| Maple syrup is a centuries old sweet treat. For early Ohio settlers white cane sugar was an expensive imported product so the pioneers made maple sugar in abundance. At Metro Parks Slate Run Living Historical Farm near Canal Winchester, park workers make maple syrup the way it was made in the 1880s. According to 1879 census records, Samuel Oman, who owned the property that is now Slate Run Farm, made 200 pounds of maple syrup that year. Slate Run Living Historical Farm workers hand collect the maple sap in buckets from the trees and then cook the sap down over an open fire. Pictured above, Slate Run Farm Interpretive Aide Stephanie Reiner boils the maple sap the 1880s way to concentrate the sugars. Below, a volunteer drills into a sugar maple tree to insert the tap by which maple sap is collected. The maple sap is tapped and made into syrup in February. |
