 608today

Equipment:

Drill and hammer
Collection container (think: large buckets or coffee containers)
Large boiling pan
Cheesecloth
Candy thermometer
Tapping spouts

Ideal conditions: When the temperature falls around or below freezing at night, and into the 40s during the day.

Ideal trees: Maple trees with a diameter larger than 10 inches.

We found this resource which lays out step-by-step written instructions as well as video tutorials for each step of the tapping process.