Birch sap has long been a traditional product
that has been used when people who are foraging
or they're going along the trails and they needed something to drink
you break off a branch, the sap will start flowing from that branch
if it's the right time of year.
And when you drink it, it's really good water.
I was interested in doing birch tapping and birch sap
and started exploring it and looking into it
and then somebody said, "oh Val is interested in that."
Um, Val, Val works for extension as well
but I was in Palmer and she was out here at the farm.
So I called up Val and we decided that we were going to do a class.
The rest of the United States I think
hasn't really gotten very far into birch tapping
because they've had the maple syrup.
And maple syrup it only takes 30 to 40 gallons
to get one gallon of syrup.
Birch it's more like 100 gallons.
So with birch sap there is a lot of liquid and
if you wanted to make one gallon of syrup
you would have to collect from 100 to 120 gallons of sap
just to make one gallon of syrup.
So you bring it up to a boil or just under a boil.
and you cook it. And you cook it and you cook it and you cook it.
You know it's been used by Scandinavians and Russians for hundreds
probably thousands of years.
I would assume sour doughs would use it for their pancakes.
Sour Doughs meaning you know old time Alaskans.
I moved up here in the early 90s
and my dad had always wanted to go to Alaska
and he was a dairy farmer so had to be close to home and never got here.
I moved up in 1990 and I did a master's and then a PhD
and then I just stayed.
And so I though well I'll try it.
I don't have any obligations right now. I found a job.
With cooperative extension, your job is to find out what the needs are of people in the community
People really want to get back to nature
and be able to do something on their land
People like that connection with their land
I grew up in Vermont, so I have a connection with maple syrup.
Birch syrup seemed like a good one.
I grew up in Wisconsin, where maple, the maple industry is popular.
I remember going with my dad
I loved the sugar candy that they made out of the maple
sap when they were sugaring. So, you know I have that positive experience
in my background and then people started asking questions.
I think people come up here because
they're different and because they want something a little different than what they can
get in the lower 48. Alaska has a lot of pristine environment.
So there's a lot of health benefits to be gotten from
going out and collecting a lot of different things from nature. The berries, our berries
have high antioxidants. Our birch trees actually have a lot of
high antioxidants as well in the bark and stuff.
One of the things with sap is just drinking the sap it just, tastes really good.
You can also use that sap, heat it up and use it for tea or coffee.
You can concentrate the sap.
But one thing I was experimenting with the other day was making birch soda.
Alaskans are a hearty crew and I think that Alaskans are
quite innovative and they use the things
that are around them. And I think that's fantastic.
I think everybody should get out there in nature and
you know, a lot of people like to pick berries and I think they should if they
have a birch tree or two in their backyard, they should tap one and
collect that sap and just enjoy it and
have a nice little spring tonic to boost their energy in the spring after the
long winters we have up here.