Sugarin' Maple Syrup 101 with Kathryn Hopkins — WildFed Podcast #017

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In this episode:

Kathryn Hopkins | Director of the International Maple Syrup Institute and statewide resource for the Maine maple syrup industry

Podcast discussion:

  • Introducing Kathy

  • How Kathy got involved with maple syrup

  • Where maple syrup is produced

  • Ideal maple syruping conditions

  • How the sap flow works

  • The history of maple syruping

  • Kathy’s role in implementation of best practices

  • Main producers of maple syrup in the US & Canada

  • Maple syrup black market

  • Creating public awareness

  • If you’re going to eat sugar, make it maple….

  • Price of maple syrup + investment in infrastructure

  • Why organic? Sustainable practices of organic sugarers

  • How the vacuum system method works

  • The other maple sap products

  • Best management practices for the tree and the sugarbush

  • Best management practices for the sugar producer

  • The future of maple syruping

  • Closing thoughts & how to find Kathy’s work


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Meet Kathryn Hopkins

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Kathryn Hopkins has worked for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in a variety of capacities from 1993 to the present. Since 1997, she has been an educator in the UMaine Cooperative Extension — Somerset County Office and has been responsible for Agriculture and Natural Resources programming in her county and statewide. As part of her responsibilities, Kathy serves as a statewide resource for the Maine maple syrup industry and coordinates UMaine Cooperative Extension’s Renewable Resources Extension Act. She coordinates and presents trainings and workshops; authors educational

material and conducts research on maple syrup sap and syrup production issues. She is one of the creators of the IMSI Maple Grading School that has been presented annually since 2004.

Read more about Kathryn here.

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